Import Tool & Cutter Grinder

[bakrch]

I almost grabbed the Shars model on their Black Friday sale (I think it was then). They contacted me with a shipping quote, and it was something like $300 ... canceled the order. I may have to swallow my pride and grab one because I still want it.

 

[kb58]

Strange that the Chinese tool grinder is 220V. It must be an issue of availability at their end, because no way does a motor that small require 220V in order to reduce current draw. Regardless, thanks for posting it. After finally acquiring a proper mill and lathe, I've been looking around for an affordable tool grinder.

 

[C-Bag]

On the Shars site they state that the majority of clones they sell is to the EU, and it's 220v. Like I said,the devil is in the details, mine is 110v, and R8 head. Most of what you see on eBay for cheaper is 220v and Deckel head. Not useable IMHO.

 

[stioc]

This is the trick, there are several mod's to these. The one in the pic comes with the Deckel style collets, and you don't just pick them up anywhere. pontiac428 got the mod with the 5c head, I got the one with R8 head. The Deckel collets don't even go up to 1/2", and I don't know about you but the first endmill I wanted to sharpen was my 3/4". At the time I was just focused on r8 because I have a full set. But if I'd known Shars had a 5c for $900-/+ I would have gone that route. They also sell the grinder wheel hubs so like Robin Rinzetti has once you get a wheel trued if you want to change you pull the wheel/hub and put another wheel/hub on. Turns out my clone doesn't use that hub truly the devil is in the details and for me the the clone collets are worthless.

I agree @C-Bag however, just a different collet head and paint shouldn't triple the price of the same Chinese unit IMHO. $900 sounds way too much but may be I'm just cheap lol

I almost grabbed the Shars model on their Black Friday sale (I think it was then). They contacted me with a shipping quote, and it was something like $300 ... canceled the order. I may have to swallow my pride and grab one because I still want it.

Aha!! so they do go on sale? $300 would be a steal! I'm happy to pay up to $500 for a 5c collet version. I'll have to keep an eye out for their sale on these.

In the meantime I cracked open the Harold Hall book the other night and I got motivated again to make the simpler version of his grinding rest. Between my Phase 2 endmill sharpner, the drill doctor and the HH grinding rest I should be covered for resharpening almost all cutting tools that I own. I'll still be on the look out for a univ grinder for around $500 though

 

[bakrch]

I agree @C-Bag however, just a different collet head and paint shouldn't triple the price of the same Chinese unit IMHO. $900 sounds way too much but may be I'm just cheap lol



Aha!! so they do go on sale? $300 would be a steal! I'm happy to pay up to $500 for a 5c collet version. I'll have to keep an eye out for their sale on these.

In the meantime I cracked open the Harold Hall book the other night and I got motivated again to make the simpler version of his grinding rest. Between my Phase 2 endmill sharpner, the drill doctor and the HH grinding rest I should be covered for resharpening almost all cutting tools that I own. I'll still be on the look out for a univ grinder for around $500 though

The sale was either 15-20% off, but the $300 I had mentioned was just for the freight charge.

 

[pontiac428]

I've got the 110v version with 5C collets. Shipping is always going to run an extra 30% with Shars. My $900 grinder was an $1100 grinder delivered. I tore it down and went through it, and the only concern I had is that some of the tapped holes in the main casting were slightly loose. I replaced the knobs and hand levers with Kipp parts and installed a heli-coil in the travel lock threads to satisfy my OCD. I also had to turn down the transverse pivot shaft's clamping surface in the lathe for better engagement. Now Shars seems to be stocking arbors steadily, so I ordered a couple more (now I have five). I also learned how great flared cup wheels are for sharpening end mills- an acute edge really helps with small tools and with gashing.

 

[C-Bag]

stoic my pic is in Wikipedia under "cheap tightwad". But also hate tossing bits just because they are dull. Lots of folks it doesn't bother but it bugs me no end. And when the alternative is either stock a bunch of extra's or try to find somebody to send to who would probably either refuse to sharpen them because they are cheap imports or charge me more than they are worth, I started getting serious about some kind of sharpener setup. I found a clone for $300 but the seller asked me what I wanted it for and when I explained I wanted to sharpen EM's he proceeded to demo exactly why it was a bad idea. And he was right.

I found out the hard way the standard clone is NOT the same as either the r8 or 5c clones. You can't just pop one of those heads on the standard. Won't fit. The standard is cheap because unless you are doing d bits it's worthless for EM's unless you are doing metric EM's smaller than 12mm. so it's and old design and I would guess less demand. Look at how much they want for the original Deckels or for that matter any other sharpener and $900 and to have a co that supports the machine with parts is a deal even to me.

 

[38super]

 

[s_vanhoveln]

Would I trade my chinese Deckel for a Harold Hall grinder? No. The single-lip grinder is versatile. I mainly do lathe bits (lots and lots and lots of lathe bits) to include cemented carbide on mine. I also do lots of drill bits. And end mill faces and flutes. And I make D-bits. And regrind pin punches. And sharpen scratch awls. It's a versatile tool made even better with the right fixtures.

Edit: Mine's the (older) 5C version from Shars. Came with the drill attachment, the lathe bit attachment, the flute attachment, and the regular work head.

I have the Shars 5C version also. Do you use the drill sharpening attachment? I can't seem to get consistent results and the documentation is terrible.

 

[pontiac428]

I do use it, and the documentation is near non-existent. Actually, it works very well. There is a (poor quality) video on youtube under "U3" as the search term that makes it more clear. The part that I had to figure out is what the ideal clocking of the drill should be. I set it up to look like an hourglass as it enters the grinding wheel from the normal direction. Then you need to set a stop at the end of the bit, grind one side, then roll the bit 180 degrees and grind the other side. Once set up, it is faster than using my drill doctor and more versatile. The fixture makes a good grind profile and you can get good grinds on small drill bits (less than 1/8 is possible) up to fairly large S&D bits. Oh, you want to grind at a 59 degree angle with the fixture for a 118 degree included angle. Sorry for the weak instructions, but once you see it done on youtube and grind a bit or two, the concept will lock in and you will be rolling. Alternatively, you can grind the four facet pattern. Definitely read the Workshop Practice series tool grinding book (#38) by Harold Hall under downloads on this site if you don't have it already. It explains a lot in a very short space about sharpening drills, including angles, web thinning, split and chisel points, and so on. Hall uses a bench grinder adapter (like the Craftsman) for his main example, which works on the same principle as the drill fixture we have.