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Delta grinder ?

Frank Fusco

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
I'm considering purchasing one of the Delta vs grinders and a 100 grit wheel to put on it.
CS has them for $179.99 plus shipping ($20 or $25 depending on which of their catalogs you look at :huh: ).
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s..._Speed_Grinder___delta_8_variable_speed?Args=
Amazon has, or doesn't have them, depending on when you look at the site. :huh::huh:
But reviews at Amazon are less than encouraging. Reviewers (customers who have purchased) use words like "vibrate", "wobble" , etc.
Local Lowe's has for $129.00 and no shipping. Good deal. But, even then, I'm buying new to get away from a shaker and wobbler.
Anyone here with experience with one of these?
 
I've got the Woodcraft grinder as well, but I have to say, at our FEWS meeting I used the Baldor grinder that Suzuki san brings to each meeting and there is no comparison, the Baldor grinder is one sweet machine, but it is not cheap.

Is the Delta better than the Woodcraft grinder? :dunno:

Most of the "Wobble" etc you get on a grinder is the stones, I use the OneWay balancing system on my set up, it turns the cheap Woodcraft grinder into a very useable tool.

Stu
 
Stuart Ablett said:
I've got the Woodcraft grinder as well, but I have to say, at our FEWS meeting I used the Baldor grinder that Suzuki san brings to each meeting and there is no comparison, the Baldor grinder is one sweet machine, but it is not cheap.

Is the Delta better than the Woodcraft grinder? :dunno:

Most of the "Wobble" etc you get on a grinder is the stones, I use the OneWay balancing system on my set up, it turns the cheap Woodcraft grinder into a very useable tool.

Stu
Click to expand...

I have a 6" Baldor, and it's so smooth you almost don't know it's running. It also has a terrific set of bearings - it takes it quite a while to 'wind down' after I shut it off. I'm using some Norton premium quality wheels on it.

I also have the Woodcraft 8" slow speed grinder - also with the Norton wheels, and it runs very smoothly, too - but not as smooth as the Baldor.

The wheels that came with the Woodcraft grinder were junk. They were way out of balance, and when I tried to use the diamond dresser on them I found they had very inconsistent density. Some spots were very hard, others practically crumbled under the diamond. They also wobbled like crazy. The combination caused some very bad vibration.

The third grinder I have is a Delta, with a 6" wheel on one end and a 3 X 24 sanding belt on the other. If I remove the belt, it's very smooth and quiet. Putting the sanding belt back on makes it very noisy, and also imparts some vibration to it. I seldom use this one, and generally keep it stored under a bench, but still, it comes in handy at times.
 
I've got the 8" delta variable speed. It's the shopmaster version. It's 3 years old and popped the capacitor about 3 weeks ago. A replacement (American made) was 15 bucks. It vibrated badly when I first got it. Most of the vibration was taken care of once I got a better set of wheels. The vs has been handy.
 
Frank I got the Delta variable speed 8 inch grinder and I changed the wheel for 80 grit Norton and put the one way balancing on and its fine. Of course when you add up all the extras it makes you think? But i have not seen a standard bench top grinder that is sold with decent fine grit wheels out of the box.

I come back to a point i keep making and hoping some manufacturing engineers that might by the off chance consider reading the forums their customers frequent. If they did I ask them to consider the fact that they already have a tool stand in terms of cost of material and forming so why the heck not have it manufactured properly. Same with the visors. Why value engineer the item to the point where you strip the value from it. Yup I understand form fit and function but there is more to it than that.

Best of luck with the decision Frank.
 
I got the Delta VS grinder from Lowes. Came home , set it up and sharpened one lathe tool just fine on low speed. Then started sharpening the second tool and grinder went full speed. No more VS. Only high. Took back to Lowes same day and got money back. I got the low speed one from Woodcraft and love it.
 
I'm one more guy with the Woodcraft slow grinder who replaced the wheels that came with it, and also added the Oneway balancing kit. I've been happy with it for the price and would recommend it to others with the caveat that it may take a bit of tweaking to get things running smooth. (But worth the tweaking, since running smooth is hugely important.)

I very much regret giving away my granddad's old bench grinder. I don't know what brand it was, but I suspect it was an old Baldor. (Wouldn't have recognized the name back then.) It was built like a tank and took forever to wind down after running. I could lift it, but not carry it far. I gave it to a friend in exchange for some help he gave me fixing a roof, at a time when I needed a roof more than a grinder. :doh:
 
I picked up an 8" low speed with Norton wheels already on it from the machine shop mortician. Finest no-name grinder produced by the T. A. Iwan tool company and the best $19 I have spent in a long time. I wouldn't buy any power tool with the Delta name on it. I would get the Woodcraft and tweak it.
Dale
 
Another vote for the Woodcraft slow speed. Comes with pretty decent wheels, and runs smoothly. It goes on sale sometimes at either about $80 or free shipping, if you can wait.
 
I have a Delta - 8" Model 23-725 slow speed grinder with 60 grit and 120 grit wheels. I got it on sale at Tool Barn in Las Vegas fairly cheap as it was the floor model.
It has no wobble and i did not have to anything to it. solid tool rests and heavy duty. All i can say is i have had no issues so far with it and i really like how solid it is.

I also have a Jet wet grinder that works great and have no problems with it either. Alot of people have the Tormek which i think is nicer but cost is much more than i was willing to spend and the Jet was on sale........

Just an opinion
 
Thanks, Y'all. I'll sure take a look at the Woodcraft catalog today. I'll probably have to bite the bullet and pay shipping charges.
Yes, I know about the Baldors. Fine tools and I know about their prices also. :eek:
 
Shop around and find one of these. When you find one they are usually cheap because everyone is scared of it. Balance? Not a problem :D

paint4.jpg
 
Took a look at the Woodcraft. $99.00 and the wheels are the right grits for my use. Even with shipping it will all be below the pain threshold. :rolleyes:
I'll peruse their catalog for more goodies I might need right now.
 
Considering how many here were happy with theirs, I bought one. FW came through again.
When I told my wife I was expecting a heavy box she asked what I bought now. Told her, "a grinder", asked she, "Don't you already have a grinder", replied I, "Uh, I have about five", with that look in her eye asked she, "why do you need another one?", feebly replied I, "it's new". Got another one of those looks followed by cold silence.
Am I in trouble now?
BTW, the newest of those is about 35 years, the rest are as old as I am or older.
Enneyhow, arrived today. Had to try it out. Setting on table where I unpacked I plugged in and turned on. Runs nice. Not Baldor smooth but fine. No wobble or vibration. Not bolted down and it didn't walk off table. I'll be setting up with my Wolverine sharpening gizzy.
 

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