Woodcraft Grinder Makes Loud Noise when Turned On

[Pat Moy]

I bought a Woodcraft slowspeed grinder via their website and just received it today. When the grinder is turned on, it makes a very loud screeching noise right before it comes up to full speed. Noise only last for around 5 seconds or so, and goes away as soon as wheels are up to speed. I spoke to a technician from Woodcraft and had him listen to the noise over telephone. He says all their current batch of grinders made that noise, and that it shouldn't affect functionality. He says I can return the grinder for refund if I want, or he can send me a replacement, which will most likely make the same noise. I asked whether other people had called to complaint about this; his reply was that a small pecentage (relative to the number sold) called. He also told me they've made minor modifications to these grinders recently, and he speculates noise is caused by the capacitors they're currently using. Apparently, someone from Woodcraft HQ evaluated this issue and decided to continue selling the grinders as is.

Has anyone on this forum purchased one of these grinders recently, and experienced the same problem? Did you keep the grinder?

 

[john lucas]

No they should not make that noise and I would take it back. If all of his grinders make that noise (which I doubt) then he should also send them back. Grinders don't make noises or something is wrong. I have owned close to a dozen over the years and none of them have ever made noises like that unless they are worn out. I do have a Woodcraft slow speed grinder and I'm very pleased with it. It does not make that noise.

 

[Pat Moy]

Woodcraft Grinder Noise

The guy at Woodcraft said noise only happens with the current batch of grinders (whatever "current batch" means; I should have asked him how many grinders are involved). He acknowledged something's not right but says grinder stil should work fine. I'm tempted to ask for a replacement. John, how long ago did you purchase yours?

 

[hockenbery]

Ditto what John said.
I bought mine in 2006.
It makes a normal whirring sound.

I normally recommend woodcraft as the best buy in grinders.
I would ask them to give you a quiet one.


al

 

[robo hippy]

Woodcraft had a batch a year or so ago that all ran very hot as in you could barely keep your hand on the grinder as it ran. At first they said, it was no problem, then they pulled them off the market. Sounds like another quality control problem. They should start up run with the same noise levels. I would send it back, and make sure they test run the next one before they send it out to you. I have one of the older (10 years plus) blue ones, and it runs fine, but I never ran it very hard or heavy.

robo hippy

 

[Pat Moy]

I think I'll ask for a replacement. If replacement is also noisy, I'll probably send it back for a refund.

What's disappointing is that the technician I spoke to doesn't seem to want to make the effort to solve the problem. The choices he gave me was: sent grinder back for a refund, or sent me a replacement that will most likely have the same problem. Forget about doing a test run in attempt to find me a unit that doesn't have the problem.

I like the Woodcraft grinder mainly because of the turner-friendly sharpening wheels; it's also currently on sale for $99. I may try the new Delta (23-199) if this doesn't work out.

I'm still wondering whether others who bought this grinder recently are having this same problem.

 

[odie]

Someone else who knows more about the technical aspects of a "capacitor start motor", can give a more informed comment, but I don't see how the electrical current changes during start-up is likely to make a loud "screeching" noise. You can hear the relay switch trip and there is an obvious difference in power output, but no screeching noise that I've ever heard.

Is it possible the sheet metal guards around the wheels are vibrating? As a quick test, you might try removing the grind wheels and try a start up.....just to see if there is any change in the noise........

......or, if you have a dial indicator, you could check to see if the main shaft is running true.

ooc

 

[Pat Moy]

Ok. I tried with both grinding wheels and outter guards removed. Motor still makes the noise. I haven't checked shaft runout with a dial indicator, but shaft looks to run fairly true. Something is definately wrong with the motor. In testing, I ended up flipping the switch on and off around 12 times or so. Twice when I flipped the switch to on from off, the motor just hums and not turn. Motor works (with the noise) the other times.

I'll ask for a replacement tomorrow.

