Would these tools be beneficial to me?

[Gaogier]

Hello

I am trying to get into woodworking, metal tinkering, soldering and repairing some computer equipment and parts, with some 3d printing in the future too.

I have a small workshop, it’s not bigger than a bike shed to be honest, it’s 6ft 3” wide, and 36” deep, with my workbench being 600mm deep. Anyway I am thinking of getting a bench grinder, and a bench scroll saw.

Spoiler: Off topic health explanation

With the woodworking I do now completely depends of how much pain I am in, being an autistic disabled person (both my ankles are destroyed - ripped ligaments, tendons and nerves, with screws and metal works, my left ankle is split in 2, but my right ankle is the painful one, with over grown bone, trapping the nerves ligaments and tendons meaning just a hair or bit of dust falls onto my foot is extremely painful, I have to play everything day by day, and on a good pain day, I can take my normal morphine pain medication I can do a couple hours of stuff.

My question is, should I go with basic tools, spend more money on something better, but I can’t really see what’s massively different from a cheap one and a expensive one.

Examples

Mac Allister 150W Bench grinder MBGP150B

This bench grinder is ideal for sharpening tools, removing rust and other grinding jobs.

www.diy.com

Excel 200mm Electric Wet Stone Grinder Sharpener 240V/180W with Honing Wheel

Efficient 180W induction motor 200mm horizontal water cooled wetstone Combined grinder and wetstone sharpening system Ideal for grinding and polishing of metals, plastics and other materials Excel 200mm Electric Wet Stone Grinder Sharpener 240V/180W with Honing Wheel Key Features: Design: This...

www.diy.com

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You buy the tools you need based on what jobs you need to do. If you're just DIYing then Mac Alister stuff is OK though IMO the Titan stuff is a bit better. I buy new stuff if they're gonna get used regularly but S/H for the stuff that won't. BTW the Titan bench grinder is on sale ATM.

 

[cdbe]

I occasionally buy tools because I like the look of them and then try to find a use for them, and a justification for the wife.

 

[Gaogier]

You buy the tools you need based on what jobs you need to do. If you're just DIYing then Mac Alister stuff is OK though IMO the Titan stuff is a bit better. I buy new stuff if they're gonna get used regularly but S/H for the stuff that won't. BTW the Titan bench grinder is on sale ATM.

For the bench grinder, I need to sharpen about 30 chisels, 1 plane blade, hoping for more second hand old ones in the future that may need sharpening, I don’t know if you can on all bench grinders or just the couple of YouTubers doing so, attaching belts for sanding or honing, polishing and wire wheels etc to it.

For the bench scroll saw, I had… and still making the family a hand made item but with bits here and there not working out correctly I have realised that a scroll saw would be perfect for this job with other ideas floating around in my head, with this tool I would be looking at second hand, but have no knowledge on this tool to see if it’s worth the money for the tool, if I need to buy new parts at a future time, are they available.

I had the problem with my table saw, being called a death trap by you guys here, as the saw was missing many safety features from the previous owner. Of which I brought a newer table saw and switched the table top, and housing although I would like a newer mitre gauge (my current one isn’t as smooth as I would like, but it’s 16mm slot not 19mm (5/8” not 3/4”) so it’s hard to find.

 

[^woody^]

I occasionally buy tools because I like the look of them and then try to find a use for them, and a justification for the wife.

When your "occasionally" becomes "frequently" I have a helpline number for you.

 

[justbigboned]

For the bench grinder, I need to sharpen about 30 chisels, 1 plane blade, hoping for more second hand old ones in the future that may need sharpening, I don’t know if you can on all bench grinders or just the couple of YouTubers doing so, attaching belts for sanding or honing, polishing and wire wheels etc to it.

For the bench scroll saw, I had… and still making the family a hand made item but with bits here and there not working out correctly I have realised that a scroll saw would be perfect for this job with other ideas floating around in my head, with this tool I would be looking at second hand, but have no knowledge on this tool to see if it’s worth the money for the tool, if I need to buy new parts at a future time, are they available.

