Surface grinding.

SteelSlaver

SteelSlaver

Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
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I have made a couple folders and am going to make more. Easy to see the need for solid thickness and flatness control. My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas and so I now have a 4x8 magnetic chuck and a cross feed vise with about 6" of travel in both directions. I want to set my one of my 2 belt grinders so that when I want I can attach the cross feed vise under the contact wheel and clamp the mag chuck in the jaws and then use the cross feed to run the chuck and pieces of stock under the contact wheel and grind to thickness. By adjusting the height of the assembly on a pivot with a jack bolt I should be able to control the depth of cut and resulting thickness. I should also be able to do hollow grinds with this assembly by moving a piece side ways against the wheel.

Good idea? Stupid? Which way should I set it up to primarily feed. Should the piece move under the wheel in the same direction as belt travel or against. Has anyone tried this. Problems anyone sees. Any ideas welcome
 
Sounds like a good idea, I would not run against the belt travel though. Tinkering may be the way to success. Let us know how your project turns out. good luck.
 
I've used a surface grinder quite often and I found that heat build up is the culprit. Your cross vise is too slow and will allow the piece to overheat and grow. When it grows it will spit it out right off the magnetic chuck. Can you modify the cross vise to move fast possibly?
 
Interesting, I have no real experience with surface grinders, how fast does the set up usually travel. I only plan to do smaller pieces. I could figure out a way to power the feed. I think if it is stable I could crank it pretty quick,the cross feed has acme threads and I could go at least 6 inches per minute by hand, but there is the small gear reduction motor route. I could also make some steeper threads and a nut for the feed screw.
 
Take off one of the crossfeed handles and attach a nut if you can. Then chuck a socket in your cordless drill and you now have power feed.
 
the speed of travel needed is somewhat controlled by the depth of cut.taking off .0002 and moving at six inches per second is going to work out ok. But trying to take off .002 and feeding at six inches per second is going to build alot of heat and warp whatever you are trying to make flat.
 
striper28 said:
Take off one of the crossfeed handles and attach a nut if you can. Then chuck a socket in your cordless drill and you now have power feed.
Click to expand...

excellent idea and I can do. First I got to get it mounted. I was thinking about rather thin cuts anyway. But, it makes me wonder
If I cut heavy do I need to be able to do it rapidly to avoid heat built up or very rapidly to avoid giving it the chance to get hot. Probably a stupid guestion. Wouldn't grit size and belt speed also affect this. For flat parts I am mostly wanting to do folder parts, ie lock bars, the piece that has the spring or holds it.
 
yep, almost impossible for a human to turn a knob consistently for multiple cycles through 360 degrees. There's almost always a small pause somewhere.
 
I'll leave it to you and some experimentation, but suspect it will not work. The setup and rigidity of a surface grinder is many times sturdier than what you are planing. There are probably some real safety issues,too. Be careful. If I was asked by a friend about this, I would tell them not to do it. I don't know you, but consider the folks on this site my friends - Don't do it.

Stacy
 
I promise I will be careful. I built all kinds of devices for use in an operating oil refinery. I can even touch base with a couple of engineers. The grinder I plan to use has the contact wheel on a shaft and it is on 2 good sized pillow blocks. I plan to mount my contraption to the same base. I am not to worried about it coming loose or breaking. I will make it plenty sturdy. My main concern it the piece that I am grinding coming loose and flying around. The mag chuck does have stops so that will help. I may place a object trap in the flight path. A piece of ar plate at an angle towards a sand box. Also keep myself out of the way. Start with very light passes.
 
I've seen a photo of a surface grinder made exactly as you mentioned.... I'll look through my web bookmarks and see if I can dig it up. The one I'm refering to had a hefty cross-feed table - the nice thing about larger cross-feed tables (as opposed to the little ones) is that their sheer mass provides a good deal of rigidity.

In terms of overheating - whats wrong with spraying some coolant on the workpiece? Is it going to hurt the grinder? The belt? If coolant is an issue, what about just compressed air?

I say be safe, and go for it! Since you're not (necessarily) trying to grind away massive amounts of material, why not build one with a ceramic-wheel bench grinder? I think doing so may remove some variables in the overall system; and I think that a bench grinder may be more coolant-friendly. Also, considering that many surface grinders are hand-fed, I'm asssuming that dwell-marks may not be much of an issue with a ceramic wheel.
 
I looked the cross feed table over It feeds 8 " in on direction and 6 in the other. It is no light weight unit. Out weighs the chuck by a chunk. The reason I don't go with another grinder is that my little shop and garage are full, full. I will give it a shot. I am not going to get in a hurry and will do it right
 
I have been using my surface {{Norton} since 1990. I have learned alot about it. If you use good belts and don't take too much cut on each pass, you will not have a heat problem. Don't forget to dress your magnet to match your contact wheel. A surface grinder is dangerous doing the best you can do. If mine went down I would probably shut my shop down till I had it repaired. Great for flattening handle material. Can anyone tell me how to finish a flat on a blade so good on the surface grinder than you can go to the buffer for a mirror finish????????? I always get belt splice marks reguardless how slow I travel. I would be interesting in knowing how you come out with your project.
 
I wonder if you can remove the X screw and knob and simply slide the table back and forth? Some of the more expensive surface grinders glide easily back and forth on bearings and also have spring loaded bumpers to bounce the table effortlessly. They are a joy to use.
 
Bruce, mine is not that smooth especially when you tighten everything up. I am going to try it by had first, Then try a variable speed drill. It will be a while before it is completed This is a hobby for me YET. Plus, the plant is coming onto a major maintenance period and I will have a large crew and lots of overtime. I am doing some measuring and drawing now.
 
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