 

[Larry Presnell]

I just bought one,turned it on, 2 revolutions is all it made, tried it on 3 circuits. Took it back to WoodCraft, they plugged it up & it ran fine! Can't explain it, but they gave me another one & it's running fine, no noise other than startup.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Pat:

My friend Roger (our Chapter's Vice-President) also bought one of the recent batch of Woodcraft 8" slow-speed grinders, and it also makes a horrible screeching noise when coming up to speed, and a very annoying whine when it has reached speed; it does this with or without the grinding wheels installed, as you described. Roger also allowed the Woodcraft "technician" to listen to the grinder on the telephone as it started up and ran, and was told that the grinder was "supposed to sound like that" which is a a pile of horse pucky. I am extremely disappointed at Woodcraft for not having adequate QC for these popular grinders, or checking the grinders that they stock for correct function before they are shipped. Thank you for reporting this; I'll let Roger know that his is not an isolated case of the "screaming grinder syndrome".

I own TWO of these 8" slow speed grinders, one purchased about 16 or 17 years ago, and another purchased about 2.5 years ago (my traveling grinder for doing demos), and neither of them make this kind of noise. They both run quiet and cool, as they should.

The whole concept of knowingly selling and shipping defective grinders is deplorable, and an indication that Woodcraft's corporate attitude is no-longer customer centered as it was years ago. I suggest that you request that a pre-tested replacement be sent, or get a full refund. Do not pay for return shipping of the defective unit, or additional shipping for the replacement.

Good luck with trying to resolve this situation.

Rob Wallace

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

Had to wait several weeks before my local WC was able to stock this current batch. Had the staff plug it in and noticed the sound that others are reporting... the staff guy said that it was nothing to worry about so I took it home. Big mistake.

The drive from my house to the WC store is about 1 hour so I worked with the grinder for a couple of days before taking it back, but I could never get all of the vibration out of the wheels, so trying to do a fine touch up on a tool was out of the question.

Too bad this grinder didn't work out, the Delta I had to buy cost lots more.

 

[odie]

For those of you who are experiencing problems with this grinder, why not log on to Woodcraft and write a review right now?.......so, that Woodcraft resolves the problem, instead of selling the remaining grinders to unsuspecting woodworkers.

I'm a long term customer of Woodcraft, and am a little disappointed to see what's happening here. This could be an employee problem, or a corporate decision......either way, not good.

One thing about it, Woodcraft does give prompt refunds........

ooc

Link to review:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2080939/29437/8in-Slow-Speed-Grinder.aspx

 

[Pat Moy]

I think anyone with a recently purchased Woodcraft grinder that makes this screeching noise should ask for a replacement or refund ASAP. As mentioned in one of my earlier post, now around 3 out of 10 times, my brand new grinder just makes a humming noise and not rotate at all when turned on; it certainly degenerated massively from just a few hours ago. If the grinder makes the noise, I think it's just a matter of time before motor stops working altogether.

Maybe this is why they're having a sale on this grinder for $99!

 

[hockenbery]

Maybe this is why they're having a sale on this grinder for $99!

Pat, Woodcraft puts that grinder on sale a couple of times a year.
Must have gone up in price, used to be $80 on sale regular $100
Now 99 is the sale price -

Wish you luck ....

Al

 

[Bill Boehme]

Get your money back and buy a grinder someplace else. I certainly would not ask to exchange it for another because it appears that the odds of getting another lemon is very high. There are all sorts of possible reasons for the noise, but whatever the actual cause may be, it certainly isn't acceptable. And, it sounds like the technical support was just plain pitiful if that was all that they had to offer for a "solution". It ranks right up there with my technical support experience yesterday for an external hard drive for a computer that I am building. It was obvious from the berginning that the "expert" on the other end of the line didn't know half as much as I've forgotten.

I remember the problem that Reed mentioned regarding Woodcraft grinders about a year ago. The recommendation from the Woodcraft technical support back then was essentially the same as it is now. Apparently, they are buying these things from the cheapest sources that they can find around the Pacific Rim.

