Quote:
Originally Posted by Nepb2
anything you can do with a bench grinder? i kinda have mine just like sitting here in my garage.
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Bench grinders can't be used with aluminium or plastics. If you have ever used aluminium on a bench grinder you'll have seen how it smears the metal into the grit of the stone. And once that happens the cutting action is lost and it makes the thing you're grinding jump around. It's actually very dangerous when this happens since the shock of the jumping around is quite capable of making the stone shatter. And if that happens... well, can you say SHRAPNEL? People have been maimed and killed by stones of that size that let go.
There's a trick that I do each time I mount a stone on my grinder. I put my finger through the hole and tap the side of the stone with a bit of wood or a plastic screwdriver handle. It should ring like a bell. If it doesn't then it won't get mounted because a dull tone indicates a crack. And a crack means a very likely disaster. So far I've had to throw out two stones over my years. It's a small price to pay for my safety.
So for us paintballers they are primarily useful for grinding the odd steel thing that we find in the guns and the steel tools that we use on the other materials. Grinding stones of any sort should not be used on aluminium or brass. This includes Dremel stones. For aluminium or brass it's time to get out the cutting burrs.
There are grinding wheels that are used for aluminium but they are production stones that are used only with a constant flood of coolant oil that prevents the metal smearing and loading up the wheels.
I'll be getting some pics of my own mill and the mods I've made to it shortly.