Thread: Fat wheels for grinders.

The industrial grade 8" Abbott & Ashby bench grinder has 50mm wide guards and the Blu-Max wheels are 40mm wide. Based purely on these measurements you'd think that a Blu-Max wheel would fit onto an 8" Abbott & Ashby grinder without having to do any modifications. Has anyone here done it?

My grinder is an A&A 8" v. similar to what's pictured in your link and the guards might be wide enough but the nut might foul them depending on the depth of recess in the wheel.

Ern the depth of the recess is made so that the thickness is the same as a normal wheel. So your nut will still tighten up roughly to the same spot.

Thanks DJ.

Over to you Cliffy.

Originally Posted by rsser

Thanks DJ.

Over to you Cliffy.

Ta, yeap, what he said....
I have a fat white one & a fat blue one & the recess is the same as a standard wheel.

cliffy all good etc...

question :

rev's v's balance between 2 diff sized/wieghted wheels v's lopsidedness v's bearing wear v's uncontrolled spinning v's shattered wheels = broken cliffy ? Issue ?

Ta.

I'll check the weight on those wheels.... first thing after Christmas... I promise.

They are only half as wide again as the originals & since there is a recess in the extra width, it wouldn't add 50% more weight.

The blue one is very open grained so is most likely lighter than the original grey wheel.
They are much nicer stones than the original grey crap that comes with it so there is less vibration while it is running.

I seriously doubt that the Makita grinder that I have fitted them to is built that close to the margin that the bit of extra weight that I'm adding will cause any problems.

( I will check one day, honest.... next time I'm changing wheels or bearings )

I have some more to add, I have ordered an 80grit pink wheel to replace the 60 grit white wheel that is getting a bit ratty & has lost some of it's diameter.
When it arrives, I'll knock all the covers off & weigh all the wheels, including the originals that I haven't chucked out.

In the mean time, I have made some mods to the sharpening jigs.

I have a Hiturn, pictures here, & mounts for it to go in front of both wheels.

I also have a Unijig 5, more pictures here (link to unijig now gone missing?), but it only has one mount so I have bought some steel to make up a new mount. (2 the same actually)

I got a bit of 25mm SHS about 500mm long & a bit of 20mm SHS about 900mm long.
They are stainless steel ('cos you won't find offcuts that small at the steel merchants) & cost a total of $17.

I hacked them both in half & since I don't have a way of welding anything, (let alone SS), I drilled them straight through one side & out the other with a 5mm bit.

Note on drilling SS. (This also works very well with all steel)
Centre punch the marks first.
Use a sharp bit.
Use a low speed.
Use lubricate.
Secure the work piece firmly.
Use a firm feed pressure.

I then enlarged the holes on one side to take the head of the screw & counter sunk the holes on the inside to allow the bugle head screws to sink into it & only protrude slightly (You can see it in the pictures below.)

For a locking screw, I had some 25mm long 6x1mm bugle head allen drive machine screws & a 6x1 mm taper for chuck jaw mods so I drilled a 5.5mm hole in the side of the casing piece & taped it out.
The hole only has about 1.5 full threads in it but it is strong enough to hold the sliding insert in place.

1. Shows the component parts with the old mount on the right.
2. Shows them slide together with the old one on the right & the tool holder added to the pic.
3. Shows the screw heads up the casing tube. It doesn't mater that the protrude a bit 'cos the 20mm is a loose fit inside the 25mm.
4. Shows how I used another of the 25mm 6x1mm screws taped through the end of the sliding bar as a pivot point. I'll see if I can get a nut to go on it to stop if from vibrating loose. I may just stick a dob of araldite on it too.

To change the jig mounts meant taking the grinder off the base.
Since I always use my grinder sitting on a workmate, I added a 'cleat' to the bottom of the platform to grip it in the workmate.

1. Grinder removed, you can see where the old jig used to sit. Position for new casing marked out & hole hacked in Ali angle & spacer on the right side to allow for the sliding bar. The Ali Angle & spacer are for mounting the Hiturn when it is to be used.

2. New 'cleat' held on the bottom of the platform with a couple of batten screws.

3. Platform in positing showing how the new cleat holds it in the workmate.

More pics to come once the new wheel arrives.

In the mean time, for anybody who stumbles in here wondering what this is all about, there are several threads about fingernail jigs & similar below.

All worth a look.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/grinding-jigs-10062
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/sharpening-36030
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/sharpening-stuff-36178
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f44/stu-tokyo-sharpening-jigs-47046
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/fingernail-jig-2-a-51792
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/grinding-jig-mkii-54676

I went looking for the missing Unijig website, it seems that they have disappeared now.

While I was googling around, I found this in the archives.

. Stirrer

I found some other old stuff too....
Unfortunately, the links to the pics have long since ceased to function.

Originally Posted by Zed

cliffy all good etc...

question :

rev's v's balance between 2 diff sized/wieghted wheels v's lopsidedness v's bearing wear
Yes, it will end that way, but might take quite a while with home use
v's uncontrolled spinning v's shattered wheels = broken cliffy ? Issue ?
Only if Cliff can't recognise the sound of worn bearings
Ta.
My pleasure