 

[John Torchick]

"They all sound like that."
I would ask the CSR if they have one.
Return it, get a refund and buy another brand. Customer service seems to be a problem with a lot of companies these days.

 

[Bill Weaver]

I have two that i have had for over a year and both are fine.

 

[john lucas]

Mine is about 7 year old. No problems. As a demonstrator I frequently use those at other venues and they all work fine with no noises. We have 2 in our club and I'll bet I know a dozen or more people that have them. The Woodcraft grinder is a good grinder. some aren't however. The most common problem is not running true. Your noise problem is the first time I've heard of this.
Tell them you read it on the internet and the internet doesn't lie. No seriously I would tell them that you talked to people on the AAW Forum and there are many of us who have many many years of experience with those grinders and we all agree, noise is not good on any motor. Personally I've worked on mechanical things my whole life and properly running electric motors do not make those noises.

 

[Gretch Flo]

changing quality of the "same item"

I think with many, many products, (cars to tractors to grinders and widgets) companies are trying to keep prices down, so they try to make an existing item less costly for them and change suppliers of parts where they can get them cheaper. So the grinder of 3 years ago is not the "same" on the inside. Sometimes I guess the change is for the better!!!,Gretch

 

[Rob Wallace]

Response from Woodcraft...

I posted a question on Woodcraft's Facebook page, asking what the official word is regarding the selling and shipping of defective slow speed grinders.

I received the following response:

"Thanks for your input Rob, the engineers with the company making the grinders attribute the "start up" noise to voltage surge. The noise dissipates quickly as the grinder comes up to speed, and does not affect the grinders performance. Our tech support team here at Woodcraft have tested a number of grinders doing both multiple starts as well as running the grinders well beyond the recommended run time of ½ hour. The grinders operated as expected without incident."

When asked if I could post the response (above), they replied:

"You may post to the AAW Forum, and I will take your additional comments to the sources here for further review and get back to you."

Perhaps they are not aware that in at least one grinder that I know about (!), the screeching noise continues while it is at speed. This is unacceptable.

I think they are well aware of the problem. We'll see if any additional changes take place in Customer Service, Technical Support, and an exchange/return policy. Clearly these screaming grinders are not what they used to supply for this item!

For those of you on Facebook, the thread might (?) be reachable at:
http://www.facebook.com/WoodcraftWoodworking?ref=ts&fref=ts

Rob Wallace

 

[robo hippy]

Sounds like they need to take a trip over to the manufacturing company, to make sure the grinders are being made to spec. This is two batches that they have had problems with. That is unacceptable in terms of cost, and in terms of business reputation. Or, they could find another manufacturer.

robo hippy

 

[Pat Moy]

Rob,

I spoke to Jason from Woodcraft today. He also mentioned voltage surge as being cause of the noise. Unfortunately in my case, it's not just the noise. Now around 3 out of 10 times, my grinder just hums and not rotate when turned on; Jason said he hadn't heard of one doing that.

I was told that the manufacturer made modifications to the motor in attempt to correct the heat problem, and the noise started after the modification. Sounds like they fixed one problem and created another. Jason says Woodcraft was told by the manufacturer that the noise should not affect motor performance. After I learned that a replacement unit will most likely make the same noise, I decided to just return the grinder for a refund. I'll be trying a Delta 23-199 next.

The voltage-surge explanation seem consistent with one of my prior experiences. The same noise happened on a new Jet 14" band saw years ago, except the noise happened when I turned the motor off; motor would screech loudly before coming to a stop. That motor was repaired under warranty. The technician who did the work speculated problem was caused by a voltage surge of some sort. I'm not sure what he actually did to fix the problem.

 

[Doug Olsen]

Woodcraft had a batch a year or so ago that all ran very hot as in you could barely keep your hand on the grinder as it ran. At first they said, it was no problem, then they pulled them off the market. Sounds like another quality control problem. They should start up run with the same noise levels. I would send it back, and make sure they test run the next one before they send it out to you. I have one of the older (10 years plus) blue ones, and it runs fine, but I never ran it very hard or heavy.

robo hippy

I had one of those hot running grinders. The store manager said it is NOT normal but when he called Woodcraft HQ Technical they said it is "normal".
Seems their response to the noise issue is the same kind of run around as the grinders that ran very hot. The grinder I had was not noisy, just a normal whirring sound.