I had the problem with my table saw, being called a death trap by you guys here, as the saw was missing many safety features from the previous owner. Of which I brought a newer table saw and switched the table top, and housing although I would like a newer mitre gauge (my current one isn’t as smooth as I would like, but it’s 16mm slot not 19mm (5/8” not 3/4”) so it’s hard to find.

For sharpening, making your own sharpening station is a nice first woodworking project to make entirely by hand. I made a wood base to hold 3 diamond stones and a strop out of an offcut of sapele I found in a bin at the timber merchants. Because I'm useless I use a veritas sharpening guide but my chisels are always razor sharp as a result. May want to look into one of those but a bench grinder is useful regardless, for all manner of things. A scrollsaw is a bit more limited but what I'd spend on one would depend on how much use I intended to give it. If it's a primary tool, absolutely buy quality like Hegner imo.

Down to budget and personal needs, but tool buying is addictive so if anyone asks, "it cost £19.99".

Edit: I also do plane irons with the veritas guide, it's quite flexible.

 

[opps]

I do have a cheap Draper grinder- I hate it. It vibrates a lot. I have to screw it down. To be honest, I lack the skills to sharpen chisels accurately on the side of the wheel. The wheel spins to fast anyway. The wheels are too thin to sharpen any chisel more than 15mm "face on".

During the pandemic, I spent £250 on a wet wheel machine for sharpening chisels. Well made but extraordinarily slow for sharpening chisels that have hit a screw or have been badly sharpened previously.

With hindsight, I wish that I had purchased a Sorby linisher. More expensive, but like a static belt sander (with angle guides).

Previously, when on site, I used to sharpen my chisels with a belt sander, but it (read: I) messed up the angles (again, down to my inability to judge the angles by eye).

 

[opps]

With regards to the scroll saw- what do you want to use it for?

Years a ago, I purchased an Axminster one for my stepfather. I think he has used it once for very thin stock materials. Shortly after he purchased a cheap bandsaw.

 

[ATTQ]

I've had one of these old grinders for years and it has unstoppable torque https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186908994986 I think I paid £12 for it as the photos made it look cheap but its all metal. I tried a cheap modern one and it just stopped turning when you put anything to it. The old british made 8" ones come up quite often, worth waiting for

The problem with using this sort of grinder for chisels though is its too fast, you'll soften the steel with the heat produced. You need a slow one with a water bath on the bottom ideally. Using the side of the wheel might be a safety issue? Think its not designed for that but it you dont press hard it might not explode. In the end its very difficult to accommodate all the tools you'll end up accumulating, good luck keeping it reasonable!

 

[ATTQ]

Here you go, this is the sort of thing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335763910824 the bigger wheel is geared down so your get a full speed 6 inch and a 8 inch wider slower wheel. That company was sold off and the non-british made stuff was nothing compared to the original but for this price it would be worth a punt.

 

[stevie888]

Someone had a proper bargain there.

 

[ATTQ]

I very much doubt the new models are anything like the british made ones. The torque on my old Wolf 8" bench grinder is unbelievable, simply can't stop it. I think it was a parkside one I tried somewhere and anything more than the lightest push and it just stopped. They seem to have improved their offerings a lot in the last few years but for a while the parkside stuff really was worthless.

 

[ATTQ]

This will be a bargain for someone https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186998805240

Not sure about availability of 125mm grinding wheels though, but german quality compact machine. you have about 8 minutes... the seller might be wrong about 125mm, could be 6" wheels

 

[ATTQ]

This one keeps ending with no buyers for £25, if i was in the market for a bench grinder I'd message offering to end it now for £20 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396259169960

I have a 450w Hanning slow/fast grinder and its a beast. These smaller ones won't be bad though, far better than anything you can buy for that money new.

 

[Gaogier]

I have found a bench grinder, not sure if it’s going to be a good one.

I think it’s a SIP 07792 around the £30 mark, I don’t know if it’s still available but wanted to see if it’s a good one or not.