Cleaning bolts with a bench grinder?

[drivesitfar]

Alex: i have seen several threads of members taking apart their Baldor grinders and lots of Craftsman block grinders and even though some seem like they don't want to come off i haven't heard of bearings not being able to be removed and replaced.

do some reading and let us know if you find the side by side either here or on another forum.

98: funny and true at the same time. JakeMac was cleaning up an inch ball bearing that had a little rust on it only by hand and the grinder grabbed it and shot it around his shop. he's still alive so he ducked at that right time.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Not sure if anyone recommended using a Nyalox fibre wheel, I have a blue one and it's brilliant, not too aggressive and cleans off bolts nicely, it does remove the plating though and lasts 10X longer than a wire wheel.

https://www.kmstools.com/dico-8-nyalox-bench-grinder-wheel-orange-60235

I also have a polishing machine and if the bolt is cad plated and dull, I give a quick polish on my buffing wheel with white compound and it brings back the shine without removing the plating.

 

[djb2]

I agree with many (but not all) of the other posters: almost any grinder will do a good job of spinning a wire wheel.

A high end grinder will have a strong, rigid frame transferring the load from the support and base plate to the bearings. The bearings will be large, well shielded and have low run-out e.g. ABEC 5.

None of these features are important with a wire wheel. You aren't going to transfer much load to the wire wheel, and you won't be able to detect even bad run-out. You won't need a hook-up for a vacuum, a spark arresting screen, etc.

What you will want are over-sized eye shields and thick metal wheel side guards. Stray wires will rip up a plastic side guard in no time, and will eventually wear down thin sheet metal.

 

[1982fxr]

I agree with many (but not all) of the other posters: almost any grinder will do a good job of spinning a wire wheel.

A high end grinder will have a strong, rigid frame transferring the load from the support and base plate to the bearings. The bearings will be large, well shielded and have low run-out e.g. ABEC 5.

None of these features are important with a wire wheel. You aren't going to transfer much load to the wire wheel, and you won't be able to detect even bad run-out. You won't need a hook-up for a vacuum, a spark arresting screen, etc.

What you will want are over-sized eye shields and thick metal wheel side guards. Stray wires will rip up a plastic side guard in no time, and will eventually wear down thin sheet metal.

am i I in the Twilight Zone? If you are serious about wire wheeling you need a good grinder. Any ************* can spin a stone but a wire wheel is another story.

A wire wheel doesn't transfer that much load? Compared to eff'n what???

Am i completely misunderstanding something here?

edit: not trying to be el dicko there, but I am completely lost in those statements. Plus I'm kind of prejudiced because the tool that brought me to this place was when I bought a new Skil 6" bench grinder for wire wheeling and it was the single biggest ************* I have ever seen in my life. It could turn a stone fine, but had no balls whatsoever behind a wire wheel.

 

[1982fxr]

The only thing I can think of as being bad about wire wheeling a bolt is if you're dumb enough to try to hold the bolt with your hand while using the wire wheel and not using a vice grip to hold the bolt. You can really hurt yourself badly using method #1.

Using a Baldor to hold a wire wheel is sort of useless. The advantage of a Baldor is the perfectly smooth running of a grinding wheel enabling superior sharpening. Wire wheels are so out of balance by nature you'll never notice the difference between a Baldor and a Ryobi. In this instance go cheap as there is no advantage to going expensive.

it's only imho but holding most (not all) fasteners or similar with your hand gives 10 times better control as long as you pay close attention. Holding things with vise grips and pliers is far more dangerous because there is no feel.

The second part I highlighted...I guess I'm still in the twilight zone. Can't tell the difference between a Baldor and a Ryobi with a wire wheel on?????? Are you ******* serious!

 

[1982fxr]

guys i'm not trying to be the biggest ******* of all time but as someone who uses a wire wheel on grinders 99% of the time and pushes them hard...I am damn near speechless at the above two posts I quoted.

To the guys I quoted, if I have something wrong i sincerely apologize.