I took mine back for a refund. Perhaps you can exchange yours or get a refund if the grinder is indeed defective in some way.

Regards,
Doug Olsen

 

[Bill Boehme]

... I received the following response:

"Thanks for your input Rob, the engineers with the company making the grinders attribute the “start up†noise to voltage surge.....

That is a completely nonsense answer. First of all, there is no voltage surge -- it is a current surge and it typically is about five or six times FLC for a fraction of a second -- not seconds (assuming that the motor type is a capacitor start induction motor -- other types may take a bit longer to accelerate to full speed). In any event, a loud screeching noise is NOT normal. All properly functioning motors accelerate from stop to full speed without screeching. Something is making the sound and it is not electrons rushing around in the wires. It is something mechanical that isn't right. Either incorrectly assembled, defective parts, or incorrectly built parts. It sounds like the Woodcraft purchasing people are pretty gullible if they bought that story from the manufacturer or maybe trash quality is the norm in some parts of the world -- so why not here. Since I consider myself knowledgeable about motors, I would not buy that lame excuse.

The wimpy exercise that they called testing certainly is not adequate to arrive at any reasonable conclusion. It would behoove them to engage the services of a real testing laboratory rather than the put-off excuse that they are providing. It certainly isn't enhancing their reputation in the marketplace. I have always enjoyed dealing with the Woodcraft store in Fort Worth because they have very knowledgeable and helpful people. I would hate to see Woodcraft shift their emphasis towards low cost and high profit. After all, there is already a HF store much closer to me.

 

[Rob Wallace]

AN UPDATE FROM WOODCRAFT - 8" Slow Speed Grinder

For those following this thread..... here is an update of what has transpired since yesterday:

I got an informative e-mail from Woodcraft's Social Media Specialist, Frank Byers, asking that I supply my friend Roger's contact information (who recently purchased one of the 'screeching' 8" slow-speed grinders), and that he would see to it that the Technical Staff at Woodcraft would contact him and talk with Roger about the problem, and get the situation with the defective grinder resolved.

Upon speaking with Roger last night, he told me that Woodcraft contacted him yesterday (the same day I contacted them on his behalf), discussed the issue about the faulty (and obnoxiously loud) grinder; they listened to it over the phone, and came to the conclusion that there is something major that is not right in this unit, and likely it's not a capacitor or voltage surge (...which I agree with Bill is very unlikely). Apparently Woodcraft is shipping a new (and presumably tested) grinder to Roger today, and they want the defective grinder back to study and pass along any additional information that they learn from it to improve their manufacturing and QC.

By getting to the correct person(s), it seems that Woodcraft is taking a serious look at this situation, and is responding accordingly with a replacement unit. Frank related to me that Woodcraft is keenly aware of maintaining quality control and more importantly, in having good customer support. I am convinced that they are taking this grinder issue seriously.

I suppose that if others have this same problem with receiving a defective grinder that was purchased recently from Woodcraft, they should contact Woodcraft Technical support, and follow up on the situation. Woodcraft does not want people to be unhappy with their products, and asks that they be given a chance to resolve the customer's concerns. (Hopefully this does not take more than one call/contact to get this ball rolling.) I have no idea if they will pre-test any or all of this new batch of grinders before shipping them to customers, but in the end, it may be much more of a cost savings for them if they do.

I hope this information helps others who may be in a similar situation. I have been a customer of Woodcraft for at least 20 years, and I hope this issue reinforces the idea that customer service is important, and I am happy that Woodcraft has responded in this manner to Roger's defective grinder situation. [ To be honest, last night I went down to the shop and turned on both of my Woodcraft grinders, AND my big Delta 8" grinder, just to be sure they were still quiet as I remembered them! And they were! ]

Pat - it may be worth your while to give them another call.....

