[matts37chev]

I have had a old craftsman industrial 7" bench grinder forever

Its now dead and in the trash (it served me well - R.I.P.)

I would like a new 8" Balador, but its out of my price range

I'm looking at the 8" bench grinders at the usual places, sears, lowes, etc.

so far it looks like craftsman, dewalt, and porter cable, any info on these?

$100-$200 is my price range

any other suggestions (not a big online purchaser)

[lt1silverhawk]

I bought my very first one a couple of months ago and just set it up a few weeks back: Ryobi 8 in. Bench Grinder - BGH827. here are some reviews from Amazon on reconditioned units here.

This being my first one, I had to do some serious research. And I am quite weary about buying anything brand new these days. I started looking at what was available locally on Craigslist, but didn't really find anything I liked or that stood out as a good deal, so I moved onto the new stuff. I was originally looking at the usual Harbor Freight stuff, but didn't feel too confident. And like you, I didn't wana buy this particular tool online, sight unseen. So I checked the reviews on Home Depot, which seem fairly positive, and the price was right in my budget.

Aside from testing it out and playing around with it, I haven't done any serious grinding yet. However, I can say it was easy to put together, does have a few plastic parts (the little flip-up covers over the wheels and the coolant tray), is heavy, and not very loud.

If you want, I can post a video of it tonight.

[matts37chev]

I was just looking at a 8" delta, and it was listed as a dewalt?
is delta the heavier duty, line of dewalt now?

I know delta is good stuff and so is dewalt

[BWS]

You sort of get what you pay for in bench grinders.....I know,duh.

But posted to to give you a suggestion.Whatever you get,it can be turned into a dedicated wire brush/wheel setup later.So,snag what the budget will allow for now,then keep an eye out for an old US made workhorse.I've seen really nice,medium to big grinders with stands go for less than 200......don't show up everyday,but you'll be in the position to wait.Best of luck,BW

PS....we just(finally)hooked some 3" snaptight,HVAC duct to our main grinder.It got run over and down,each wheel has its own duct......to a 5 g metal can,1/2 filled with sand.Its a cheapo,but functions very well.If you get on flea-bay,start looking at grinders.....look at some of the nicer ones....they have water traps.It's such an easy 20 minute or so job that makes a big difference in keeping particles from flyin around shop.

[matts37chev]

today I decided I cant afford the bench grinder that I would like to have


so I went to lowes to get either the porter cable 8" or dewalt 8" (keep it under $200)


when I got there, they had a "one only-display model" Delta 6" on clearance was $98 now $68

also, it had no box and was missing the tool rest/guards so they gave me an additional 10% off


Its smaller than I wanted, but for that cheap, I figured I could get a bigger one later, and make this one a tool sharpener

[matts37chev]

i switched some stuff around and took some pieces off the old one, and now its ready to go

boy, they just don't make them like they used to

talk about apples and oranges, comparing these two

[trees]

We have two DeWalt's in our shops. Mine is set up with two grinding wheels and my son has a wire brush and a coarse buffing wheel on his. He has a third unit set up as a finish buffer. The dirty work takes place in the metal working part of the garage and the finish work takes place on his side where there is not near as much grit around. The DeWalts are very good tools for the money.

Both DeWalts were purchased on line and even with shipping, were cheaper than either Lowes or Home Depot in our area.

Trees

[graydog]

Originally Posted by matts37chev

I would like a new 8" Balador, but its out of my price range

I bought a Harbor Freight that looks like a Balador 10 years ago, more or less, and it couldn't be better. See it here for $75.00:
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-...fer-94327.html

[Irelands child]

I looked at some Harbor Fright 6 and 8 inch bench grinders a couple days ago and they did look fairly hefty compared to some of their normal junk on motor driven tools. Will they last - who knows, but the prices were right and for a casual user, probably fine. I'm still using a 1/2Hp, 1952 vintage(the age of my first house), furnace blower motor with a $5 buck stone arbor and a home made tool rest - I do 'aspire' to something better though - my new Grizzly catalog arrived yesterday .

Dave W

[matts37chev]

Originally Posted by graydog

I bought a Harbor Freight that looks like a Balador 10 years ago, more or less, and it couldn't be better. See it here for $75.00:
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-...fer-94327.html

I have seen lots of people on here, have good success with some of HF motorized tools

I just dont like buying much there, I do have some select items, but thats it

[Old Fool]

What I notice about many of the bench grinders on the market today is that the od of the motor housing is as large or larger than the wheels and the shaft length from the motor to the wheel is quite short. Another thing s forget the hp rating and look at the amps. More amps at the same voltage generally equals more power.


Both of those things will limit what you can grind.

If all you wish to do is sharpen drill bits and chisels there are better grinders for that than a bench grinder anyway.

I do not know of the quality of the grinder in the picture, it just happened to show up on a google search. It does show a bench grinder that has larger wheels than the motor housing and the shaft length is adequate imho.

I think the grinder in the first pic is listed at $239 .


good design


poor design

[matts37chev]

Originally Posted by Old Fool

What I notice about many of the bench grinders on the market today is

that the od of the motor housing is as large or larger than the wheels and the shaft length from the motor to the wheel is quite short.


Both of those things will limit what you can grind.

this is my biggest complaint about the one i just bought

[Jim Rockford]

Best thing to do is find another older bench grinder the new ones in a remotely affordable are junk. usually about 1/5th hp..which is really sad.

[Pantaz]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

I looked at some Harbor Fright 6 and 8 inch bench grinders a couple days ago and they did look fairly hefty ...

Yeah, that's what I thought when I bought the 8" (on sale, of course) -- most of that "heft" is empty space!! I discovered that when it fell over and shoved the shaft out one side (the bearing retainer is pretty light gage metal, so it just ripped out.)

Surprisingly low torque. The rotating mass helps via flywheel effect if I shove the work in too hard, but it's slow to recover. In fact, from a dead stop, it takes more than 15 seconds to reach full speed.

I use it primarily for light grinding on HSS, so the slower RPM is more important to me than the power.