# a bench grinder mod



## lectrician (Jun 25, 2011)

OK, have you ever had to cut off a piece of tool steel and did it on the corner of your bench grinder. Looks like a beaver chewed it off and then look at what you did to your wheel. 
   Matabo, or undoubtedly others make a five inch reinforced cut off wheel with a 7/8 inch hole. So i made a stout bushing and washer to hold a cut off wheel on a bench grinder. (make it large enough to center the wheel in the guard of the grinder. i of course had to build a new tool rest with a slot in it so the piece will not fall off into the grinder when you cut through. (leave plenty of overhang behind the wheel).
   Be sure to leave all the guards on the grinder, this thing will throw a lot of sparks. But Matabo wheels are made to fit in a hand grinder so they are really tough, no danger of them exploding. (if abused they can get crushed and throw little pieces of abrasive quite fast, so use the guards and eye protection.


----------



## Tin Falcon (Jun 25, 2011)

I would just put a cut off wheel on my 4 1/4 grinder and use that. 
Tin


----------



## Noitoen (Jun 25, 2011)

I think that those thin cut-off wheels for hand grinders are designed for high rpm machines like the hand grinders. Bench grinder would be too slow for them.


----------



## steamer (Jun 25, 2011)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> I would just put a cut off wheel on my 4 1/4 grinder and use that.
> Tin



The other nice thing about doing it in a 4 1/4" hand grinder is the open part of the guard is facing AWAY from you. I hate cut off wheels..

Dave


----------



## bazzz (Jun 25, 2011)

HF sells a guard that can be attached to a hand grinder to make it safer to use as a cut-off tool. The price seems reasonable to me for what is is.

http://www.harborfreight.com/safety-guard-for-angle-grinders-45921.html


----------



## shred (Jun 25, 2011)

I've used cut-off wheels in my surface grinder and they work great, albeit slow, to cut off tool steel and the like. You would want a non-shattering-one to use in a bench grinder if that's all you had.


----------



## Tin Falcon (Jun 25, 2011)

bazz I like that. 
Tin


----------



## Omnimill (Jun 25, 2011)

Seen these?

http://www2.westfalia.net/shops/too...194545-stand_for_single_hand_angle_grinde.htm

Vic.


----------



## Tin Falcon (Jun 25, 2011)

I do not recall seeing anyone say your idea was bad. It apparently works for you. There is a lot of experience here I suggest you learn from it. You are a self proclaimed newbie and you are welcome as long as you show respect to others here. There is nothing wrong with creative ideas but I suggest you learn the proven ways of doing things first. 
 One of our concerns here is safety. There is nothing wrong with out of the box thinking . But one must understand what is in the box first. 
I have been professionally trained as a machinist. I have worked in many trades. I have all my fingers. tried and true methods are just that tried and true and usually safe. Yes there is always room for innovation and improvement. 
Tin


----------