Rob Wallace

 

[Chip Sutherland]

Happy ending

Nice to hear resolution is at hand and Woodcraft customer service performed well. I will continue shop with them, too.

 

[Pat Moy]

Rob,

Sounds like Woodcraft's doing a bit of PR damage control. As mentioned in my prior post, Jason (supposedly one of 3 technical-support person at Woodcraft) told me yesterday that he thinks almost all the currently in-stock grinders will have that screeching noise. They've already sent me a return label for full refund. I would rather have a normal-running (without the noise) grinder instead of the refund. But Jason didn't think that was possible.

Given this, I'm surprised with their response to Roger, and am very curious to know how many grinders they will end up trying before finding a suitable replacement. Please keep us posted.

Regards,
Pat

 

[Bill Boehme]

Rob, I am very pleased to hear that Woodcraft is taking this issue very seriously after what sounds like an initial misstep.

 

[hockenbery]

Rob,

Nice of you to work with Woodcraft on this.

Woodcraft has a different structure than other corporations that supply us woodturners.

Most of the stores are franchises. Those owners agree to buy and stock the "woodcraft" product line.
They have a little bit of flexibility to carry a few non-woodcraft products.
The store owners don't "work" for woodcraft and they may not be in the loop on all product issues.

Store support can vary greatly.

A few stores may still be owned by corporate woodcraft.

Al

 

[James Seyfried]

My Uncle was a barber and would say, "give a guy one bad haircut and he'll tell everyone about it, but they'll never say anything about all the good ones". I was hoping that might be the case with the grinder.

Having already ordered this grinder I was hoping the problem wasn't as prevalent as stated here. To my disappointment I got a screecher Saturday. I contacted customer service who switched me product support. The Tech said that it was just a start up issue. I disagreed, and he said they would have the grinder picked up. I told him I would like a replacement that wasn't defective and he said that they were now out of stock on these and it would be a month or so before they got any more. He offered a refund or to replace it when they came in.

I am disappointed that they would think that the screeching noise was acceptable or normal. However, I must add, that this is the second time I have had to contact Woodcraft's customer service. Both times they have politely and quickly resolved the problem.

 

[Frank Byers]

Slow Speed Grinder at Woodcraft

Hey guys, just wanted to put my 2 cents in after all the ups and downs with this grinder. First, thanks for being valued supporters of Woodcraft, where your opinion and feedback truly matter. We are diligently working on this product with the manufacturer to make sure all problems are fixed. If you ever need a voice on this end, please do not hesitate to contact me at frank_byers@woodcraft.com. I will always do my best to make sure your voice is heard from one turner to another, value matters and so does customer/technical support. We strive to the right things for you.
Best regards,
Frank Byers

 

[Mark Porter]

I got a bit worried when I read this thread yesterday. I just ordered a grinder and it was backordered. There is no Woodcraft store in my area so it is all order and ship.

I contacted Woodcraft customer service today and because it is still in process and back ordered, the rep, said she could ammend the order and get it test run before it was shipped. I can't ask for more. That is good service if you ask me.

 

[john lucas]

Thank you Frank. We will try to keep you informed. I am very lucky to have an excellent store in Franklin, Tn that I buy from. Very supportive of us turners and helpful staff. I'm headed there tomorrow to pick up a Cocobolo board. It's about 100 miles for me. The Knoxville Store has been pretty good also and is 100 miles in the other direction.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Noisy Woodcraft Grinder Replaced

As promised, I wanted to update everyone on the situation with the noisy grinder that was recently received from Woodcraft by my friend Roger.

After he was contacted by Woodcraft to further explain the situation, another grinder was sent and it was received a few days ago. (I don't know if it was tested before being shipped...??) When Roger unpacked and ran the new grinder, it appears to function as normal, and does not have the obnoxious start-up noise or the "screaming" sound while at speed.

