Ghetto Bench Grinder wheel balance method

Mark, I've thought about adding weight. If you come up with a good, safe way please let us know.
I saw a video of a guy who made a self balancing jig with two thick washers, ball bearings and a groove using a form tool.
Home Shop Machinist, I think.
 
Technical Ted said:
Shielded bearings was a good choice. But, grease in the bearing will stiffen them some. I have removed grease from shielded bearings for Stirling engines I have built by letting them soak for a few days in brake cleaner and blowing them out with air. Once the grease is dissolved and removed you'll have a close to friction free bearing. Shields do not seal a bearing like seals do. There is not a tight seal on them so you can actually add/remove grease from them.

Ted
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This is what I did with the Oneway balancing kit I got. I prefer this to drilling into grinding wheels partially because I get squeamish about disturbing the structure of the wheel and mostly the balance is going to change as the wheel wears. It makes way more sense to just balance through the arbor. This is how Tormach balances their surface grinder wheels. I also used the balance fixture and bearings to balance my tool grinder wheels by drilling into the aluminum arbor than the wheel. One was so off I ended up putting a couple of set screws into the arbor to help balance it. The Oneway is not cheap but very nicely made and if you've ever seen what an exploding wheel does to somebody it will give you pause. NFI yadda yada.
 
I noticed the Norton wheel I bought had a series of sleeves for different size arbors. They fit tight where the Dewalt wheel was sloppy.
The fit to the arbor could affect vibration. IMHO
After drilling several holes on the heavy side I was able to slowly spin the wheel at any point and it would stop consistently.
Remounted it, very smooth. Wow! what a difference.
I also mounted my 8" Norton green wheel. I got lucky, no vibration.
Now to dress the wheels for an even better fit.
 
Here's a link to a page describing two ways to balance a grinding wheel (without drilling holes in it): balancing grinding wheels It discusses the automatic-balancing scheme, but it's important to read the entire article because the auto-balancing approach didn't initially work. The video there doesn't show how to use the teardrop washers, nor does it show how the auto-balance washers perform. While the machining time for both approaches is claimed to be about the same, if you add in the balancing fixture I think the auto-balance idea comes out ahead.

A wheel that is wobbling would also vibrate, so if vibration still is an issue after a wheel is static-balanced that might be the problem. I found another web site which mentions that mounting washers on hobbyist-grade grinders are often stamped & are curved or have burs. This can cause the wheel to be off-kilter and wobble.

I got lucky with the Craftsman 6-inch grinder I found at a garage sale. It has very little vibration, and a nice coarse/fine wheel combo.
 
I have had to put the wheel spacers on the lathe or make new ones due to mis-fit or uneven clamping.
I use the guard and I always wear safety glasses and a quality full face shield.
I'm not crazy about holes in the bonded grit but, like Don Bailey says, his dad was a tool maker and he did it this way.
If you guys try out the tear drop washers let us know how it works out.
 
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