8" Bench Grinder. Any Recommendations?

I'm happy with my retro fitted Rikon bandsaw, good quality and yes it's Chinese. 1/2 hp variable speed gear box chain driven and with "Die Maker" blades well cut any thing I've put to it over the years. They are big in wood working groups.
 
My woodworking bandsaw is a Rikon. It's not the best you can get, but it's still a very good tool.
 
I have a 3/4HP, 7" Craftsman grinder that I bought in the early 70's and it has been an excellent piece of equipment. A couple of years ago I decided to get another grinder so I could have a variety of wheels mounted to work with. I spent several months trying to find one of the old Craftsman grinders like mine and I did find a couple, but they were in pretty bad shape and the sellers wanted premium $$. So, after looking at the various brands available, I finally decided on the 8" Jet grinder. It has been a good machine, but still isn't as smooth as my old Craftsman. Some of that is likely run-out of the wheels supplied with the grinder and I really haven't done too much other than truing the faces and rotating the wheels on the arbors to get the least amount of vibration possible. It's on my list of "to-do's" to someday get it running as smoothly as the old Craftsman. If money was no object, I'd probably buy a Baldor.

Ted
 
Daryl, that would be a good price for a 14" Baldor. Replacing the wheels would be another story.
 
i am forced to mention Dewalt 8". under $150 and i have one of them plus 3- 6" ones that I'm very satisfied with. . .
 
Sandia said:
Daryl, that would be a good price for a 14" Baldor. Replacing the wheels would be another story.
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My 10inch German wheels cost $80 each.
Will last me a very long time.
14" will last a lifetime.
Yes, expensive.
Are these good?

Daryl
MN
 
terrywerm said:
I am quite sure that the Rikon is a Chinese import just like Jet and Grizzly, but of better design and quality than HF.
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Jet tends to be from Taiwan, at least the 3 I have (mill, horz bandsaw, vertical bandsaw).
 
sanddan said:
Jet tends to be from Taiwan, at least the 3 I have (mill, horz bandsaw, vertical bandsaw).
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A lot of it depends on the size/capacity of the machine. Home shop stuff seems to be from china now, larger stuff from Tawian.
 
I'm not up on the electrical formulas; watts, etc., but I have found that a large number of today's machines are down around 2 Amps. Depending on what you're doing that may be O.K. but if you're roughing out a cold chisel, they're real easy to stall-out. I have an older machine that is only 6 inch but it's 8 Amps; night and day. Something to look at.
 
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