Woodcraft has asked that the defective, noisy grinder be returned to them so they can study the problem and hopefully make improvements at the manufacturing end. Woodcraft paid for shipping the new grinder, and for returning the grinder to them.

In short, it seems that Woodcraft has taken care of this problem, at least in the case of Roger's grinder, and hopefully they can resolve this issue in general.

There are likely thousands of these grinders in use among woodturners, and they provide an affordable access to slow-speed, 8" grinding capabilities when there are relatively few other options. I hope they can work out the recent problems so these grinders can remain on the market, and still allow Woodcraft to offer them and make an acceptable profit on these tools.

Rob Wallace

 

[Bill Boehme]

Thanks for the update. This is indeed good news in a time where the overall trend in customer support seems to be on the decline. I am glad that Woodcraft sees things differently.

 

[Pat Moy]

Status of Woodcraft Bench Grinder Fix?

Does anyone have an update of current status on the Woodcraft bench grinder? The shipping date stated on their website kept getting pushed back. Then one day, they removed the grinder from their website completely. I've sent 2 emails to Frank Byers. In the first email, I asked Frank for a status update; in the second, I asked whether Woodcraft was discontinuing sale of the grinder. Both emails went unanswered.

With all those nice words by Frank in prior email exchanges and earlier postings, I really thought he was going to follow through on this. I guess it's just typical sales rhetoric after all.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Pat:

See the thread just started a few days ago:

http://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/woodcraft-slow-speed-grinders.10170/#post-90999

If Woodcraft has gotten another (?) batch of bad 8" grinders, they are doing the right thing by not shipping them out the door. They likely have realized that providing working, quality tools is important to their image, and that their valuable customers deserve a tool that is working to specifications.

I don't think they are pushing sales rhetoric, but are likely between a rock and a hard place in trying to supply their customers with the tools they have ordered, while being sure that what is shipped is working to specs. Woodcraft shipped a defective grinder to one of my turning friends (mentioned earlier in this thread) and made good on that problem by sending him a grinder that was probably checked for operation before it was shipped.

Given that this is such a popular grinder and that QC is obviously a problem, you could either cancel your order and shop elsewhere for a different grinder, or wait until Woodcraft resolves the QC issue. I'm pretty sure they do not want to send defective machines and incur the costs of replacement, service, or lost customer confidence. I see that the grinder has been removed from their web site; further communications, better done by telephone, with WC Customer service might result in a more up to date response; they may be swamped with e-mail queries (?).

I think they are doing the right thing. I agree that they could, however, do a better job of keeping customers informed if there is a problem.

Rob

 

[Pat Moy]

Woodcraft Grinder

Rob,

Thanks for the update. Woodcraft has already refunded me weeks ago. I was waiting for the new batch to re-order. Based on the other post, sounds like Woodcraft's doing the right thing.

In our last email exchange, Frank says to contact him if I had questions or issues. I sent the first email around a week ago, and the second more recently. It would have been nice if he'd dropped me a quick reply.

Pat

 

[Bob Comerford]

Delta, here I come!

I've been planning on getting the WC 8" Grinder Kit, with the Wolverine system included, as a stable-mate for my old 6" Craftsman with Wolverine system. But it sounded too inexpensive to be true and I hesitated. It's quite a drive from RI to Hartford, so I waited for the comments that have been forthcoming in this thread.

Sorry, Woodcraft, but i'm getting the Delta after reading the helpful comments by forum members. I almost picked up the Craftsman 8" VS unit but noticed that there's no room under the wheels for Wolverine bases because the feet of the grinder are there!! (Nice research and product design Mr. Sears.)

Have you Delta VS grinder owners had good luck with the Delta 8" VS unit?

Bob

 

[Mark Porter]

I just got a call from Karen at woodcraft CS.
They are cancelling all backordered grinders and are no longer using the vendor that made them. An order came in of 1100 and the first 200 tested were not up to par and were returned.
They are looking for another manufacturer and don't expect to have any before this fall.

I appreciate the call and am open to suggestions for a good grinder that won't break the bank.