Bench Grinder Wire Wheel Adapters

[Rural Pundit]

I just bought my first Bench Grinder.

A Delta 8" Variable Speed model

I primarily bought this to put a Wire Wheel on to clean up a bunch of old tools I recently inherited. So I bought a Norton 8" wire wheel for it.

But ..... The Delta's 5/8 arbor is not threaded very much, and it has a very small lip that holds the inside factory arbor adapter in place.

Its pretty much designed to not work with any wheel that is not 1" wide, and a standard 5/8" washer has too much play to catch on the lip.

Basically, I cant get the Norton Wire Wheel to work with it with the parts that came with grinder.

I see that Delta used to make a Proprietary Wire Wheel but apparently have discontinued it.

So .... what have I got to do to get a Wire Wheel on this Delta Grinder?

.... this is my first post here, so please excuse me if I've screwed up somehow. The system wouldn't allow me to post links on my first 5 posts.

 

[jimmyin3D]

I’m a bit confused, is the wire wheel too wide so it won’t fit? Or does it sit loose on the arbor? If it’s too lose there are adapters you can pop into the center of the wire wheel to match your arbor. If it’s too wide you most likely will have to remove the guard (with wire wheels it’s better to take them off for easier control, you only really need guards for stone wheels in case of explosion)

 

[The Cobbler]

I'm a bit confused too.
is the wire wheel too narrow & you need to shim it?
a 5/8 washer used as a shim is too loose on the grinder shaft?
what if you get 1/2" washer drilled out to 5/8 to slip over the shaft?

 

[Rural Pundit]

Yes, I should have been clearer. I wish I could have posted pics with my post.

The Norton Wire brush fits on the 5/8" arbor just fine, but its only about 3/8" wide.

When I use the factory arbor bushing to tighten the wire wheel down ....

A: it off center (too far to the inside)
B: dont have enough threads on the arbor to tighten it up.
C: Standard 5/8 washers, that would allow me to center it up and present a 1" thick total, are too big to catch on the inside lip anyway. I could put all the washers on the outside, but the Wire wheel would not be centered then.

Basically, I need a 1" thick wire wheel, or some kind of arbor adapters that are wider than the factory ones in order to sandwich the 3/8" wide wire wheel in the 1" wide bay, and then I would have enough threads to tighen it up.

But I haven;t had much luck finding either such item for sale online.

 

[Rural Pundit]

I'm a bit confused too.
is the wire wheel too narrow & you need to shim it?
a 5/8 washer used as a shim is too loose on the grinder shaft?
what if you get 1/2" washer drilled out to 5/8 to slip over the shaft?

Yes, too narrow. Cant center it in the bay, and dont have enough threads to tighten it.

That was my first thought as well. Just didn't have any 1/2" washers on hand tonight.

Was hoping there was a more common solution than washers.

 

[BD1]

Add another wire wheel. Two of those might fit.
Cut pipe or round tubing as spacers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rural Pundit]

Add another wire wheel. Two of those might fit.
Cut pipe or round tubing as spacers.

Well, thats a solution I hadn't considered.

Problem might be the Norton wire wheel is only 3/8" wide in the center, on the outside circumference the actual wire braids are fluffed out to about 1" wide already.

I don't know that I could squeeze 2 or 3 of them together without bending their hubs.

But if another option doesn't materialize, I think thats what I'll do. Get some like 2" pipe and cut spacers to fit on both sides of the wire brush and sandwich between the adapters. I would be difficult to position on the exact centerline, so as to not introduce an out of balance situation though, and I think it would slip if I used 5/8 pipe, due to lack of surface contact.

Maybe some 5/8 fender washers would work.

 

[Indexmill]

Something seems to be very wrong. Perhaps it is the NEW made in China POS Delta grinder.

We need pix. Or return that NEW Delta and buy a vintage grinder.

 

[Made in USA]

To go your local full service hardware store and pick up a shaft collar similar to these. Put it against the step in the arbor,then washers if needed, then the flange, then the wheel, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/AZSSMUK-Stainless-Steel-Collars-4-Packed/dp/B07GSW5288/ref=mp_s_a_1_24_sspa?keywords=5%2F8+bore+collar&qid=1583208140&sr=8-24-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRE1OOVJPRk8xOTZHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTQyNTMwMTUzR1FVTE5MVU82USZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzMxMDY5WUpQMFRVSVNRNFk2JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

[PhysicsDude]

I put a wire wheel on my Delta grinder. I just had to add a few washers to space it out, and do some trial and error to center/balance it to get it to stop vibrating.

Some type of washer or spacer will fit the shaft to space the wire wheel out, you just need to find the right size.

 

[exmaxima1]

Some type of washer or spacer will fit the shaft to space the wire wheel out, you just need to find the right size.

A 9/16" washer has a 5/8" ID. Might not see one at a local hardware store, but McMaster-Carr sells them.

 

[seber]

You can buy arbor shims from McMaster Carr. That would be the proper solution. Washers will do but don't try to use them with anything other than a wire wheel.

 

[torqueman2002]

If McM doesn't have what you need, try Grainger. I've bought arbor shims from them.
https://www.grainger.com/category/raw-materials/shim-and-shim-stock/arbor-shims

 

[Rural Pundit]

Thanks for all the replies.

I did end up ordering some 5/8 Collars and 9/16 Washers.

I think that should work, even if the wire brush may be off center by a small fraction.

I should have them tomorrow.

I'll let y'all know.

 

[Rural Pundit]

That should complete my obligatory 1st 5 posts, and let me now post links and images.

Testing That Assumption

edit:

 

[SeisMec]

The local Ace Hardware here sells fender washers in a variety of O.D.s for any given I.D.

 

[Rural Pundit]

I ended up not using the 5/8" collars because they were a little too wide to keep the wheel centered, but the 9/16" washers worked perfectly.

I think I also learned an expensive lesson in that cleaning tools with a mini-grinder in a vice, which is what I was doing before, works better that a wire wheel on a bench grinder. You can just get into odd spaces better.

 

[shawhite]

Why are you cleaning tools? Tools are meant to be used and get dirty, scratched, and sometime broken. In all seriousness there are other wheels you can put on the grinder to get different results. Plastic wire wheel, scotchbrite, buffing wheels etc

 

[Rural Pundit]

Well, for one thing, I just inherited a bunch of old tools that needed some cleaning 25 years ago. And now that I finally have a shop of my own, I pretty ****, so far, about keeping all my stuff clean.

I think I will check into Scotchbrite, thanks. I seen something about them when I was researching grinders, just didn't pay much attention.

I am also thinking about taking this wire wheel off the grinder. It makes it shake bad. I might mount it separately on an electric motor mounted on the edge of the bench, so you can get around it better.