Earlier this week I found a Baldor bench grinder on craigslist. The seller was asking $50 for the grinder. It looked like it was missing some parts, but that didn't bother me because I was looking to turn this grinder into a buffer anyways. The wheel housings and the tool rests mean nothing to me in the situation.
I asked all the right questions, and the seller told me that the grinder worked. During our phone conversation he also told me that there is a small crack on the front of the grinder that you couldn't see in the posting. He assured me that this is a minor crack and did not harm the function of the grinder. At this point I proceeded to drive 45 minutes to go check it out and pick it up.
Upon arriving, I found that the grinder must have been dropped at some point during its life. The base was cracked into six pieces and was flopping around loosely from the motor itself. To top it all off the shaft was bent .110" or nearly an 1/8th inch. I explained to the seller who obviously didn't know anything about the machine and that this was unacceptable. In fact the grinder danced across the floor as he demoed that it functioned to me.
After the seller realized how much of a major problem this was, he asked me to make him an offer. I probably offered too much at $20, but he accepted it.
This brings us to where I am today. I decided to first take the grinder apart and see if the shaft was fixable. I decided to give it a try straightening it. I got my indicators all set up and used my Bridgeport as a makeshift press. I was a little concerned that I would be creating too much pressure on the quill, but I made sure to not use any more pressure than what I would normally use drilling a hole to straighten the shaft. I also used a brass block between the quill and the shaft to make sure I didn't damage anything. In about 30 minutes I was able to get the shaft straightened to about .0018 TIR checking runout.
After I straightened the shaft I also realized that the shoulder that the bearing set up against was marred out. Apparently someone had tried this repair unsuccessfully before. At that point I decided to set the shaft up in the lathe and true up the shoulder. It only took a few thousandths to clean it up.
That brings me to where I am at the moment. The base is practically a puzzle. Luckily all of the pieces are here. Unfortunately I'm going to have to sort it out with the TIG welder and see how lucky I get.
Hopefully this goes better than I expect it to. I will be very happy if I can get this grinder going for the price of a set of bearings, twenty dollars, and a couple hours of my time.More updates to come.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I asked all the right questions, and the seller told me that the grinder worked. During our phone conversation he also told me that there is a small crack on the front of the grinder that you couldn't see in the posting. He assured me that this is a minor crack and did not harm the function of the grinder. At this point I proceeded to drive 45 minutes to go check it out and pick it up.
Upon arriving, I found that the grinder must have been dropped at some point during its life. The base was cracked into six pieces and was flopping around loosely from the motor itself. To top it all off the shaft was bent .110" or nearly an 1/8th inch. I explained to the seller who obviously didn't know anything about the machine and that this was unacceptable. In fact the grinder danced across the floor as he demoed that it functioned to me.
After the seller realized how much of a major problem this was, he asked me to make him an offer. I probably offered too much at $20, but he accepted it.
This brings us to where I am today. I decided to first take the grinder apart and see if the shaft was fixable. I decided to give it a try straightening it. I got my indicators all set up and used my Bridgeport as a makeshift press. I was a little concerned that I would be creating too much pressure on the quill, but I made sure to not use any more pressure than what I would normally use drilling a hole to straighten the shaft. I also used a brass block between the quill and the shaft to make sure I didn't damage anything. In about 30 minutes I was able to get the shaft straightened to about .0018 TIR checking runout.
After I straightened the shaft I also realized that the shoulder that the bearing set up against was marred out. Apparently someone had tried this repair unsuccessfully before. At that point I decided to set the shaft up in the lathe and true up the shoulder. It only took a few thousandths to clean it up.
That brings me to where I am at the moment. The base is practically a puzzle. Luckily all of the pieces are here. Unfortunately I'm going to have to sort it out with the TIG welder and see how lucky I get.
Hopefully this goes better than I expect it to. I will be very happy if I can get this grinder going for the price of a set of bearings, twenty dollars, and a couple hours of my time.More updates to come.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
