I bought a Sears Craftsman bench grinder with a 1/2″ arbor and 6″ wheels. At $40, it was the second-cheapest grinder (there was an off-brand for $14.99!) so I don’t expect much. It’s good enough for my purposes, i.e., polishing metal.
I removed one grinding wheel and put a muslin buffing wheel in its place, but couldn’t tighten it. The arbor is not threaded far enough for the nut to reach the wheel.
The muslin wheel compresses to down to about 1/4″ thick, while the original grinding wheel is 3/4″ thick. Can I use two short pieces of tubing (1/4″ long, 1/2″ inner diameter) to bracket the wheel and fill up the gap? What material should the tubes be made of?
Or do I have to return the grinder and buy a machine especially made for polishing?
Edited 10/20/2002 1:40:54 PM ET by DWREAD
Replies
DWREAD,
Why not just fill the gap between the inner end of the shaft threads and the body of the buffing wheel with washers?
R
Good idea--washers would be easier to find.
I must have bought the wrong type of buffing wheel. It has no hardware in the middle--just a hole--while the ones on the Sears website have metal disks. They also sell metal spacers "necessary for proper fit of narrow-faced wire and buffing wheels," although it may not fit the model I bought. If Sears doesn't have anything for my grinder, I'll buy a few fender washers and see if that works. Thanks for the suggestion.
DWREAD,
I didn't realize that your buffing wheel has no hub. I don't recall if I've seen them like that. I suggest a large "flange" washer on either side of the wheel first, then washers outboard of those.
R
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