Grinder Tracking Problem

Tom Militano

Tom Militano

KNIFE MAKER
I'm not going to mention the brand name of my grinder, but I've had it a long time and I started having major tracking problems with it, so I decided it was time to do some repair work. I tore it apart and hit the milling machine and lathe for some quality time. I re-crowned the idler wheel, made a couple of new parts, knocked off all the burrs and dings it's picked up over the years and it tracks great now. I've only been putting this off for about four or five years, but after screwing up a couple of blades lately I decided to bite the bullet and fix it. Anybody else ever tear their grinder apart for a rebuild?
 
Have not had to do the grinder yet,but my HF chinese mill is whining like a grounded teenager.So it's gonna have to come apart for some spindle bearings.
Stan
 
Yep, things wear over time.
Haven't had to recrown a tracking wheel yet; of course now that I said that I'll have to.:biggrin:

Sometimes it's slight wear in one/some of the bearings creating some excessive play.
Sometimes a worn bushing can cause an idler wheel to ride erratically.

I use pillow block bearings for the drive shaft, and I'll check those to see if maybe they have loosened up a little, causing the shaft to go out of alignment.

I like to try different belts to see if that's the problem first. Fuss around with tracking, etc. (Had one where the tracking adjustment wouldn't hold.)
But sometimes we have to break out the square, straightedge, and dial indicator to really find out what's goin' on.
One thing's for certain- if it's a machine, it's subject to wear.
 
OK, you have had your grinder for a long time. I'm am glad you upgraded it to electricity system and took the pedals off of it.
 
I send my Coote Grinder to Norman about every 5 years to put in new bearings and check everything out!
I could do the bearings myself, But Norman is very reasonable about cost and we have discussed and made a few things for his grinders.

My Hardcore Grinder hasn't given me a lick of trouble in over 11 years! The Baldor motor and variable box are another store!:biggrin: About a year ago it took a big dump on me and while they had it apart I told them to put a new serpentine
belt inside and check everything else!
They said the insides were in amazingly good shape.

The KMG just does it's thing! I haven't had it much more than a year so let's keep this quiet! I don't want it getting any ideas!

Well my doggie Scruffy & I are done eating lunch, So it's back to the grind!

That's how I got my Motto!

Life became a grind! So I bought a Grinder!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
The old Wilton Square wheel that has been in my shop for 25+ years has had to have repair work several times over it's life. The biggest pain was the tracking mechanism....made of some sort of "plastic" which wore out in about 5 years. I rebuilt the parts with aluminum, and it's been good ever since. Aside from that, most of my grinder repairs have been replacing bearings......idler wheel bearings, contact wheel bearings, etc. I kept waiting for the motor to go on the old Square Wheel, so I could replace it with a variable.....but it's never hiccuped once. I have gone through a few idler and contact wheels over the years, but for the most part I've always been impressed with the durability and longevity of the "top end" grinders.
 
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