Upsizing a Bench Grinder

[WmRMeyers]

I can see a major problem with doing that, if you have a weak small motor fitted to the grinder, by adding that extra big grinding wheel, it will STOP as soon as you apply any decent pressure to that grinding wheel. Instead of being a tight arse, go buy a new grinder with a BIGGER motor and it will work much easier than that little weak grinder you have now. -------------- You are only putting lip stick on a pig, with what you have done. :-)

That's great advise for folks with plenty of money. Doesn't work all that well for folks who are not so well off financially, or for several other possible reasons. I'm 67 years old, closing on 68. Just bought my first 8" bench grinder. I've lived with a 5" or 6" grinder, often hand-cranked, for most of that time. When I was really flush, as a young guy of 43, I bought a second 6" grinder. The 8" unit is a combination bench grinder and polisher from Harbor Freight, and the only reason I got it was that it was used, and about half-off on the replacement price. $63.99, IIRC. It vibrates a bit, probably because of the cheap chinese grinding wheel. One of these days I'll put it on stand, and give it good dressing, and see if that helps. Picked it up last week, tried it out so I could take it back within the 5-day window, if needed. Works fine but for a bit of vibration. I am a cheap bastrich. Wanna guess why I finally popped for a bigger grinder? Had access to a couple of them at school. They vibrate about as bad as this one did, until the wheels are dressed. And I'm finally getting my shop set up to use, seeing as I NEED to use it.

I'm putting the old wheelchair lift in the van I bought to replace my "new" 2022 Hyundai Accent that got destroyed in late November. Lost enough money on the car that it didn't seem a good idea to buy another new car, since I wasn't going to have much in the way of a down payment, and I was kinda itching to start doing at least some of my own maintenance again. Needed a compact metal bender to make the new mounting brackets for the lift. Saw the Grinder/Polisher sitting on a clearance shelf, and grabbed it, too! Gotta go drill a pair of holes in the last bracket, and get everything ready for installation tomorrow. There's a 3pm physical therapy session she needs to go to, and she's been having a lot of problems even walking to the bathroom. Loading and unloading the manual wheelchair has been hurting my back, and pushing it up the hill to the PT's office is risking both our lives!

I have other things I need to spend my limited funds on so expanding the capabilities of a piece of equipment is not a bad idea to me. A good quality wheel, Norton, or other good brand may well cost nearly what I paid for the grinder. It's still going to be cheaper than buying the newer version of the grinder I got: https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...fer-94327.html Pretty sure this is it. Missing the polycarbonate grinding shield, and the outboard washer and nut on mine. Cost me about $2 for a nut & a couple of washers that I plan to solder or braze together and then turn to clean up the assembly. Pretty sure I've got some chunks of 1/4" Polycarbonate to make a new shield from, too. The new version of that grinder is in stock at my HF for $129.99, IIRC, and I've got more time than money, and 50+ years experience getting things that aren't quite right to do the work I need to do. Seems appropriate to me, as my old man said I wasn't quite right a lot of times!

Bill