CL Bench Grinder question

[acer66]

Looking at this and wondering is that a hack job or a beauty in disguise?

I hope you appreciate the beauty and functionality of this grinder as much as I do. It will probably be the last grinder/sharpener you ever buy. Powered by a GE 1 HP, 1725 RPM motor, the belt drive turns 10" grinding wheels on a massive, 1 1/4" diameter steel shaft cradled in Fafnir Vak pillow block bearings. It is mounted on a 24" piece of solid steel C channel girder. I didn't weigh it, but the whole thing is very close, if not over, 100 lbs. New, comparable motors alone are $300 and up. Used, this motor alone is worth $150 +. The bearings alone are $40 each. The larger grinding wheel is about $60. I don' know why, but one of the wheels mounted is only about 6". It looks too new to be ground down to that size. Wired with the switch shown, then has about 20 feet of 12-2 with a plug end. Plug can easily be taken off to hard wire. Uses 110. This is an incredible beast. I can find no brand information anywhere on the piece. But it's well made, well maintained and strong. Works great. Priced to move. Call me or reply though here.

http://asheville.craigslist.org/tls/3320473281.html


Thank you

 

[chief ben]

I would say it is a good home made grinder, But it takes up to much room on a work bench, and you can buy a better one for less.
I got this one used for $ 25.00 bucks 10 years ago and it still works like new. the only bad thing is the wire wheel on the left side went 52 bucks to 105 in 10 years, but i'm still using the grinding wheel that came on it.

 

[acer66]

Wow, that is what I am really looking for when I came across the one I posted.
I guess I will keep on looking.

Thank you

 

[Steve721]

I think Chief Ben is right. It looks good, but will take a bit of space to set up. Looks like it was built for a specific purpose. I do believe that the older grinders are better than the junk made today. This looks like an older unit of some sort, so that's good. The grinder I have was my grandfathers. It is an old Black & Decker unit. The only thing I have ever done to is was replace the electrical cord. It was the old cloth cord. If you have the space, I would do it.

 

[Davefr]

Looking at this and wondering is that a hack job or a beauty in disguise?

http://asheville.craigslist.org/tls/3320473281.html


Thank you

It looks like someone did a really good job making a homemade grinder. However it has a major design flaw. The pillow blocks are too long such that the wheel barely sticks out past the stand. It's also missing eye shields and the tool rest does not look adjustable.

For that kind of money you can probably find a really nice USA 8" pedestal grinder.

 

[acer66]

Thanks Davefr, looks like I need to school myself about bench grinders a little more.

 

[mtwaterguy]

As long as we're being critical, I'm not a fan of having to reach over the work area to get to the switch.

 

[acer66]

Cool, that is another good point.