What use is a bench grinder?

N

Nsled

Joined
May 13, 2019
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52
I get and understand why belt grinders are used for knifemaking, this isn't a question of can I use a 8" wheel bench grinder instead of the belt grinder, but instead what do you use a bench grinder for in your shop? Is there any specific uses where you prefer to turn it on instead of the belt grinder?
 
I dont use one for anything but in the shop where I work...we have a few, the guys touch off tooling edges , debur steel after it gets cut and we also have a scotchbrite wheel on one to debur stuff.
 
I've been using one of my extra 6" buffers for the following, but a decent bench grinder would be better:
Wire wheels - good for deburring and cleaning, orange peel finishes on soft metals, etc...
Scotch brite wheels - good for very light deburring, as well as cleaning and polishing, surface finishing, etc...
Paper sharpening wheels - don't use them much anymore, but I do particularly like the rouge "finishing" wheel for getting a very quick and polished edge.

Eventually I'll probably pick up a couple of decent bench grinders to fit up with some different things. A silicon carbide wheel (or even diamond) for touching up carbide tooling, for instance.
 
I put buffing wheels on mine, and that’s all. I have an extra one underneath my bench that I haven’t even bothered to find a place for.
 
I put on what is called a Convolute Deburring wheel on my bench grinders. This is basically a Scotchbrite wheel that is very dense and hard. The wheel is 8" diameter and 1" wide. It has a 3" hole in the center, so you have to buy a flange to reduce that to 5/8 to fit on most bench grinders. This is a super useful thing for use on flats, and also for deburring. There are a bunch of these out there. Some are softer and some are denser. Some are AO, and some are SC. I always get the very hard and dense very fine silicon carbide one. They aren't cheap, but this usually lasts me for 3-4 years and when I'm done I band saw the remnant into quarters and use it to blend blemishes by hand. SUPER useful.

AND! We carry them at Pops Knife Supply. (You can get the flange at MSC.)

https://popsknife.supplies/products/norton-deburring-wheels?_pos=2&_sid=b1b272bb2&_ss=r
 
GABaus said:
I often just use an old mostly worn out belt for that but a bench grinder isn't inherently better or worse in my experience.
Click to expand...
How are you measuring your results?
Using a worn belt is probably doing heat damage to your drill bits. You’re going to get much better results with a fresh new belt and even better with coolant of some type, water, compressed air, mist.
Larrin has some recent articles dealing with sharpening on a belt grinder. Made me rethink my practices.
 
I use a bench grinder with a stone wheel to clean up or tweak the profiles when I am profiling a blade. If I had a grinder with better attachments though, I would probably just use that.
 
Josh Rider said:
How are you measuring your results?
Using a worn belt is probably doing heat damage to your drill bits. You’re going to get much better results with a fresh new belt and even better with coolant of some type, water, compressed air, mist.
Larrin has some recent articles dealing with sharpening on a belt grinder. Made me rethink my practices.
Click to expand...
There probably is some overheating, but it doesn't visabley change color and generally doesn't get uncomfortable to hold so i don't worry about it much since i am just extending the life of a cheap tool and it isn't like i need to sharpen them again very often with my technique.
 
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