Universal Cutter/Grinder by harbor freight

[Brett Hurt]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45707 that is the address for it . what do think of it ,and does it work and would you buy one Brett

[dp]

The archives are your friend. This has been kicked into every corner of the shop numerous times.

Google that part number with site:http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/

Google for tool cutter and grinder with the same site: specification.

Google for tinker, Clarkson, Stent, K O Lee, Bonnelle, Gorton, and the ubiquitous Quorn.

Did I forget anyone?

[philbur]

It's not a universal T&CG it's for single lip tools only. If you have to ask then you don't want one.

Phil

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45707 that is the address for it . what do think of it ,and does it work and would you buy one Brett

[oldtiffie]

Universal T&C grinder

I agree with Phil.

This is a universal tool and cutter grinder - surface grinder, T&C grinder as well as tool-post and cylindrical (internal and external) grinder.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=G198

[Bill Pace]

does it work and would you buy one Brett

The short, and not so sweet, answer is --- "NO" it would have very limited use in a home shop situation....

[DR]

This general type of grinder has numerous uses. Drill bits, ends of end milling cutters, boring cutters, even lathe bits. Unlimited uses, very handy machines, easy to setup.

Basically almost anything that can be held in the collets included can be sharpened. Unfortunately, they don't say what style and sizes of collets are included. It would also be nice to know the wheel size and mount.

Deckel grinders that this one is copied from sell for big bucks on the used market. I've seen them for ten times this amount used.

Maybe the real question here is, is this machine any good quality-wise? Accuracy of the collet head, etc are important considerations with grinders of this type. Never having purchased anything at HF I don't know what to expect, but I haven't heard great things about their equipment.

[10KPete]

It's not a universal T&CG it's for single lip tools only. If you have to ask then you don't want one.

Phil

Then it's safe to say that it doesn't have the ability, as sold, to sharpen the flutes on end mills and the like.

I sorta thought so 'cause it looked too simple.

Pete

[philbur]

It's not designed for flutes but I'm sure somebody will come up with a modification. It could be a handy tool grinder at that price. But first you should identify your needs and then check to see if it meets them, also check whether you can already do a lot of it on a bench grinder with an angled rest or a few attachments.

Phil

Then it's safe to say that it doesn't have the ability, as sold, to sharpen the flutes on end mills and the like.

I sorta thought so 'cause it looked too simple.

Pete

[Too_Many_Tools]

It's not designed for flutes but I'm sure somebody will come up with a modification. It could be a handy tool grinder at that price. But first you should identify your needs and then check to see if it meets them, also check whether you can already do a lot of it on a bench grinder with an angled rest or a few attachments.

Phil

I agree...so why hasn't anyone come up with the modifications?

I would think with all the creative people on this site, someone would.

TMT

[John Stevenson]

Two main limitations on this type of machine.

[1] The main operations are done with the work holding pivoting about the lower bar.
Depending on all the various angles etc and the length of tooling you have no control on where the end of the tool meets the wheel. There is no hight adjustment so you can raise or lower the wheel so you are on or about centre. Sometime you can be touching the wheel 1 - 1/2" above centre on a 4" wheel.

[2] Harder to explain but when you are grinding the ends of end mills you are using the flat face of the wheel so approaching end on. These machines work with the tool pointing up they have 45 degrees of movement in this plate but only 15 degrees or so pointing down.

Pointing up means you are grinding the outer flute but having to use the inside of the wheel and the radius hit the unground teeth and stuffs it up. To use the outside of the wheel you have to point downwards and because of the angles the more you tilt the closer you get to the wheel Problem is the bed bar isn't long enough to move clear so you can only have about 3/4" of cutter showing.

Add to this as you tip down it fouls on all the locking levers,
as i say very hard to explain with words.

To make this a useful machine it needs a longer bed bar and the wheel being separate so it can rise and fall to get into place.

It can be improved 100% by making one casting a mirror image of what it is now, this will increase the usable length and help with the fouling of the levers.

[Video Man]

Wholesale Tools sells what appears to be the identical grinder, but it comes standard with a variety of holding devices ... several R8 collets, a lathe-tool holder, twist-drill holder, etc...that the HF doesn't come with. I notice the new Grizzly catalogue has what appears to be the same grinder for a ridiculously larger price and many of the tool holders are extra-cost (expensive) accessories. WT price is usually $699, have seen it on sale for $649. Plus truck-only freight....

[daryl bane]

I'll have to chime in on this. I bought one of the WT ones, as I have a Gorton engraver and needed to make/sharpen the engraving bits. While it may be perfectly acceptable for some, I, being used to using a Deckel, I found it to be a huge lump of junk. Yes, it has all of those attachments, but due to the dubious construction, I don't know how useful they would be without a lot of fettle. I was able to rescrape and remachine the unit to a usable standard. As mentioned,these units are really designed to make and sharpen single lip cutters for engraving and not much else.

[DR]

As I mentioned previously, the Deckel versions of this style machine go for gawd awful amounts at shop auctions and ebay. And, those bidders are not just doing single flute engraving cutters.

It is a very useful tool for general purpose sharpening. Again, the question is the quality of this particular incarnation of the Deckel grinder.

I imagine a single collet for a Deckel would be at least a hundred bucks so that might give an indication of comparative quality between the original and the clones.

[dvbydt]

My one is a Deckel copy. I sold my universal T&C, it took up too much space and I don't need to sharpen cutter flutes or side and face cutters or grind special reamers.
Normally, it has a tapered cup wheel fitted and this is what I use it for :-



Sir John, this is how I get round the problem of cutter end sharpening, I work from inside a straight cup wheel, no angular limitation or space problems.



IanR

[JCHannum]

It is a very useful tool for general purpose sharpening. Again, the question is the quality of this particular incarnation of the Deckel grinder.

I imagine a single collet for a Deckel would be at least a hundred bucks so that might give an indication of comparative quality between the original and the clones.

The Deckel collets are expensive due to the difficulty to find as much as the quality. They are only made by a few manufacturers due to the limited application.

Perhaps you would be so kind as to demonstrate the sharpening of an end mill and a drill on one of these machines?