Quick and dirty bench grinder sharpening station done...

[dbhost]

I ran out of usable glue so I haven't added the cup holder for the cooling bath, but asI have mentioned in several other threads, I cobbled up a quick and easy sharpening station to keep me from having to heft around the grinder, and have it at the ready when I am. The platform is just the plywood deck I used for mounting to my tool stacker, and I kept the hold downs for the Wolverine where they were.

The bar, and VariGrind jig had simple 1" diameter holes punched through the deck with my SpeedBor bits, those things dig scary fast!

The feet were goofs / cast offs from a valet project I am working on. Just simple 1x4 pine, rounded over on the top. Screwed and glued in an X configuration to the cast off 4x4 post. Levellers were installed and adjusted and this thing is rock steadyon the shop floor.

Once I get the glue to add the cup holder, I am planning on painting this thing Rustoleum hunter green gloss as my shop seems to be having a green color scheme with all the older model Central Machinery gear. Will post the final painted pics.

The immersion cup is intended to be a simple 32oz convenience store plastic cup. They are readily available as replacements, and deep enough I can get a good cooling drench to keep from overheating my work pieces...

I do need to get under the deck with a file through, one of the points for the screws anchoring down the Wolverine base plates is protruding and poked a bit of a bloody hole in my fingertip!

It was aside from waiting for the levellers, quick, super easy, and something I actually regret not doing earlier. I have been thinking about this for a long time. I just have been too lazy to do it... Oh and I warned you, I AM still working on shop cleanup. It is still very much a pig stye... My mother would NOT approve... The BBQ bits and pieces need to leave, and the pallet wood pieces need to get to the lumber rack, suck up the shavings blah blah blah...

[dbhost]

The quenching bath holder (Cup holder) is done, paint is on, and drying... I am now wearing quantities of hunter green paint... Once the paint is dry / cured I will reassemble, put it back in place, and snap / post a pic, but it is looking good for now... Next project!

[dbhost]

The grinder / sharpening station has had the quenching bath holder installed, and paint finished. Paint was dry "enough" to reassemble and move it all back into place, and got after it with some moist wipes to clean off the caked on dust...

So that's one shop / cleanup / organization project that is done. Moving on down the list.

[LCHIEN]

Came out looking pretty good, in HF Central Machinery Green, no less.

Can I ask what are the two tracks with the red levers? Are they adjustable mounts for the workpiece supports, being located one under each wheel?

and the thing on the far right?

[dbhost]

Came out looking pretty good, in HF Central Machinery Green, no less.

Can I ask what are the two tracks with the red levers? Are they adjustable mounts for the workpiece supports, being located one under each wheel?

and the thing on the far right?

The tracks as you refer to them are the Wolverine jig bases, there is a left and a right, the work rest is installed on the left wheel side. The thing on the right is the steady rest for longer tools like turning tools, the thing on the left is the VariGrind

[dbhost]

And before anyone comments on it, yes I know, I should be using a low speed grinder for sharpening. A far less aggressive wheel, light touch and frequent quenching are the substitute I am using until the tool fairy drops one off on me...

[LCHIEN]

And before anyone comments on it, yes I know, I should be using a low speed grinder for sharpening. A far less aggressive wheel, light touch and frequent quenching are the substitute I am using until the tool fairy drops one off on me...

Yes, I wondered about that, too.

[dbhost]

Yes, I wondered about that, too.

When I bought the Wolverine jig, and Varigrind, the documentation, and emailed recommendations from OneWay were for a full speed 8" grinder with a relatively high / fine grit white oxide wheel. At the time I doubt you recall, but I had a probably 40 year old Ace Hardware branded 6" grinder.

So I bought the Ryobi 8", the white oxide wheels, and the Wolverine / VariGrind at the same time as a whole setup. Along with the HF lathe.

Mind you, I had done some turning when I was a kid, on my Dads lathe, an old Craftsman, the kind that the tailpiece rode on a tube sort of rig... Sharpening was done with a regular bench grinder, I don't even think low speed grinders were a thing back then, and light touch, light pass, dunk, check, light touch, light pass, dunk.

I don't think there is any way I can add a speed control to drop the RPMs down on the Ryobi grinder, which is a pity. I honestly REALLY like this grinder. Aside from shop tools, this thing makes honing my camp hatchets, lawnmower blades etc... super easy. Not to mention buzzing sharp tips off of screws to keep them from overpenetrating a workpiece etc...

IF I eventually decide I am going to go with a low speed grinder, I am going to try to find one that is actually a variable speed. I believe Rikon and Delta have / had versions out there, so I can do the sharpening, as well as heavier metal grinding tasks...

[LCHIEN]

Unfortunately it is really hard to speed control single phase induction motors.
VFDs only work well on 3-phase motors. Starting caps and centrifugal switches complicate use with single phase motors.
Lamp dimmer/speed controls only work on universal motors which are not usually used on grinders.
Grinders are usually direct drive, you get 3600 RPM with the usual one pole motor or 1800 RPM with the more expensive 2-pole motors. That's how the slow speed grinders work.
Your other speed control/ different speeds can only be dealt with with gears or pulley sizes which mean belts and even then you get fixed not variable speeds unless you have a multi pulley or some kind of a variable diameter cone drive.

A universal motor is much easier to speed control. You would need a pulley to drive the shaft with the grinding wheels.adding to the mechanical complexity. But I've never seen a universal motor grinder. Maybe because they hate dirt. Don't want metal grinding debris to run under the commutator brushes! Disaster! You don't see universal motors much over 1/2 HP. I looked at a couple of 8" grinders and they had 3/4 HP motors.

[dbhost]

Yeah, it is FAR more likely the tool fairy will drop off a low speed, or variable speed grinder on me than me being able to drop speed on my existing unit. A pity... Because honestly the tool fairy has other priorities in my shop, like 6" DC ducting...

[capncarl]

If you have an old Shopsmith sitting around you can use the power head to drive lots of different tools. It has a great reeves drive belt sys. I use mine for spindle sanding tiny trees for hours on end the speed ratio is from really really slow to scary fast.