Thread: Surface vs Flick Grinder

Originally Posted by DSEL74

Can anyone enlighten me in basic terms what is the difference between Surface vs Flick Grinder. An accomplished engineer told me to only look at a proper surface grinder and not one of those flick grinders. From what he was saying the flick grinders have a large four prong handle.

It was a case of keep my mouth shut and nod and appear stupid than open my mouth and remove all doubt. Everyone here already knows I'm stuuuupid so I can ask freely.

Having to google "flick grinder" All that came up is they are just your bench top hand operated surface grinder.. They are still a surface grinder.. http://www.apexmc.com.au/grinders/pic1449sm.jpg

Never heard of a flick grinder, I've probably led a sheltered life. Does the "flick" refer to what happens to unclamped parts?

As you can see below it has the pronged feed, in this case a three prong.

Macson Grinding & Linishing for sale - U11081 - Macson - Flick Grinder

I got the impression it was more than just the size/bench top and was unrelated to not having power feed. The engineer himself had a small non powerfeed surface grinder on a factory stand, which he didn't consider a flick grinder and it didn't have the pronged feed levers.

Well if some of you guys don't know or haven't heard the reference before I don't feel so bad being clueless.

From wikipedia:

A flick grinder is a surface grinder or tool and cutter grinder, its usage is varied, but it may be used where great accuracy is not required, but a machine superior to a bench grinder is required.
Besides the grinding wheel, the machine is hand powered on all axes. The machine may be used to cut die punches to length or to perform grinding operations such as grinding flats or other shapes on punches etc
.

From another source:

I have a question that seeks an answer. On Wikipedia there is an item titled "Flick Grinder" that shows a machine similar to Grizzly's 6x12 G5963 surface grinder. There is no explanation why it is called a "Flick Grinder" and I cannot think of a reason (except that it might be a German product made by a Flick Family Company).
I have asked the service personnel at Grizzly-Springfield and they did not know.
The Wikipedia article on "Flick Grinder" refers to "Angle Grinders (a different kind of animal) and to "Cylindrical Grinders (a process- not necessarily a particular machine) Wikipedia needs help expanding the "Flick Grinder" article. If anyone knows the answer - lets edit Wikipedia so that other are better informed.

LIke most others I'm speculating but I wonder whether he refers to them as flick grinders as with the 3 pronged handle you can literally give it a flick and that will push the table along. A benchtop grinder with handwheel will do that but certainly not as easily
That could be the reason behind his warning, in that with a handwheel you will have a relatively constant surface speed (and it's under control all the time). Those capstan type handles would not feed as regularly and have potential to do odd things with surface finish.

Michael

I know what a flick magneto is but I can't say I've heard of a flick grinder. Perhaps your mate was referring to what I know of as a wash grinder. These are the ones with a vertical spindle that grind with the face of a usually very coarse wheel. The grinding head is supported on an arm similar to half of a pantograph which can be adjusted in the Z plane to the required height and moves freely in the X and Y plane by hand. The work piece is held to a stationary table either by clamping or a mag chuck. The grinder is then swept across the work piece by hand.
There was one we had at TAFE which was used for rough sizing a job before finish grinding on a proper surface grinder. It was a lot faster than setting up in a mill when only a small amount of material needed to be removed. It ran dry and left a finish smoother than rough milling but not nearly as fine as a proper surface grinder.
Cheers,
Greg.

In the 70s the Flick pest control company decided to branch out into machine tool manufacture. Their surface grinders weren't well regarded.