Surface Grinder

Sean Yaw

Sean Yaw

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
416
I am thinking about picking up a used surface grinder. Does anyone have any advice on manual vs hydraulic? Is it a particularly bad idea to think about buying one without inspecting it? I live in Montana and find it hard to find machinery on Craigslist. Am I correct that I will be able to run a 220 or 110, 3 phase machine through a VFD? Are there any things that I should be thinking about, or asking a seller?

Finally, am I allowed to post links to specific machines from eBay or Craigslist to get opinions? I stepped over the line in another post with mentioning/linking specific vendors for materials, so I'm not sure if links are appropriate in this case. Thank you for your wisdom.
 
Hydraulic is certainly useful if you have many parts of the same configuration.... my boyar Schulz was manual. Would have been nice to have hydraulic but it’s not like I was sitting there using it all the time all day long.

I ran mine off my KABC vfd 110v

Does it have a Magnetic chuck? What kind? What condition?

Is there any binding in the hand controls? XYZ axes

Oiler for ways?

It’s a “bad” idea if you don’t know or trust the seller and if you don’t want to deal with possibly taking apart the machine and cleaning it and evaluating it if there’s a problem

Ask for a video of it operating?
 
Posting a photo link of a machine or other thing you are considering buying is OK. Try to avoid posting whole sales links like Craigslist ads and such.
 
A vfd will run the motor... But if you're getting a hydraulic /automatic machine the wiring is complex and you can't run it all off of a vfd. You would need a phase converter
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. There are four machines that I am considering:
A "basically new" Tormach PSG-612 for about $2.5k. It is 110 and automatic. Not a big hefty machine, but very appealing. I'm not sure how competitive the price is.
00M0M_2WYrz8Mj44iz_0t20CI_1200x900.jpg

A Birmingham WSG-618 for $1K. It looks like it is in good shape, but I have not seen a video yet. Not automatic.
s-l1600.jpg

A Chevalier 6x12 automatic, asking $2.75k. I don't have any detail on this one yet. I haven't seen any Chevalier's with this paint scheme, so it may have had some work done. It is missing some placards too.
00i0i_fNOBzbDhCHfz_0t20CI_1200x900.jpg

A Jones and Shipman for $1.8k. I don't know much about this one either. It's hydraulic and looks like a manageable size.
00g0g_4lerdKoA79kz_0t20CI_1200x900.jpg

I know I am providing terribly minimal information, but does anything jump out as a clear red flag or a clear green flag? Thanks again.
 
The Tormach sounds like a great deal. Another question to ask is what software, tooling, or other extras come with the machine.
 
I agree, tormach looks good - it looks like Tormach discontinued making this model so get any extra parts you could need sooner rather than later. For all the others I would want to test them first to see how they perform and make sure the bearings still have their pre-load and you can get a good finish.
 
If it is my decision i will get "basically new" first one . New is new and other reason would be this
Skip to 1.30 min. this guy talk to much and have no idea how balancing should be done ,he waste to much time to do simple job .
 
I got a screaming deal on a Harig 6x12 from a guy near me that dropped it off and everything. I have not started running it yet, but should really get on that. It is very strange that everyone I have talked to has a 3-phase motor on theirs, but this one has a single phase. It may have been replaced, but seems quite old as well. Who knows. I'll find out once I put in a 220 outlet for it. I also need to do some detective work because there is no wiring diagram in the terminal box!

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Sean Yaw said:
I got a screaming deal on a Harig 6x12 from a guy near me that dropped it off and everything. I have not started running it yet, but should really get on that. It is very strange that everyone I have talked to have a 3-phase motor on theirs, but this one has a single phase. It may have been replaced, but seems quite old as well. Who knows. I'll find out once I put in a 220 outlet for it. I also need to do some detective work because there is no wiring diagram in the terminal box!

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Nice! Those Harigs seem pretty reliable. Do you know if that Tormach PSG-612 is still for sale?
 
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