Customer Reviews

DELTA GR050 3/4 Amp 4-1/2-Inch Wet/Dry Grinder

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found one of these at my local home supply store and immediatly brought it home. I found it to be very useful for putting a hollow grind into the bevel of my chisels and plane blades.

The way I use it is to hollow grind the chisel bevel until the hollow grind goes all across the bevel. I then take the chisel to a 4000/1000 combination water stone and sharpen the bevel on the 1000 grit until I get two "flats" on the tip and tail of the bevel. I then switch to the 4000 grit of the stone and polish those bevels. On a 1/2" wide chisel it takes about a minute or two to hollow grind the bevel and another 30 seconds on each grit of the stone to make the chisel razor sharp.

The grinder has two tool rest. I set one for my chisels and one for the plane blade. Because the grinder has a forward and reverse direction I can use both tool rest.

I have found it a good idea to put a towel behind the grinder to catch any water overflow (it is a wet grinder). Also, the metal grindings from your tool combined with the water have turned the wheel a rust brown. But I've not found that to have any effect on the grinding ability.

I'm glad I bought it.

The unlisted dimensions are 12 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches deep by 6 inches high. It was slightly larger than I expected. The wheel is very absorbant so water can be added slowly to the wheel itself even while it runs. This is not a common grinder but is a sharpener and requires patience and some skill. It makes an excellent hollow grind as described in another review. It does not cut quickly. The tool posts could be sturdier. The allen wrench fits the screw heads rather sloppily. These two points are why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. Amazon.com had the best price anywhere with free shipping. It was well worth the money. I am very happy with this tool.

I bought this little grinder at a local home center for twenty bucks...close out sale. I have it sitting next to my wood lathe. I use it to touch up my lathe tools while doing projects. I don't use jigs and only use the tool rest to rest my hand on. I touch up the edges using my hands and mark one eyeball. Since the wheel turns so slowly it's pretty hard to mess up an edge after a little practice, even on the gouges. If you take your time and use a little patience at first, you can produce a good edge. Its not meant to reshape or grind out nicks, etc. Its basically an overgrown honing stone. It does a good job. I use it dry and clean the stone every so often. If I have a real bad one I go to the 8" grinder to shape and establish the edge, then use the small one to finish. My neighbor has the Tormak, and its a wonderfull machine, he's got all the jigs, holders, etc. But I can put an edge on my roughing gouge and be making chips before he gets set up to sharpen his. Guess its all in what you want to do....I just want a sharp tool. This little machine delivers what it says it will, but nothing more. It's not a do-all. I would reccommend it to anyone as a honing tool.

I was impressed by the size of the product. I used it right away and am pleased with the results. The only negative is in adding the water. You have to be careful to avoid over filling as it will spill out the back. Also, you have to pour water very slowly or it will push out the back. The first unit I received, had a broken motor mount.

I thought it was a great value for a Delta tool.

While unpacking it I heard rattling inside, opened it up and found a bolt and washer for the motor mount had come off. That was easy enough to fix.

I did not much like the way it looked on the inside -did not see effective rubber gaskets to keep water from getting to the motor housing, the two belts for the reduction gears appear to be nylon rather than reinforced rubber. But I figured "it's a Delta, the design should be okay and it was only forty bucks".

Ten minutes into using it one of the belts slipped -had to open it again and noticed a lot of play in the pulleys sliding on their axels. I decided not to muck with it, just put the belt back on the gears and after another five minutes it slipped again.

It's back in its box ready to be returned.

Delta sure went cheap on this one.

grinder needs a more solid tool rest on the front. the plastic cover is a bit wobbly to support a good tool rest. a good grinder for the money.

Compact wet/dry grinder for use as pre-grind on small knives, craving or turning tools. Very good value as price is low and results are excellent for the type of stone available. Does not replace the need for a lapping or stroping system to obtain sharpest edges.

I bought this for one thing,sharping knifes. I tried to use it according to instructions. First off the water on a flat surface ran out the drain. Thinking I had too much water,I went ahead and started to sharpen a knife. Part of the wheel was not even getting wet? I can't think why if it had water running out the drain on a level surface why it didn't cover the entire surface of the wheel.Next it doesn't seem to have enough speed or power to sharpen anything! I did want the slower speed than a regular grinder and the wet wheel. But took it back as a loss cause. I have several Delta tools that are very good ,but I cannot rate this tool as a good one.