Customer Reviews

DELTA GR275 6-Inch Variable Speed Grinder with Tool-Less Change

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I ordered this grinder on the 2nd, received it on the 8th with the free super saver shipping option. Along with the lower price, these two factors alone helped make this a very good deal. I am fairly new to woodworking and have accumulated a number of chisels/carving tools that require sharpening before use. Pre-sharpened chisels are nice, but they come at a price that is beyond my limited budget.

Here is the breakdown -

This grinder is advertised specifically for sharpening. The variable speed is an important feature as it limits the possiblity of burnout on the tools. The grinder comes with a white sharpening disc, regular grinding disc and buffing pad. All I need is some buffer compound and I pretty much have everything I need for sharpening on the grinder.

Tool rests provide enough maneuverability to sharpen shorter tools as well as longer chisels without having to make a jig to hold the small tools closer to the disk. Assembly was pretty straight forward, took me about 15 minutes to get it together and running. Nice change of pace for those like me that have purchased much cheaper tools in the past and have had to make sense of mimeograph quality instructions and a slew of nuts and bolts that do not seem to fit properly half the time.

I give it only 4 stars instead of 5 due to the short length of the light (already noted in other reviews) and the fact that the toolrests are not interchangeable. The rest next to the white stone has indentations made for drill bits. Nice feature except for the fact that my small chisels can fall into the gap while grinding. Would have been nice to be able to swap rests instead of swapping grinding disks.

At any rate, the problems encountered were very minor and are mostly related to personal preference rather than faults with the product. I definitely feel I have my money's worth. I could have went with a cheaper grinder, but by the time shipping, purchasing of wheels specific to sharpening, and the annoyances of lack of variable speed (not to mention potential damage to the tools)are all factored in, it is obvious that this was a wise investment.

Extremely satisfied with the product and the speed of delivery. The grinder is well balanced and has low vibration. The speed control is excellent for sharpening my turning tools and then turn up the speed to grind heavy steel. Excellent price and the tooless change capability makes it easy to swap wheels. I would recommend to anyone over higher priced options.

Amazing delivery by Amazon, ordered it on Saturday afternoon and received it Monday morning. Somehow Amazon is getting its elves and FedEx to work the weekend. No I didn't ordered with anything more special than Amazon Prime.

I justified this purchase by saying that it would pay for itself. Soon I will sell the wife's golf clubs which had accumulated the normal wear and tear but nothing dramatic. I knew that if I could give them a proper buffing job I could bring them back to "nearly new" however to do meant getting a new tool. The Delta GR275 fit comfortably in my $100 budget especially considering that it had a buffing wheel included. Assembled the grinder in a few minutes but had to take off one wheel to install the buffing wheel. The tooless feature mentioned does not really work as claimed. Were the wheels and accessories exactly the same thickness and the quick release toggle nuts machined more carefully then it might work as claimed. As it is the folk at the factory do use tools to tighten the nuts by screwing the left nut (lefthand thread) against the right (righthand thread) squeezing everything in the middle. I know this because my left grinding wheel was too tight such that the supplied wrench and another one I had would only bend when faced with the torque required to budge the nut. Luckily I had some big Channelock pliers I could use on the big washer under the quick release nuts and broke it loose with a screwdriver as advised in the manual. Releasing the levers on the tightly screwed nut had no effect on reducing the disassembly torque. I don't really see this as a problem as I had low expectations of the feature and knew that I could take it apart using the typical techniques used with these tools. Please note that the manual does not mention in the section on replacing wheels that the left nut is left handed and the right correspondingly right handed. The parts list does refer to them as LH and RH but these abbreviations could easily be understood as locational references not their handedness. For one not experienced with these tools it's a fact that is important to remember.

After a little research on buffing I realized that I couldn't use multiple polishing compounds with one wheel effectively. I needed a dedicated wheel for the coarsely ground emery compound. After a short trip to HD I soon had two buffing wheels mounted and a variety of buffing compounds. You need to remove the outer covers and tool rests to get access to the buffing wheels. Soon I developed a process of wet sanding using 400 grit sandpaper until the scratches disappeared. Once done the emery wheel polished the satin finish left by the paper. A stainless steel compound almost did the job but a follow up with a white rouge compound left a finish that looked chrome plated, just as new.

Buffing is quite demanding compared to grinding. Most often grinding using these sized wheels is focused on small parts where the intent is to use a hard wheel to sharpen or lightly remove rust. All cases whereby a light touch is needed to avoid overheating the part. Buffing (or polishing) is the exact opposite. You are attempting to use a soft wheel charged with compound to remove metal on what can be large parts. To do so with any speed requires muscle as you push the part against the wheel until it nearly stops. This process causes the motor to heat up substantially. As such this small horsepower 6" grinder was truly challenged yet performed admirably. Not once did any over current or overheat devices kick in. I used it continually for periods of an hour or more without complaint. At this point the tool has done all that is required and essentially paid for itself.

