Let's see some bench grinder drill & tool sharpeners

[Chris165]

I was watching the Rudy Kouhoupt dvd on tool grinding. He has a nice table for grinding tool bits and the plans were included with the dvd. The grinder that i'm looking to use is a 8" 1750rpm. I was given a general type drill grinding attachment but you have to use it on the side of the wheels which seems to be an unsafe practice. Are there any wheels that are for front and side use, or can it be adapted to use the front of the wheel. Don't really want to spend a ton on a full blown tool grinder and probably don't have the need for one. The harbor freight tool grinder from what i've heard is a waste of money. I would like to see some jigs that others have built for a standard bench grinder (reg. drills, S&D bits, lathe tools etc.). Any links to plans would be great too. The tool bits that I was thinking of getting are 1/2" square, but it seems that 3/8" would work fine and save alot of grinding time. Are there any real advantages of the 1/2" bits for a home shop?

[Ggerg1186]

I use the side of my grinding wheels all the time, probably more often than the outer diameter. Works great for sharpening the lawn mower blades.

[RussZHC]

Tried to convince myself early on that 1/2" bits were what I needed, I was pretty wrong and very, very seldom use them...there is A LOT more grinding on those compared to 3/8" and I think if they were a bit more common from cheap sources, 5/16" could be even better (minimize grinding)...the one 1/2" I know I have and use is a round nose so I can go left or right...it just seemed to be the right proportions using 1/2", doubt there is a need though...

That HF grinder, if its the one I am thinking of, has had several fairly good reports about it, and IIRC, a fairly lengthy YouTube video on the details that need cleaning up and adjusting to make it far more functional.

Edit to add: a search here for tool grinding in general should get you some fairly lengthy threads including ideas for little tables and I'm pretty sure gadgetbuilder's site has a few choices as well ("regular" grinder style as opposed to those most often thought of for carbide)

[Rosco-P]

Are there any real advantages of the 1/2" bits for a home shop?

If your toolholders will accept them and your lathe has the rigidity and horsepower, a larger bit will take a deeper cut. In general, a 1/2" toolbit will be more rigid than a 5/16" toolbit.

[dalee100]

Hi,

The HF tool grinder generally gets decent marks as a kit you can tweak to satisfaction. So don't be quite so quick to dismiss it. But not everyone wants to go to that effort.

Of course you could mount a recessed wheel or cup wheel on a bench grinder to use the fixture you have now. That might be the easiest to do.

Unless you have a need to start removing .250" per pass on your lathe there is little reason to buy tool bits much bigger than 3/8". And I prefer 1/4" and 5/16". They not only are easier to grind, but cheaper to buy.

dalee

[KINGWELD]

Scary!!!!!

I use the side of my grinding wheels all the time,

I sure hope that you are using a wheel that is designed for side wheel grinding, otherwise you are playing with a BOMB!!!!

[chipmaker4130]

I sure hope that you are using a wheel that is designed for side wheel grinding, otherwise you are playing with a BOMB!!!!

Not really. You need to avoid grooving the sides, as well as 'crashing' the workpiece against the wheel, but otherwise if the side-grinding is kept to a minimum and wear is at the outer edge of the wheel it isn't a big deal.

[Chris165]

I noticed Norton Abrasives has a toolroom series. Will there be a noticeable difference between the "toolroom" wheels and a good quality white A/O wheel for non production home use?

http://www.nortonindustrial.com/ToolroomWheels.aspx

[wb2vsj]

...The harbor freight tool grinder from what i've heard is a waste of money. ..

Is that the one that is a clone of the Baldor 500? Dad had the Baldor. The Blador is a very nice grinder. Never played with the HF version, so cannot comment.


1/2" bits are fairly large unless you've got a larger lathe. 3/8", 5/16" and even 1/4" are usually ok. But depending on your eyesight (i.e. mine are going farther south every year) 1/4" are hard to see & grind

Also, what type of holder do you have to hold the bits? That may determine what you may end up getting.

[Boucher]

I like the 1/2" Bits finding good quality is now a crapshoot. I have some from India that are good most are not. I rough mine on the belt sander using a guide template as shown.


This is a similar guide template for the tool grinder.


I set the table to 7° for the relief angle as shown.


The belt sander is much faster and cooler grinding for roughing out the bit. It is worth your time to learn to rough them out free hand. The larger grinders work better and easier.

[Chris165]

Is that the one that is a clone of the Baldor 500? Dad had the Baldor. The Blador is a very nice grinder. Never played with the HF version, so cannot comment.


1/2" bits are fairly large unless you've got a larger lathe. 3/8", 5/16" and even 1/4" are usually ok. But depending on your eyesight (i.e. mine are going farther south every year) 1/4" are hard to see & grind

Also, what type of holder do you have to hold the bits? That may determine what you may end up getting.

My largest lathe is a 16" 3hp South Bend with a CXA toolpost (3/4" tools). My experience is in a production machine shop where carbide was always used and tools were never sharpened in-house. I am guilty of using carbide tooling to avoid learning to sharpen tool bits.

[Black Forest]

Drill grinder

This is what I put together to grind drill bits. Works great.

[Davidhcnc]

It is a Blue point/Snap on multitool attachment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se-zZ...layer_embedded

This is for a UK forum that I inhabit, we got a load of these attachments in a job lot and distributed them to the troops at cost. We can't get decent grinders in UK. Then I've put together this kit to make them fit a 1 hp motor.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2oJl..._order&list=UL

[NEW2THIS]

This is what I put together to grind drill bits. Works great.

Hi,

I would like to modify my Grinder in order to regrind and sharpen drill bits. I have been thinking of making a drill bit holder based upon the one used in the 'Tormek DBS 22' Drill sharpening attachment.' There are also similar holders with 'V' shaped fingers, and these seem ro grip the Drill bit very tightly.

I have just come across your Grinding attachment and would like to ask if you have any drawings of your device. If not, how did you design both parts of the holder, in particular, the shape of the 'V' fingers. Your attachment is very similar to my rough sketches.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

[J Tiers]

This is what I put together to grind drill bits. Works great.

Safest grinder I have seen....at least the safest one I have seen that has a cool looking motor.

Since it's the ONLY one I have seen with a cool looking motor, you should not take that too much to heart........