Grinder restoration

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I have an old hand cranked bench grinder I am in the process of putting in order. Most of it is in pretty good shape, but it needs a new grinding wheel. The wheels I can find (e.g. Lee Valley) have bushings that go down to a 1/2 inch shaft). The shaft on the grinder I have is 3/8. Have other folks encountered this, and what was your solution?

[lowell holmes]

You might try a piece of 1/2" of tubing for a bushing. Otherwise, a piece of oak dowel might do for a hand grinder.

[John Vernier]

Since I do a little turning, I made a wooden bushing for mine. I used a piece of green wood from a recently cut tree, and made it an easy fit for the wheel, just to be sure that the wood won't swell and crack the wheel. After a year the wood has probably shrunk, but it served to mount the wheel in place and the side flanges seem to be holding everything in place well enough.

[george wilson]

Nicholas,what part of Va. do you live in? I could turn out a bushing. You used to could buy a set of red plastic bushings that fit inside each other. Just select the one you want.

[Jim Koepke]

I found a metal bushing for mine in my accumulation of odds & ends.

You will likely find one at a well stocked hardware store.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

I have an old hand cranked bench grinder I am in the process of putting in order. Most of it is in pretty good shape, but it needs a new grinding wheel. The wheels I can find (e.g. Lee Valley) have bushings that go down to a 1/2 inch shaft). The shaft on the grinder I have is 3/8. Have other folks encountered this, and what was your solution?

I use the "press-fit drill bushings" here to adapt grinding wheels to different-sized arbors (the proper name for what you call the shaft). Unfortunately McMaster-Carr makes it hard to directly link to the lowest-level product listings. The standard parts go up to 3/4" outer diameter from a 3/8" inner, though McMaster will also make custom sizes to order for a hefty price ($40 ea in small qty).

Grinding wheels are generally a little bit bigger than nominal, so the fact that those bushings are spec'ed 1-2 mils oversize ends up being an advantage. I find that my wheels run truer with the McMaster bushings than with the plastic ones that they come with.