12-14-16" Contact Wheel - TW90 Question

DustinY

DustinY

Joined
Dec 29, 2016
Messages
754
So,

I'll start this off by saying i love the grinder i purchased, it does everything incredibly well and is super reliable, but is a 12 inch contact wheel really 500$? I SHOULD have got the 12" when i bought the grinder, but i selected the 8" out of ignorance and not knowing what / when i'd be trying to hollow grind. I'm trying to find an economical way to get a bigger wheel, and Travis uses a pin system with his wheels, maybe i can order a wheel, and just take my wheel on and off? Let me know your thoughts, trying to be economical lol, so if it's possible, maybe that's what i'll do. Maybe i'll just purchase the 500$ one and cry later.

Regards,

Dustin :)
 
I would like a 10 inch serrated wheel for my Hardcore and that’s 350+ shipping...

I believe some TW parts are made by Hardcore (and maybe the contact wheels) so it’s an American made part by an American company....
 
His wheels were labelled as Stephen Bader wheels.

Made in US, trued and balanced.

You can get chinese wheels, but then you have to solve the problems of mounting, truing and balancing.
 
Ive gotten several contact wheels from Ameribrade. At the time they sourced them from China. They were plenty balanced for my needs. Kind of ugly though.

Their website says their new wheels are now made in the US. https://www.ameribrade.com/shop/contact-wheels

You can get the Chinese ones directly from lpaladin Abrasives on Alibaba. They take a long time to ship, and you need to get the right bearing size.

I am curious. Can the TW90 even use a wheel larger then 10 inch? I would think 16 inches wouldn't fit.
 
SirSpice said:
Ive gotten several contact wheels from Ameribrade. At the time they sourced them from China. They were plenty balanced for my needs. Kind of ugly though.

Their website says their new wheels are now made in the US. https://www.ameribrade.com/shop/contact-wheels

You can get the Chinese ones directly from lpaladin Abrasives on Alibaba. They take a long time to ship, and you need to get the right bearing size.

I am curious. Can the TW90 even use a wheel larger then 10 inch? I would think 16 inches wouldn't fit.
Click to expand...

He's selling the 12" so i assume that fits, but you're probably right 14 and 16 would be no go's
 
Within reason, you can put any size wheel on a grinder. You just use a longer arm and belt for very large wheels.
 
I had bad luck with my Chinese contact wheel...so I just ordered a new one from Sunray Inc. They’ll do custom sizes and materials. Takes a bit to get them, but might be worth checking on price.

Jeremy
 
You don't have to use the same mounting system as your 8" wheel. Just get a 1.25" piece of square bar and drill and tap for whatever wheel bearings you end up with. Space it as needed with some machine bushings, and you'll be good to go.

A piece of 1.25" aluminum square bar should cost you less than $1 per inch. Ameribrade wheels are $200 for a 12" or $250 for 14".
 
I also recommend a separate arm for each wheel attachment. I bought a bundle of square stock in 1.5" and 2.0" sizes and had a machinist friend slot/drill/tap them as needed to fit Bader, TW-90, and Reeder.
I traded some handle material to him for the labor, and the 20 feet of square stock to make the whole batch (12 arms, IIRC) cost about $250.

TIP:
Make a "tool arm rack" from four uprights of scrap pipe or angle iron you my have laying around and use muffler straps or U-bolts to attach 24" sections of heavy wall 3" PVC pipe down the sides of it. Stick the tool arms in the tubes. It is best to bolt it to the wall because it will be top heavy when full of wheels and arms, but if you want to get fancy, put wheels on a 36" wide base and you can roll it around the shop. You can also put sections of 3" to 6" PVC sticking out across the top to hang belts on. If you use 6" PV, you can put extra belts or other supplies inside of the tubes.

You can also make the whole rach from 3" PVC and fittings, but be sure to glue all joints fully and secure it to the wall.

If using 2" angle iron, you can just put U-bolts on the sides ( nuts on each side of the upright) and run the arms through the two U's.

Another idea is to get a storage locker ( say 24" wide by 72" tall, and bolt the tubing on each side. Store stuff inside the locker and stick all your tool arms in the tubes. Again, best to bolt the locker to the wall for safety.

Look around the local scrap yard and see what they have in g in aluminum/steel/stainless pipe/tubing. At 30 cents to $1 a pound you can make a really cool rack.
 
Drew Riley said:
You don't have to use the same mounting system as your 8" wheel. Just get a 1.25" piece of square bar and drill and tap for whatever wheel bearings you end up with. Space it as needed with some machine bushings, and you'll be good to go.

A piece of 1.25" aluminum square bar should cost you less than $1 per inch. Ameribrade wheels are $200 for a 12" or $250 for 14".
Click to expand...


I have a way to test the wheels on my existing arms, think I could fit a 14” on the TW? I’m tempted to try!
 
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