bench/pedestal grinder advice

[LKeithR]

Originally Posted by digr

What I have told all the yunguns I have worked with that a bench grinder is for sharping drill bits and other cutting tools, not for grinding plate unless you have a 10" or larger. Even with one that size i would never use it. If you have to do a lot of grinding chances are you are not getting a clean cut with what ever you are using and a weldment should hardly ever have to be ground. Grinders are for mistakes and general clean up and weld prep. Also I never use flap disks. IMHO

Pretty much my thoughts as well. Before the handheld angle grinders became more prevalent using a big bench grinder to clean up edges and the like was more common but in today's world an angle grinder beats a bench grinder every time. Grinding discs are for removing metal, (coarse) sanding discs are for smoothing and Scotchbrite pads are for fine finishing.

We have a 6 x 48 belt sander which we sue to clean up and bevel a lot of edges but the real workhorses of the shop are the angle grinders--generally faster and, of course, they're the only thing that works when the part is too big to pick up and take to the sander.

Right now in the shop we're using Camel (CGW) grinding wheels. The ones we use are actually the A30Ns--meant for aluminum--but we find they work really well for steel and actually stand up pretty well. They don't last as long as the A24 discs but they sure do remove a lot of material for relatively low effort.

Give them a try. Over the years I've seen so many people buy the hardest, toughest discs they can find because they "last." Yup, they'll spend 3 times as long grinding something down but boy, their discs sure do last. When you're charging your time out by the hour it's foolish to try and save a buck while you're wasting five...

[milomilo]

Here is one in your area. Not real heavy duty, but the price is right.

[Dr_Stan]

If you, a friend, etc is headed to northern Ohio anytime soon HGR has this one:

http://www.hgrinc.com/buyOurs/invent...DESTAL+GRINDER

Milwaukee 6" made in the US cast iron guards, etc 115/230 V single phase $149.99.

BTW, the comments on using a right angle grinder are correct. For moving a lot of steel in a hurry I use a Milwaukee 9" leaving the 4 1/2" one for lighter work. Just keep in mind you need to pay very close attention with the 9" as it packs a lot of power. CPO is currently out of stock, but here is the link: http://www.cpooutlets.com/factory-re...er&prefv1=9-in

If you look on the used market you may find a US made one instead of the current Chinese versions.

This Bosch is an excellent grinder: http://www.cpooutlets.com/factory-re...er&prefv1=9-in

[cutter]

Originally Posted by welddoc

I did not even think about a belt sander for grinding metal--I will research that as well.

Not a belt sander - that usually refers to low speed, slow removal sanders more suited to wood working.
A belt grinder is a different category and can have many attachments or configurations for different tasks..
Study the KMG/Beaumont grinder on this site & watch the videos.
The guy is using some light gauge steel to make it go fast but then it is really fast.

Or you can look at Jack's Jancy Radiusmaster for inspiration.

And several of us have built simpler and cheaper versions for ourselves.
You can see some of them in the Projects Index.
Scroll down to section 6 and a little further down into it to the Sanders and Grinders category.

[rmack898]

We have a Jancy Radiusmaster at work and it is a metal eating monster. It eats 1/4" for breakfast.

I haven't found it yet but I heard it's been knocked off by an importer for half the price.

[Ed ke6bnl]

why not use something like this, got the sanding disc so cheap decided to make this from stuff around the property

[welddoc]

After reading the much appreciated comments I looked into belt grinding options. I looked at Garrick, Burr King, KMG, Jancy. The Garrick combo bench grinder/belt grinder was cheapest at $869. The others in the $1200 to $2100 range. All great machines but a bit pricey for me but boy can they grind metal! Anyone with a cheaper idea?

Thanks again for your expertise.

Bruce

[dubby]

Yeah... build one

There's always the option of using a standard bench sander. That's what I'm doing presently, but I work with aluminum 99% of the time. So, it's just hard wood anyway. It does see the occasional piece of steel though.

I wore out a couple of lesser units, but currently use this Porter Cable. It was bought for me as a replacement unit, and as such I had no input to the purchase. I was just told to go pick it up at Lowe's under my name. It gets about 10 hours of use a week, and has for 6+ months or so.

Equipped with the right abrasives for steel/metal I think it'd do ya good. Of course I don't know what your parts are or how much material removal you're actually doing. I use mine just enough to debur the edges of things and to start polishing them. I'm still gathering parts to build a dedicated unit like some in the project index.

[Shade Tree Welder]

make your own.

[Jim-TX]

This is one of the handiest tools that I use. It's not in the class with the $1500+ machines, but it's well made and I've loved using mine for several years. It's great for dressing up edges and rounding corners to a smooth radius.

http://www.trick-tools.com/Multitool...1#.UxS57M7-7gs