Grinder Vibration

Fallbrook Forge

Fallbrook Forge

Joined
Jan 1, 2006
Messages
1,649
I've got a KMG-TX and with the 10" wheel I get terrible vibration at the top end of the speed range, so bad I can't keep the steel against the wheel.
At the lower end of the speed range it's fine.

I get no discernable vibration withe flat platen.

Could this be the wheel itself? The bearings? Any ideas?
 
If the flat platen doesn't vibrate at top speed, then it sounds like your 10" wheel might be out of balance.
With no belts on the wheel, place a sharpie mark at 12 o'clock. Manually turn the wheel so that this mark is at 3 o'clock. Does the wheel try to move back to 12? Try this in a couple of other positions. The mark should stay wherever you leave it if the wheel is balanced.

If there's no movement, try spinning the wheel as fast as you can by hand. Does it feel smooth? Is there any wobble or side to side movement? It should look almost the the wheel isn't moving at all. Is everything tight on the shaft? Do the bearing feel smooth? Does it make any noise while turning?

A video might help. Show us the wheel spinning by hand, then put a belt on and show the vibration.
 
You might try some of the stick-on wheel weights from a tire shop (on the inside of the rim) if it's a balance issue. Just be sure they are held in place with the forces generated by the spinning wheel. Wouldn't want them flying off when that things moving very fast under a load. The other way would be to shave some material from the circle, once you determine where the vibration is coming from. Be careful!
 
Rather than wheel weights, I think the usual thing to balance a wheel is to drill some holes at appropriate places to balance. Drew wrote up nicely have to check balance so no point in writing more on "how to". Let us know when you've had a chance to check balance of wheel.
 
Fallbrook Forge said:
I've got a KMG-TX and with the 10" wheel I get terrible vibration at the top end of the speed range, so bad I can't keep the steel against the wheel.
At the lower end of the speed range it's fine.

I get no discernible vibration withe flat platen.

Could this be the wheel itself? The bearings? Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I'd make it Beaumont's problem.

You paid full price, it's a new product.
Have them fix it or shove it up their bass

If you want to do it yourself, I'd get a new wheel from
http://www.stephenbader.com/contact-wheels/
 
12345678910 said:
I'd make it Beaumont's problem.

You paid full price, it's a new product.
Have them fix it or shove it up their bass

If you want to do it yourself, I'd get a new wheel from
http://www.stephenbader.com/contact-wheels/
Click to expand...

I feel you’re jumping the gun a bit. I have no idea what it is. So it’s currently my problem. Don’t fret, if it’s a defect I’ll let them know and have them handle it.

quick video of the wheel with marks.
 
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Looks to me like you've definitely got a balance issue. That's a fair bit of movement at the last mark, so I can believe you've got some significant vibration. If I were you, I'd contact Rob at Beaumont and see about swapping it out.
 
BTW, another "sanity" check for testing a wheel is to check it for run out. Just grab a dial indicator and set your base on the tool arm or a tightened work rest. Zero the indicator on the outer face of the wheel and rotate accordingly. If you see the needle swing more than half a thousandth, there's gonna be a chance that the wheel is gonna vibrate. The bigger the swing, the bigger the vibration will be. You can also repeat this test on the sides of the wheel and the inside rim of the wheel. Ideally, the needle shouldn't really move much at all, or at least be within a couple tenths at, say, 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock.

If you don't have a dial indicator with a decent articulating mag base, it's worth the investment, IMO. If you do any kind of machining or machine set up or troubleshooting, it's just about a must have. Now days you can get some pretty decent indicators and bases from places like Grizzly or Shars, without spending a lot of money. I've even seen them at my local big box stores like Menards.
 
Fallbrook Forge said:
I feel you’re jumping the gun a bit. I have no idea what it is. So it’s currently my problem. Don’t fret, if it’s a defect I’ll let them know and have them handle it.

quick video of the wheel with marks.
Click to expand...
Yes , that wheel is not balanced properly .And if there are no shallow drill holes in wheel , it is not balanced at all .You must consider that you have friction in rubber seals and that somehow HIDE how much wheel is unbalanced ....
 
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Got around to emailing Beaumont, they replied the next day requesting some videos and asked how I verified it was out of balance, I explained and sent the videos, I felt they were reasonable requests, they replied the next day asking me to return the wheel and stated they will ship a new one.

I KNOW there are many of you who have had bad experiences with Beaumonts CS, I do believe they have rectified whatever was causing that, learned from it and have improved as a company since then.

I will update again when I get the new wheel.
 
I will comment that the bearings used by Beaumont have not lasted well for me. They may have solved this problem, but I haven't used their bearings in a good while.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I will comment that the bearings used by Beaumont have not lasted well for me. They may have solved this problem, but I haven't used their bearings in a good while.
Click to expand...

I've noticed similar. I can't remember if they put a spacer in between their idler wheels, but I definitely had problems with the bearings, and it's not like I was running them balls out either. Usually less 1800 RPM on the 2" aluminum idlers. My 8" contact is still ok, but I really don't use that very often.

Fallbrook Forge said:
I KNOW there are many of you who have had bad experiences with Beaumonts CS, I do believe they have rectified whatever was causing that, learned from it and have improved as a company since then.
Click to expand...

I've been hearing more and more reviews to this effect. Seems like they have been trying to right the ship. Good for them.
 
I've had issues with several contact wheel manufacturers... There are 3 issues in wheels. Runout along the circumference, side to side wobble, and balancing. I kept having issues with the side to side wobble when checking it on an indicator. Sunray tried to 2 times but couldn't, contact rubber wouldn't even attempt trying to explain it was normal. But it leaves lines in your grind.

You are probably having issues with the balance and maybe run out on the face, have you checked with an indicator?
 
razor-edge-knives said:
I've had issues with several contact wheel manufacturers... There are 3 issues in wheels. Runout along the circumference, side to side wobble, and balancing. I kept having issues with the side to side wobble when checking it on an indicator. Sunray tried to 2 times but couldn't, contact rubber wouldn't even attempt trying to explain it was normal. But it leaves lines in your grind.

You are probably having issues with the balance and maybe run out on the face, have you checked with an indicator?
Click to expand...

I did not check it with a dial indicator, I contacted Beaumont, they said return and we'll send you a new one. I'm ok with that assuming the new one is good.
 
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