Shop made bench grinder stand

[andrewr79]

A couple of years ago when I moved out my Dad gave me some of his tools that he wouldn't need again but wanted me to have. He kept most of his power tools but when I suggested his bench grinder should come and live with me he gave in and let me take it.

It’s an old Skil brand grinder from either the late 70′s or early 80′s. The brand vanished years ago but appears to have been quite decent at the time. It’s suddenly reappeared in the local hardware giant but the quality difference is very apparent.

This old grinder has 125mm wheels, or 5 inches in old terms. What this means is that buying wheels for it is near impossible, so I’ve been using it with what was on it, and a wire wheel for cleaning tools that didn't need the guard so would still fit.

I've been clamping it to my little portable bench whenever I wanted to use it but have been doing so more and more lately so wanted to give it a permanent home. A few spare hours and some more of the scrap pile resulted in this stand.

It's just pine and MDF, glue and screws and a couple of bolts, and took about an hour and half from start to finish including sanding and oiling it. I made some very stupid design decisions along the way but it all turned out fine in the end. Sometimes I think I should plan on paper rather than making it up as I go along!

If I was doing it over I think I'd consider doing three feet instead of four, one long one across the front plus a back one, as they may have handled the uneven floor in my workshop better, and I would have made them slightly longer just to increase stability, but it works fine as it is and these are just thoughts on how to improve it. I'm very happy with the result and in the two and a bit weeks since I built it it's had about 3 hours use already and is holding up well.

More pictures over on my blog if anyone is interested, I'd upload them here but there's about 10 showing pine being glued to pine and somehow I don't think that's worth the bandwidth for most people who will view this post!

Update : I actually picked up a second grinder yesterday, one with a belt grinder on one side, so Mark II might be on the cards quite soon! What would you do to improve this design second time around, besides the thinks I've already mentioned?

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[Christos]

It does look thin but then again so do the metal stands. Personally I think using plywood would be better for the top. Not able to comment on the other options you mention as I am just not sure.

Just one question, how tall is it?

[andrewr79]

It does look thin but then again so do the metal stands. Personally I think using plywood would be better for the top. Not able to comment on the other options you mention as I am just not sure.

Just one question, how tall is it?

That's a 80 x 80mm main piece so it's not that thin, or doesn't seem too thin anyway.

I think it's about 80cm, I can measure if you like. I just worked out a good height for the grinder in use and built to fit that, so if you're shorter or taller you might like it sized differently.

I'll try ply next time, I just used what I had on hand.

[BobL]

I actually picked up a second grinder yesterday, one with a belt grinder on one side, so Mark II might be on the cards quite soon! What would you do to improve this design second time around, besides the thinks I've already mentioned?

You might get some ideas from this;




That's 3 grinders all on one stand that rotates on a giant lazy-susan type bearing - full WIP in this thread https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/wh...50/index6.html - starts at post #89

I think the feet on your design are too short for a free standing pedestal. if it were to tip over while running a grinder wheel may actually explode. It would be OK if it was bolted down

[andrewr79]

That's a lot of grinders! Thanks for the pictures, it might just work for me!

[Dengue]

Sorry Andrew, it just looks unstable to me, esp with the wheels appearing to be almost outside the base outline. You would not want to push hard against it, nor have little kids ( or yourself) bump it - from the looks of it wouldn't take much to push the centre of gravity of the setup beyond the point of stability.

The bases for most bench grinder stands I have seen have been solid metal plate bolted to the ground, with solid steel pipe welded to it to hold the grinder. There must be a reason for this long established practice

[andrewr79]

You're all basically echoing my thoughts about stability, so I think the next time I'm in the workshop the legs get extended. Thank you for the comments!

[Christos]

At the moment I am in the process of building a stand for the grinder. Not your regular grinder, more like the washing machine motor with the grinding wheels attached via belt. It does have a tendency of walking around the bench if I do not clamp it down.

I originally got this from a person that was throwing it out.

My thinking is to get a box shape so that I can place a draws or cupboard under so that I can store things away related to the grinder.

[issatree]

Hi All,
I used a 14 - 15in. Car Wheel, welded a bit of ½in. Plate, then a bit of 3in. Pipe, another bit of Plate.
Turned it upside down & put 3 big Tex? screws as far to the out side of the Wheel, & so by having it sit on 3 points, it does not Rock or Walk.

[derekcohen]

Hi Andrew

In addition to stability for the grinder machine, there needs to be stability when grinding at the wheels. In other words, a grinding rest for blades. Where do you plan to attach yours? The dinky rests that come with most grinders are inadequate for the task. God knows why they waste money including them as they need to be replaced (for example, by the Veritas version).

Anyway, I'd aim for a more substantial stand for the grind (bench top?) as well as a more substantial tool rest.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[andrewr79]

Derek,

Thanks for the advice re tool rests. I actually hadn't used the grinding wheel that extensively, preferring to flat grind on waterstones. I don't use a rest when using the wire wheel.

I did however manage to pick up an ex-display stock combination 6" grinder and belt grinder during the week minus the tool rests (hooray for both ex-display models and Christmas gifts of Bunnings vouchers!) and have already decided after a few hours of experimentation that it will replace the waterstones for grinding so I'm in the process of building more substantial replacements for the tool rests.

I've got a set of heavy pine shelves I want to take down off my benchtop that I think can be placed against the wall and have both grinders attached to in instead. It's 240mm deep by 900mm long so should be nice and stable, and may even have room for an aftermarket tool
rest later down the track.

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Cheers
Andrew