Horizontal Grinder Building - Thinking it through...

Brock Cutlery said:
Thanks for the education Drew. The boring head is a cool tool. I think I can get that Aluminum cut based on one of the above.
Any ideas how I might cut that 4.5 hole in the steel plate?
I know I can rough it out by drilling a series of holes around. Then mill smooth?

I found a few vids on boring heads and other methods. This one isn't maybe ideal, but looks like it will work for this one job.

BTW, your grinder design looks pretty great. I would have bought that to start with if it were available.
You thinking of making it a production thing?

Click to expand...
A bi-metal hole saw will cut steel pretty effectively as well. Just don’t get crazy on the speeds, use a good cutting oil, and clear your chips well. Carbide tipped would do even better, but they’re quite pricey, and if just cutting a couple holes, bi-metal will do fine.

Thanks for the compliment. The machine is still going strong and has been a game changer in my shop. I do have plans to hopefully sell some in the future, but it’ll be after I get a cnc router, most likely. Lots of logistics to work out as well I suppose.
 
knife to a gunfight said:
A bi-metal hole saw will cut steel pretty effectively as well. Just don’t get crazy on the speeds, use a good cutting oil, and clear your chips well. Carbide tipped would do even better, but they’re quite pricey, and if just cutting a couple holes, bi-metal will do fine.

Thanks for the compliment. The machine is still going strong and has been a game changer in my shop. I do have plans to hopefully sell some in the future, but it’ll be after I get a cnc router, most likely. Lots of logistics to work out as well I suppose.
Click to expand...

I am going to try out some of the suggestions from you guys. This was really helpful to me, as I know very little about machining but am anxious to learn more.

If you need a beta tester on that grinder let me know. :)
 
Trepanning tool - sounds like it does about the same as a holesaw? Interesting tool.

I used a hole saw to cut a 2-1/2" hole in my plate, bolted the motor up to bottom with shaft sticking thru. Then made the drive wheel with a 2-1/4" section about an inch or so long to stick thru the hole so the drive wheel would be totally supported by the shaft.
 
I'm a little reluctant to post this video because I might catch some flak about safety. This is not a process for the faint of heart, but can be achieved easily, and is a good technique to know. The setup in the vid is a little different than I have used before. I usually use a 1/2" bolt with enough smooth shoulder to extend through the center of the workpiece and partially through a sacrificial part held in the vice. The bolt is double nutted with just enough tension to allow you to rotate freely. Start watching at 8:50.
 
mike-E said:
I'm a little reluctant to post this video because I might catch some flak about safety. This is not a process for the faint of heart, but can be achieved easily, and is a good technique to know. The setup in the vid is a little different than I have used before. I usually use a 1/2" bolt with enough smooth shoulder to extend through the center of the workpiece and partially through a sacrificial part held in the vice. The bolt is double nutted with just enough tension to allow you to rotate freely. Start watching at 8:50.
Click to expand...

Eh, people do it with slip joints. Why not. Just watch the bolt tension so it doesn't free up and keep the cuts shallow.
 
mike-E said:
I'm a little reluctant to post this video because I might catch some flak about safety. This is not a process for the faint of heart, but can be achieved easily, and is a good technique to know. The setup in the vid is a little different than I have used before. I usually use a 1/2" bolt with enough smooth shoulder to extend through the center of the workpiece and partially through a sacrificial part held in the vice. The bolt is double nutted with just enough tension to allow you to rotate freely. Start watching at 8:50.
Click to expand...

That is fascinating! My first thought is that you could maybe use that technique to cut several plates for a large wheel hub, maybe.. . But cool technique!
 
A little update on the plate hole cutting. What I ended up doing for the aluminum is cutting with a jug saw. I tried cutting with a circle cutter, but it was soooooo sllooooowwww.
I did get 1/8 inch deep circle to follow with the saw though, so it was helpful.
For the 1/4 steel plate I drilled holes all the way around, then cut with jig saw to connect them to cut out the circle.
The interesting part to me was how well the mounted mini-router worked with a bur cutter to clean everything up. I even used it to enlarge the motor mount holes because I was off a tad on their alignment.
I was amazed at how well it cut the steel even. I am sure it could have gone sideways and killed me, so I don't recommend it for safety reasons, but it did clean up the holes for me.

plateholes1.jpg
plateholes2.jpg

plateholes3.jpg
 
If it wasn’t for transfer screws, I could never get anything to line up. Hey for us dinosaurs, a good jigsaw is high tech! Amazed at what so many do design wise in solidworks and all the cnc machining that gets posted. Wish I had learned some of those skills. Going to have to go pick up some mini burs to try out.

Great work on the horizontal
 
WC53 said:
If it wasn’t for transfer screws, I could never get anything to line up. Hey for us dinosaurs, a good jigsaw is high tech! Amazed at what so many do design wise in solidworks and all the cnc machining that gets posted. Wish I had learned some of those skills. Going to have to go pick up some mini burs to try out.

Great work on the horizontal
Click to expand...

Transfer screws.... Learn something new every day. Thanks!
 
I tried to find carbide burrs with a half inch shank to use on my big router and came up empty. I was going to mount it on the underside of a plate with an 1/8" of the smooth portion above the surface to act as a sort of bearing guide for repeating profiles.
Nice job on getting that hole cut. It worked out nicely.
 
I was cut the end out of a beer barrel the other day and later was talking to my neighbor. He asked what I was working on. I told him I was making a new slack tub from a beer barrel ( it may become a forge later on). He said it sounded like I was cutting a car in half with a demolition saw.
 
I've been thinking lot of what I need in horizontal grinder I intend soon to make .After I look in many different configuration of horizontal grinders I come to this .......2 X 42 belt , 2800 rpm 3 phase motor with 15cm Dia.wheel with polyurethane and small 3cm Dia. wheel also with rubber .
Motor and drive wheel will do tracking job and small wheel will act as tension wheel . That s it . ..
What do you think about this ?

2IG28as.png
 
Last edited:
I still fail to see the need for a horizontal grinder.
Wouldn't a vertical tool rest do exactly the same thing without all the expense?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top