Sources for Bench Grinder Wheels

[WMichelsen]

I have an old bench grinder that takes 7" x 1" wheels. The current stones are past their useful life, ground down to 5" dia. So, I need new ones. However, I can't seem to find a good (ie. inexpensive) source for this size.

I don't need high quality. If it took 8" wheels, I'd be happy with HF as a source, at maybe $10 ea. But, the sources I find with 7" wheels are about $30+ ea.

Anyone know an inexpensive source for 7" x 1" wheels? Or, if anyone has 8" x 1" that have been ground down to 7", I'd be happy to organize a trade

Wayne

 

[Rinspeed]

Last time I looked McMaster-Carr had a boatload of different wheels so I woud check there.

 

[seber]

7" is industrial size. Businesses don't want to mess with unbalanced wheels. There may be cheap ones somewhere but to be honest, you are better off paying for good ones.

 

[4xdog]

...I can't seem to find a good (ie. inexpensive) source for this size....

We might have different ideas of what constitutes "good"!

For rotating equipment that stores a lot of energy, and that's close to me when operating, good means "safe".

Give some thought to spending the money if you can...

 

[larry_g]

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn..._=1621218881137&__=1621218881136&sortby=price

The above is an industrial supplier. Wheels from $20 to $50. You have to be educated enough to spec what grinding wheel you need to do the job you have to do. Grinding wheels are not a place to cheap out as they can and do explode flinging shrapnel that can be deadly.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[WMichelsen]

Regarding cheap vs. safe, good points.

I've actually never had to buy wheels for my bench grinders, before. The ones that come with them have lasted my entire (non-professional) life. So I've just been a little surprised at the relative lack of sources for 7x1 wheels.

 

[neophyte]

I think 7x1 grinders are a “weird” size as far as bench grinders go.
A quick search on ebay shows 7 inch bench grinders from Craftsman, Baldor, and Dayton, with a single Metabo and Rockwell each.
The Craftsman grinders were all older block grinders, from when Craftsman was serious about making quality tools.
Dayton was and is a Grainger brand, and was therefore geared to Industrial users.
Baldor is also an Industrial brand, and is basically the gold standard as far as US made bench grinders.
7 inch is what Baldor uses to occupy the 6” place in most manufacturers grinder lineups, and the 7” Baldor grinders use a 1/2 horsepower motor, like their older 6” grinders did, and carbide face grinders still do.

 

[thr3squared]

My Craftsman Block Grinder uses 7x1" wheels, and I sourced them from McMaster Carr.

 

[TC16731]

I second the MSC Direct suggestion. If you don't know, learn how to do a ring test on a grinding wheel. With the statement "my wheels lasted my whole life" you don't have a wheel dresser do you ? You my need one even quality wheels should / may need to be dressed after mounting on a grinder. That trues up the wheel while rotating. Wheel dressing also improves efficiency as the wheel wears.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I usually pay between 30 and 50-ish for a grinding wheel, depending on what it is, but then again, I'm weird as I match the wheel to the material being ground, surface finish, etc... ever since I destroyed a non-ferrous wheel de-mushrooming some chisels, decided I'd rather know what the hell I was doing and not throw money away.

 

[Gunfixr]

Mc master Carr, mscdirect, enco, Travers tools, grainger......

 

[iajonesy]

If you've never seen a grinder explode you won't really understand the importance of good quality wheels. Even new wheels need to be ring tested before using. If it doesn't ring it's junk. An exploding grinding wheel can take a man apart in a flash. Ask me how I know.

Mike

 

[driftpin]

I like this brand:
https://www.weilerabrasives.com/

wherever you can order them. I have a Delta 8" grinder, and bought Diablo wheels, they were horrible, I took them back because they were so out-of round/unbalanced. I bought two Weilers and they are effective for my residential needs. This is where I got them: http://www.mcdonaldhardware.com/ which is jam-packed with a great variety of fasteners, electrical, plumbing, hand and power tools, and stainless steel hardware. It's probably the closest supply-source to Port Everglades FL (Ft. Lauderdale). They get a lot of marine business, and there are a lot of marine shops in the immediate area, and a huge aluminum warehouse, with a ferrous metal supplier probably a couple miles away.

 

[darkzero]

Mc master Carr, mscdirect, enco, Travers tools, grainger......

I guess you haven't bought from them in a while.

 

[cvairwerks]

It gets real exciting around the shop when a wheel chunks.....makes a heck of a paint shaker til you get it shut off.

 

[Gunfixr]

I guess you haven't bought from them in a while. [emoji38]

No, I haven't, I guess things have changed?

 

[cvairwerks]

Enco has been gone for several years now.

 

[Gunfixr]

It gets real exciting around the shop when a wheel chunks.....makes a heck of a paint shaker til you get it shut off.

You should see what happens when somebody running a cylindrical grinder hits the rapid traverse to bring the wheel back in after changing parts, but not backing the wheel out any first...........

Or, when somebody takes a shop made tool post grinder running a 36" wheel from the 20" diameter area they were grinding on straight to the next area using carriage rapid traverse, going through the 24" diameter screw section in between them.
Said shop grinder not having a real guard, just a strip of metal around the back half of the wheel.

 

[Gunfixr]

Enco has been gone for several years now.

Lol, nice........
I remember when MSc merged them, and wondered if they wouldn't just close it down. Guess now I know why the catalogues stopped......

 

[tool_scrounge]

I guess you haven't bought from them in a while.

Enco has been gone for 5 years now. Sad, I liked their sales.

 

[darkzero]

Enco has been gone for 5 years now. Sad, I liked their sales.

I miss Enco also, they were my favorite place to buy from, but things changed for the better for me. I know some people don't like MSC but MSC has won me over, I rarely purchased from them before. After they closed Enco, I did the merge Enco account thing with MSC that gave you 1 year of prev Enco purchases matched pricing. Ever since then my account got discounts (personal non-business account) & any orders over $50 I get free shipping.

MSC later bought out the local Rutland near me. Then they eventually moved to another building which is even closer to where I live. And the sales rep I dealt with at Rutland stayed with MSC so I got to know him better, he always gives me further discount than my logged in pricing whenever he can. I'm so happy to have a local MSC branch, never have to pay for shipping anymore. Even if it's a low dollar item & they don't have it in stock at my loction they'll transfer it in for free & even free transfers for freight items.