Wen 8" Bench Grinder

Jim

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A year or 2 ago I turned my 8" bench grinder into a buffer and moved it to the basement. Anytime I need a grinder I have to swap the wheels out. Not ideal. :cautious: Finally decided it was time to get another for the garage. Picked up this one on Ebay. 73 bucks to your door. More on it in a bit....

My garage work bench is on the small side. I can just about touch both ends at once. Didn't relish bolting a grinder on there (again)... rooms at a premium. So, grinder stand it is but.... garage space is also at a premium. So here's the solution.....

Down to the wood shop. Don't have a planer... table saw works though...
4X4 fence post's from a fence repair I had to do last summer . I never throw stuff away. :rolleyes:

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2 matching metal off-cuts from some job or another.... close enough. Drilled for screws and an axle. Yeah... I don't throw stuff away


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Wheels from an old compressor... I think..:umm:


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And here we are... R2-G2. :sneaky:
Portable and short enough to fit under the workbench. To use it I just pull it out and sit at my mechanics stool. Slide it back when done. Works a treat. :D


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About the grinder... it's a WEN 8" with 1" thick wheels. Wheels are slightly out of round, so it's got a slight vibration. Somewhere around this mess is at least 2 wheel dressers. Think I could find one? :rolleyes: Might have to go buy another. Meantime the vibe isn't bad enough to worry about.
Power isn't anything to write home about, but more than enough for my needs.
Rest's are junk... plastic. First order of business will be makin' some metal ones.
LED lights run off AAA batteries and really do a good job lighting up the wheels and rests.
Overall I'd call it a pretty good grinder for the money. I'd buy it again.

Total cost.... just the $72.99 for the grinder. Everything else is repurposed junk... I never throw stuff away. :cheers:
 
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Good idea to make it portable... saves work bench space..... my twin axle buffer is a roller for the same reason.. my buddy has his buffer mounted to the bench... between that.. the grinder and the vise.... his work space is a bit limited. Liked the " inactive material inventory " I'll have to try and remember that....
 
I never throw stuff away.
Great job, Jim! I'm always catching noise from SWMBO about all the "junk" in our garage, but I can't bring myself to just toss something that I might be able to repurpose somewhere down the road. If something is total junk, I'll disassemble it first, just for the hardware. Why run out to buy screws/bolts/etc. when I can just fish it out of a jar? Ya never know when you're gonna need it. Once again, great job. Nice project.
 
Great job, Jim! I'm always catching noise from SWMBO about all the "junk" in our garage, but I can't bring myself to just toss something that I might be able to repurpose somewhere down the road. If something is total junk, I'll disassemble it first, just for the hardware. Why run out to buy screws/bolts/etc. when I can just fish it out of a jar? Ya never know when you're gonna need it. Once again, great job. Nice project.
Well don't tell the company I worked for but most of the hardware in my garage got there by me emptying the pockets of my coveralls before tossing them in the wash! Once in a while a coffee can of stuff left over at the end of a job might have found it's way in to the sidecar for the ride home!
 
I have my grinder bolted to a 1x6 which gets attached to my 2 wooden saw horses (nice weather only) and I just use it outside
My buddy and I both have our used lumber piles stacked up in our garages vertically
He'll call and say hey do you have a 2x6 about 3' long
Let me go look in the lumber yard and see
ya never know when you need a piece of 3/4" plywood etc. If the board get too small off to the fire pit it goes
and we both have our collections of fairly sorted nuts bolts etc.
 
Nice setup, that'll make sharpening those HSS lathe tool bit much easier. Are you gonna make a little quenching bath for the post?
 
Nice setup, that'll make sharpening those HSS lathe tool bit much easier. Are you gonna make a little quenching bath for the post?
Yup. It came with a little tray that could be filled with a couple of spits. :rolleyes:
On the hunt for a container I like as we speak.
 
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