For those that have experienced vibration I charge that to defective wheels. My tool at delivery must have gotten the A+ wheels as it vibrated little nor made much noise. I fully expect that it will serve admirably as tool grinder (professional tool grinding wheels are often less than 6" in diameter) however my dilemma is where to put it when bench space is at a premium and no floor space can be singularly dedicated to tool such as this. What I am soon to try is using a device meant to store heavy mixers under the counter similar to

http://www.amazon.com/Rev-A-Shelf-RAS-ML-HDCR-Heavy-Duty-Mixer-Lift/dp/B001DSY0P4

or

http://www.amazon.com/Rockler-Under-Drawer-Swing-Up-Appliance-Mechanism/dp/B001DT4U80/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1297351813&sr=1-2

They are designed for heavy mixers similar to the weight of this tool plus they put the grinder out in front of the bench which gives it needed access when using the buffing wheels. Serious buffing machines are most often located on pedestal mounts with long arbors mounted with big wheels and no guards or rests at all. This is done so that the user can manipulate the part as needed to contact the buffing wheel at the right angle. In my first use I set it on the bench and rotated the tool to gain needed access to the part. Lastly, the manual came with a full exploded parts drawing and a complete parts list. I expect that Delta will be much more likely to have parts should they be needed 5 years from now than most of the off brand tools similarly priced plus the tool will be worth much more at resell than these same tools.

I have no significant complaints about the product. It is what you would expect for a middle of the road home shop grinder. The flexible light needs to be a few inches longer in order to fully illuminate the tool rest platform. There are shadows because the light doesn't reach far enough.

The fore and aft adjustments to the tool rest platform are poorly thought out and require a wrench. The supplied wrench doesn't reach the back bolts very well (there needs to be an offset bent into the wrench). You can't reach it either with a socket wrench because there is not enough clearance with the motor housing. I don't even see why they use hex bolts when it would be much better to have knobs.

The grinder itself runs smoothly and the variable speed works well.

My biggest complaint is that the Delta grinder stand that was sold with this grinder does not fit (bolt pattern doesn't line up) and I will have to fabricate an adapter plate.

I purchased this unit and found a couple problems with it. For one, they left a burr on the arbor that caused the left wheel to tilt noticably - not very good at 3500RPM! Also, both wheels were labeled identically, even though they were obviously different grits, and different colors. Needless to say, this unit went back, and my desire for Delta gear has lessened.

I will say that the dual-speed option is very nice. I almost kept it to make it into a buffing station, but figured I could save several dollars by not buying wheels or guards.


On another note, I purchased this to use with a Wolverine sharpening system. None of the current Delta units will work with the Wolverine since the mounting holes do not allow one to center the Wolverine base unit centered directly under the wheel.

I bought this to replace a cheap one I'd bought locally. I thought the speed control was defective because it would actually speed up below the half-way point. I spoke with Delta support and found a repair center one town away. However, the next day I powered it up and it then (and has since) worked fine.

I also purchase a Veritas jig for sharpening. Rather than get rid the other single speed grinder I decided to keep it for rough-work and wire brushing. I mounted both on a table with a dado routed in front of them, added an Incra "T"-track and can now move the Veritas jig to any of the four wheels.

I'll echo what someone else said: The design of the base prevents the use of a Wolverine grinding jig. Otherwise, and OK light duty grinder.

The grinder itself is a solid piece. No problems. Unfortunately, with only about 2 months of light use, the variable speed controller quit working. I have since had to move and it's likely no longer under warranty (been in storage.) I would not have paid what I did for a single speed grinder. Can't recommend based on the quality control issues.

I bought the Delta Grinder as a gift. It arrived on time except it was not new. After working with the supplier and Amazon, I am out $40 b/c I had to ship the item back. So I have no grinder for a gift and I am out of pocket $40. Nice. I would not buy from the distributor Amazon uses for this item.

This is a fine little machine for the occasional user. I installed it on my work truck due to the size and low power draw since I run everything on a 2kw portable Honda Genset. The only drawback so far has been the difficulty in finding a 6inch x 3/4 face wire wheel brush with a reasonable price. The shroud had to be removed to install this to me convenient accesory.The most agravating thing was the amount of spacers and ingenuity I had to invest to make the arrangement work and maintain the " tool less " capability to be able to quickly switch to a buffing/polishing wheel. If your only intention is to use it for light duty sharpening ,( which basically is what's made for ) go for it, you won't be dissapointed.