Using a surface Grinder

[Darren]

Having recently acquired a small surface grinder mentioned in another thread I thought I'd rather selfishly start a "how do I" thread on how and what it can be used for?
Hopefully other members will find this interesting while at the same time those with such tools and fixtures would take the time to post some pictures and brief descriptions.

Think of it as a bit like "this is what I did on my lathe" but with a grinder instead 

What do you all reckon, can we make this an interesting read chaps 

[ksouers]

Go for it Darren. I, for one, would be quite interested as a surface grinder is on my "wanted" list.

[dsquire]

Darren

I think that it will be a great topic. I probably won't be able to add much to it. I haven't used one since high school but I certainly will be reading the posts in case I ever get the chance to use one again. 

Cheers 

Don

[Darren]

Hi Kevin, Don,

I was thinking more that others might post their set-ups/work/accessories etc etc. It'd probably be a slow post compared to  "what I did with my lathe" type thread ... albeit slower as not many people have a grinder compared to lathes and such. Hopefully they will trickle in...

No good asking me, I don't know nufink  But I'll post what I get up to as usual.

[Stilldrillin]

I wuz a surface grindist for quite a few years! 

Not got the foggiest idea what I might want to do with one now...... 

David D

[kvom]

Using the grinders at school I have done the following:

1) Made a set of angle blocks from tool steel:  45-45-90 and 30-60-90.

2) Reground the ways and jaws of my Kurt vise

3) Ground the top and bottom of a cast iron tilt table to raise my vise on the CNC mill.

4) Ground some thin grooving tool for cutting cylinder fins

Grinding the vise and tilt table needed a larger grinder than you have.  A jig like Bogs has for regrinding endmills would be a good addition.

Since your grinder is old, you might consider grinding the table to true it up.

[Darren]

Since your grinder is old, you might consider grinding the table to true it up.

Hi, some nice suggestions there, I think the grinder will come in useful for many things one being to clean up and true other tooling.

I think I'll give grinding the table a miss as it's been scraped in the same manner as all the ways ... someone has been very busy with this machine. Mind you though, I still need to test if it's true and if not I'll shim the magnetic vice and such.

[kvom]

I didn't realize you had a magnetic chuck.  You can actually grind that true.  Usually a few 10ths will suffice.

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Darren

You may want to make , a small doodad to hold a diamond piont (cut down ), to dress the wheel , just a block of steel  with a hole poked in it at an angle ,so when the piont  weres  you can rotate it to a fresh edge , and grub screw to hold the piont .



I would as Kvom ,said , grind the mag chuck true , when you do , do it with it turned on .

Cheers Rob

[kvom]

I was taught to dress the wheel every time before use, using the tool Rob showed above.  And don't turn the spindle off until you're done;  if you do it needs to be dressed again.

Technique is to lower the wheel VERY slowly until you hear it just touch the diamond; then move it across the wheel with the Y-axis crank.

I was also taught to place the material to be ground at an angle to the x-axis, and thus to start grinding at a corner.  That way if you've taken too big a bite you can adjust the height without creating a big streak on the material.

[Darren]

I would as Kvom ,said , grind the mag chuck true , when you do , do it with it turned on .

Cheers Rob

Now that's a tip I've not seen elsewhere, turn the chuck on when you grind it ... ta ..

That wheels very blue, don't let the missus see that 

Kvom, How have you found the repeatability of removing the mag chuck and putting it back on again after you have ground it true? Is it doable? I only ask as I have a J&S grinding vice as well and I may wish to swap and change.



Fortunately there's a diamond hiding in this picture that came with the grinder ..   I was quite impressed how viciously it attacks a grinding wheel if you don't take it easy  

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Darren

I have the same vice , most times i just stick it to the Mag chuck , when i have removed the chuck , it gose back ok no regrined needed 

Cheers Rob

[kvom]

The only time I ground something not held directly on the mag chuck was the angle plates.  For that I used a small grinding vise that was held by the mag chuck.