I bought a new tool last week, it is not the first of these that have bought, but this new one is so cheap and adaptable that I think almost every one of you could use one in your bag of tricks. I have been using them for about twenty years, and wouldn’t be without one, but every time I have written about it on the forums, nobody has EVER followed my post and commented about it, which leads me to wonder , if any of you know about it.
It is a little cheap tool that uses compressed air and the Bernoulli principle to spray a mist of water right in the interface of where the tool and grinding wheel meet. Here is a link to the last one that I bought. They keep getting cheaper.
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2725
I have no affiliation with this company, but am happy to report that it less than $30 and less than $40 with shipping, which is substantially less than some of the other slow wet-grinding systems, and they can be used on any tool in your shop that would benefit from a cooler cut.
Just to illustrate how effective this tool works, I did a little test for myself, and for your benefit. I held a 5/16″ ball bearing between my fingers, and ground almost half of it away without feeling any heat, so you know you won’t be annealing your tools by getting them too hot. Here is a photo of that.
Replies
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this with us.
How much do you have to accommodate overspray when using this device?
Do you have to do anything to protect the motor of your bench grinder from water/coolant vapors?
If this little gizmo works that well on a 5/16" ball bearing, I can only imagine what a difference it could make if I were to aim it at myself while driving in rush hour traffic!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
<<I can only imagine what a difference it could make if I were to aim it at myself while driving in rush hour traffic!>>Works great, but the air hose back to the house is the big problem.;-)
Jazz, the spray is very comparable to the tip of a spray gun, and i usually have it set to the minimum required to do what I need. There can be some spray with grindings in it getting spread in the same pattern that the dry grinding are scattered. The Kool-Mist fluid that you add to the water has a rust inhibitor, and is safe to humans as well. At a mix ratio of six oz. per gallon, it is a cheap clean additive.I don't do anything to protect the motor, because it doesn't need anything extra. There can be some liquid dripping out of the bottom guard, but it is easy to catch in a cup if it is a problem for your bench.
Thank you, kind sir!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
The problem with suds systems used outside metalworking is not the water but the specks of metal carried in the overspray. I have tried using an electric version but could not stop the spread. How do you cope?
What do you do to stop the spread of your dry grinding? The amount of metal getting ground away and where they fly does not change. Well, maybe a little. I sharpen most things free-hand, and sometimes there will be a little mound of slurry that will build up on the tool-rest. sometime, I may come over and grind something dry, which will ignite from the sparks, and is a good way to get a burn on you finger if you don't keep that clean.I have a corner space dedicated to sharpening. I have two universal tool grinders with metal beds that get pretty nasty, because there always seems to be more wood dust mingling with the metal grindings. I don't have to worry about it over there.
Then again, Nobody ever accused me of being a neat-freak. HaIf I were in a small shop with a nice new fresh bench top that I wanted to protect, it would not be any problem to place a folded towel under you grinder to catch the little bit of liquid that might drip out of the wheel guard. As far as that which flies away, at least now they have been coated with a rust inhibitor, and should be less of a problem than if they were just raw and settled out on top of your project that is one step away from being finished.Edit: Mufti, I just remembered that a long time ago, i tried another additive which left an oily residue when the water evaporated, which would be fine in a metal shop, but was just awful in a wood-shop. Were you using something like that?
Edited 8/13/2006 12:05 pm by KeithNewton
Thank you. I mentioned it because when I did a bit of metalworking the cutting tool was flooded with suds, the turning was slower and the lathe tray was designed to cope with the overflow. It was more of a case of removing the dross from the cutter path than cooling.
Now I'm lucky and have a 16 inch oil fed wheel turning at 120 rpm.
Dear Kieth,
"Just to illustrate how effective this tool works, I did a little test for myself, and for your benefit. I held a 5/16" ball bearing between my fingers, and ground almost half of it away without feeling any heat, so you know you won't be annealing your tools by getting them too hot. Here is a photo of that."
That's getting your fingers a wee bit close to the grinding wheel.....no?
John
You are obviously not understanding how this works. The flexible nozzle can be set up to use compressed air with a fine mist of water right into the grind, which takes the heat away. The wheel doesn't really get wet, because the centrifugal force of the spinning wheel is slinging the moisture away as fast as it is hitting the wheel.
The fluid is being drawn from a little bottle that sits behind the grinder, through a little vinyl tube which is about the size of the ink reservoir in a ball-pint pin, only the ID is smaller.
You can use this with a bench grinder, or anything that you can mount a grinding wheel on. I use one on my table-saw to sharpen jointer, and planer knives. The fluid that you add to the water is a non-oily rust inhibitor.
Keith, you are right on I checked out the link and I recognized theproduct Turns out my son who runs a tool and die shop has one. Sorry for the misconception Steinmetz
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