Out of balance grinding wheels

[dkwflight]

Hi
One of my neighbors gave me a cheap bench grinder. The switch had failed so I jumpered it.
The motor started and ran, good so far.
As it picked up speed the thing started to jump around like one of those quarter fed beds in the cheap motels.
The wheels were out of round and actually wobbled side to side.
The solution for me was to rotate it slowly and an angle grinder.
I happened to have a big adjustable resistor. You can do the same thing with a light bulb in series or clamp the grinder down to a solid bench and use a regular wheel dresser.
I fed the wheel dresser into the wheel slowly holding it firmly so it hit the high spots.
Once the outside edge is running true I did the sides so they ran true. I did both sides of both wheels til they seemed to be running true.
Then I went back over the outside edge.
Now the old wheels are much closer to being balanced. It runs smoother.
I had the same experience with some imported grinding wheels.

Good luck to all

[dwood5]

As you discovered, most grinding wheels have some run-out this way and that. Once trued when running at full speed you should be "good to go".

Even when trued/balanced at full speed, you'll encounter some shimmy/shake when the grinder is turned off and the RPM goes through certain speed ranges as the shaft winds down. This is normal due to residual imbalance and the natural resonant frequency of various parts of the grinder and stand.

DON

[dkwflight]

Hi
In my limited experience the imports are more likely to be softer on one side and have warps.
The quality wheels will be more uniform.