Recently I've been looking at 6 grinders to replace the old household duty Black and Decker that I've had for quite a few years. It still works, I just want a nicer one. So far I've come down to two grinders. A JET 1/2 hp single speed and a Palmgren 1/3 hp, variable speed Any thoughts or experiences with these machines ?  

Edited November 24, 20178 yr by Ron Dudelston
tags added

From a turners stand point, I'd go with the variable speed. Slow speed for touching up turning tools and higher speeds for general grinding functions.

I would agree with lew - slower speed for sharpening and higher speed for grinding. Unless you sharpen differently.

variable and why not an 8''

easier to find thicker/wider/larger selection of wheels..

All my grinders are air operated so I would be partial to trigger controlled models. Sometimes it is just not safe wide open in certain places.

4 hours ago, Stick486 said:

variable and why not an 8''

easier to find thicker/wider/larger selection of wheels..

 I'm leaning more towards a variable speed because of the added benefit that some of you describe. 8" just gets more expensive. What I'm looking to spend is probably more then most would in this Harbor Freight economy. 

Edited January 18, 20179 yr by CharlieL

I've got a HF one and it works good. The wheels area little on the soft side, but they can be replaced. It even has a light on it, not VS though.

Herb

Yesterday I was looking at some opinions in a machinist forum about Palmgren products. Nobody really had anything good to say about them, so now I'm leaning more towards the JET. As far as having a bench grinder with variable speed, I forgot that for those tasks I have a Kalamazoo 1 inch belt sander that has a Baldor motor and spins at a slower speed then most bench grinders do, 1725 rpm.

Edited January 19, 20179 yr by CharlieL

Give some consideration to going bigger.   An 8" isn't mush more money.

I have a 6" and a 10" grinder.   The 6" is a delta I got for $40 used,  the 10 is  a re-purposed Craftsman lathe head stock with two 10" wheels mounted to it and that's the one I use.   The wheels are mounted on little faceplates with a threaded rod doing the clamping through the headstock.

There are some good priced 8" grinders out there.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DELTA-Delta-8-in-Grinder/50150072

 

 

On 1/19/2017 at 6:05 PM, HandyDan said:

There are some good priced 8" grinders out there.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DELTA-Delta-8-in-Grinder/50150072

 

 

Delta isn't what they use to be.

Some of you are pushing 8" grinders, so today I looked at a JET 8" at my local tool supply store. They are a bigger machine no doubt, and about a $70 difference in price.

1 hour ago, CharlieL said:

Delta isn't what they use to be.

no better or worse than any other chinese grinder...

I read somewhere a few years ago, an 8" is better for turning tools due the larger circumference than a 6"

 

Just another thought you might want to consider

I sharpen my tools with my WorkSharp but for those who sharpen their tools on a bench grinder, I've always been told that an 8" grinder works better than a 6" because the 6" tends to put a hone on the back edge of your tool. Just saying

For turning tools everyone uses a Wolverine jig which is based on using an eight in grinder.

12 hours ago, Stick486 said:

no better or worse than any other chinese grinder...

Probably for the majority of grinders that are out there, which is really sad to say for Delta. But the difference in the grinders that I'm looking at are that they are industrial grade. They have better motors, cast wheel guards, cast tool rests, and in some cases the stones are even better. Pushing it up to an 8" is going to get even more expensive, but after listening to you folks and going out to look at some up close in a store, I just may go with an 8". I wish that I could afford an American made Baldor, but as I said before, it's just too much money for my situation. 

Edited January 21, 20179 yr by CharlieL

stocked the satellite shop w/ this Delta... it is in the class of grinders you are looking at...

 

On 1/21/2017 at 9:40 AM, CharlieL said:

Probably for the majority of grinders that are out there, which is really sad to say for Delta. But the difference in the grinders that I'm looking at are that they are industrial grade. They have better motors, cast wheel guards, cast tool rests, and in some cases the stones are even better. Pushing it up to an 8" is going to get even more expensive, but after listening to you folks and going out to look at some up close in a store, I just may go with an 8". I wish that I could afford an American made Baldor, but as I said before, it's just too much money for my situation. 

I got a flyer in the mail this week from Woodcraft. They are advertising the 8" slow speed Rikon grinder for $99.99 . That's $40.00 off the usual price.

On 1/25/2017 at 1:04 PM, It Was Al B said:

I got a flyer in the mail this week from Woodcraft. They are advertising the 8" slow speed Rikon grinder for $99.99 . That's $40.00 off the usual price.

Just got mine today & saw that too Al...Kind of tempting especially to do hand plane iron regrinds other than I'm not all that keen on hollow ground edges.

Rikon model is very nice tool for the $$'s...all depends on what type of work one will be doing majority of time...VS would be good compromise.

Edited January 27, 20179 yr by Grandpadave52