Fat Pink Grinding Wheel

[stevew]

Purchased a fat pink grinding wheel at the GPW stand at the Newcastle Woodcraft Show yesterday.
I tried to fit it to my brand new 8 inch grinder and all is not well.
The fat wheel has a recess on the outside ,when you fit the bush ,and slide the wheel on the shaft,then the collar and lastly the nut.When you tighten the nut all the way up it still has not tightened the wheel.
Looks like the recess is too deep.Is it ok to make up some type of spacer out of hardwood to slide on the shaft first to pack it out before tightening the collar and nut.Would this affect balance at all,has anyone else had problems fitting these fat wheels.
Look forward to some informative replies to help me out.
Cheers.
Steve

[Sawdust Maker]

did you accidentally leave off the inside bush?
the recess should make it the same thickness as a standard wheel - at least mine is

[BobL]

Is it ok to make up some type of spacer out of hardwood to slide on the shaft first to pack it out before tightening the collar and nut.

if it packs out the space completely it's probably OK but it's better to use something like a plastic that has a bit of flex that wont crack all of a sudden. If you can post a picture of the problem that would help us find a solution.

[OGYT]

Guessing here. The collar tightens against the bush and not against the wheel. Or the collar isn't sliding over the bushing, but against it. The bush is longer than the wheel is wide - in the center. Grind the bushing down just enough to be slightly shorter than the wheel width. Or get a different collar, one that has a hole large enough to fit over the bushing. I had to do that on one of my wheels.

[stevew]

Managed to fix the problem.The original wheel is 25mm the fat wheel ,inside the recess leaves a wheel thickness of only 20mm.
So,I had some solid nylon tube that I carefully turned down on the wood lathe using the 12mm skew chisel,then drilled a hole for the axle with a 16mm forstner bit ,then very carefully parted it off .The result is fantastic,made the spacer 10mm so it will flex nicely when tightened.
Did not know that you could turn solid nylon/plastic with wood turning tools ,I am learning something every day.
Thanks for your help with the tip about not using hardwood amd going for the plastic.
Cheers.
Steve

P.S. It did take a very long time and lots of patience to turn the plastic though.

[BobL]

Onya Steve. Thanks for posting your solution.

[hughie]

BobL,

As a general rule recessed grinding wheels can used on the side as well as the front face. This is a handy option as the wheel on the side will produce a different grind pattern that is finer or smoother. Good buy :2tsup: you wont be disappointed.