Kevin Jesequel
TOTW Team
A few months ago I spotted a 1hp Baldor grinder on marketplace for a heck of a deal. Needless to say, I acquired it. The only issue with it was that the 1hp is sized for 10” wheels. I didn’t want to put 10” CBN wheels because with the grinder speed of 1800 RPM, the surface speed of a 10” wheel is nearly that of a 6” wheel on a 3600RPM grinder. So, I got 8” wheels from D-way. The next “problem” was that the cast iron guards are sized for the 10” wheel and because they also act as the bearing retainer, I couldn’t remove them. They were too big to mount a Wolverine jig in a usable way. I contemplated a few fixes. One was to modify my jigs like the old “vertical solution” jugs to clear the large guard. Another was to modify the guard ( I noticed in a video taken at Arrowmont that they had cut off the bottom of the guards to allow the bases to be mounted in the proper location). Another option I was leaning toward was making end caps that could be bolted on in place of the guard and hold in the bearings. Being somewhat lazy and busy with other things, this idea rolled around in my head for a while. Then, a lightbulb went off. Baldor makes a buffer that I thought probably used the frame, but had end caps instead of guards! A little research and I found a part number, RB3010, “bearing retainer”. I ordered a pair, still unsure if they were the correct item (there isn’t a picture of them anywhere). Well, they arrived today and work perfectly! The same part number is called out for both the 3/4hp grinder/buffer and the 1hp grinder/buffer. I know there may be other issues with removed guards (never do it with stone wheels) and grinding dust, but if you have determined that you want them removed, I hope this info helps.
