[TheForge] Home-made grinders and wire brushes

[Bruce Freeman]

There are wire wheels "potted" (thoroughly impregnated) with rubber.
I've seen these but never tried them.  In principal, they should be
less likely to throw wires, and slightly less likely to snag the work.

I'm wondering whether it might make sense to impregnate at least the
inner part of the wires in rubber like this to relieve to some extent
the stress they're under at the base, thus subjecting them to less
fatigue (from bending back and forth at the base) and, hence,
breakage.  Any thoughts?

On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 1:30 AM, Dave Mudge <dave at magichammer.net> wrote:
> James, I have a similar rig with a 3450rpm pump motor rigged on a pedestal.
> Very effective and very dangerous. I have learned one secret however.
> Buy a 6" or 7" stainless steel wire wheel made for a hand held grinder from
> your local welding supply store. The ss wheel will not rust. The carbon steel
> wire wheels tend to rust and the wires break off easily. The ss wires stay on
> the wheel much, much longer. They will break, but nowhere near as much
> as the carbon steel wires. If you have a friend with a lathe or know a
> reasonable
> machine shop, have them make an adapter for you. One end fits the shaft
> of the motor. The other end has 5/8" x 11 threads. Buy the wheels with the
> threaded hubs.
> You can use the ss wire wheels and sanding wheels (flapper wheels) and
> even the regular grinding wheels on your motor. Obviously you must
> exercise extreme caution when doing any of this.
> dave m
>
> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 9:02 PM, Cindy and James
> <jallcorn at suddenlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> I needed a heavy duty rig to de-rust and de-scale some # 14 rebar
>> (1-3/4") for a staircase handrail and newel posts, plus all the other
>> sizes rebar in that project.  Tried my small angle grinders w/ wire
>> wheels, then my old Milwaukee 9" w/ wire wheel.  They were killing me -
>> literally.  (I was doing this w/ a hot bar.)
>>
>> Out of desperation I came up w/ an old 220v. 2 hp pump motor (no base)
>> from my swimming pool.  Rigged a mount, bought a $50 wire wheel from the
>> hardware store (I forget the RPM rating but it was more that the 3450 or
>> so the motor put out), put a work-base to lay the bar on and wallah!
>> That puppy took the stuff off the bar and would not bog down!
>>
>> Like others in this thread have said, I learned really quickly to wear a
>> full face shield + safety glasses, leather apron, welding gloves,  long
>> sleeve shirt and also wore a respirator.  Even with all that garb on,
>> don't stand in front of it!  It would make a porcupine proud!
>>
>> I think I went through 5 or 6 of those wheels on that staircase but it
>> saved me many man hours and the bar looked great (it was hot-waxed w/
>> beeswax).  I still have it rigged up on my work table and it does come
>> in handy.  I consider it one of the MOST DANGEROUS pieces of equipment
>> in my shop.  I would never consider running it w/ anyone around or
>> permit anyone but me to operate it.
>>
>> James
>> Paris, TX
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-- 
Bruce
NJ