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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Re purposing a pot as a wire wheel guard

    A couple of years ago I intercepted a 200mm bench grinder that was going into a skip at work.
    It didn't have any guards on it and I was told “it doesn't work, that's why the plug has been cut off”
    Having worked there for years and having seen what gets thrown away I wasn't put off by that so I lugged it home. The bearings felt good so I put a plug on it and tried it out. Runs like a bought one. Its a Japanese machine Yamabishi Electric Co.


    It has sat in a cupboard for a while until late last year I finally got around to continuing on with my grinder bench (that I first started in 2008 but hadn't finished due to a divorce and all the stuff that went with that)


    I decided to use this machine as a dedicated buff and wire wheel thus freeing up my old GMF to have 2 stones on it after over 30 years of running a wire wheel and one stone. So having a wire wheel on one end meant I really wanted a guard for that end.


    As it happened, about the same time we were retiring an an old Scanpan “Titanium” pot and, as it was a suitable size, I decided to re-purpose it for my guard. Down near the base of the pot the wall thickness is around 5mm.
    I suspect the pot only has just enough Titanium in it that they can legally say it has some in it.


    During my holidays last Xmas I got stuck in and turned the pot into the main part of the guard.

    guard 001.jpg guard 002.jpg guard setup 001.jpg guard cut 001.jpg wire wheel on.jpg


    I still needed an end cover for it but due to a lot of other stuff getting in the way I only got to make that this weekend.
    I even gave the grinder a fresh coat of Hammer finish although I got a bit lazy in my pre paint prepping and it shows in the end result.

    guard 001.jpg guard 002.jpg

    Peter

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
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    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    Default

    Thanks for this, nice save by the way of utilising a bit of "rubbish".
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
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    Default

    Very clever bit of re-purposing a discarded item ! Well done.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  4. #4
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BaronJ View Post
    Very clever bit of re-purposing a discarded item ! Well done.
    Thanks.
    It must rate as one of the most expensive grinder guards in history though. When that pot was bought new in about 2004 the RRP was around $350. My now ex bought a set during a half price sale. I think the lot still cost us about $600 at the time. Unfortunately the you beaut non stick coating turned out to be not as good as expected. Once it started to deteriorate the non stick surface lost most of its non stick feature and became very hard to clean. Plus the handles came loose. In my opinion, not worth the money. Now we just use a $30 Aldi stainless steel set that you can scrub if you have too.
    I ground most of the non stick coating off the outside of it yesterday morning before I painted it. Working on the theory that as it wasn't damaged the paint probably wouldn't stick very well. Took a fair bit of work to get it off.
    peter

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    melbourne australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by bollie7 View Post
    I suspect the pot only has just enough Titanium in it that they can legally say it has some in it.
    Any idea what it might have actually been made of Peter? For $350 in 2004 dollars you would hope it was something special.
    Chris

  6. #6
    BobL is online now Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    Nice work on the guard although I also initially wondered about the amount of Ti in it.

    It just so happens I was reading up about these alloys a few back and it turns out that although they were invented about 50 years ago, according to the web sufficient quantities of the alloy were not available until the early naughties when it was almost all used in specialist aircraft parts. Thats probably why those early pots cost so much. Like cheaper SS since the Chinese got into major alloy production Ti/al alloys are now quite common in cook ware and the amount of Ti can be worked out by simple density measurements because Al and Ti have a significantly different density.

    Anyway what I like about your guard is the vertically wider opening compared to usual guard (see D below). After my guarded wire wheel ripped a few workpieces out of my hands, pulled them inside and rattled them around inside the guard and then spat them them back at me, I removed the guard and it's still that way. It's just possible to see the wire wheel over behind and between the two grinders at the front.

    I don't know why I didn't think of a wider opening guard because that is what I subsequently made for the CBN/diamond wheel (E). CBN wheels are most unlikely to explode so this guard is made of galv sheetmetal purely to provide some protection against stuff falling onto the CBN wheel rather than for operator protection

    Combo1.jpg

    I still have the RHS guard for the grinder the wire wheel runs on so might modify it instead o making a new one.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by jack620 View Post
    Any idea what it might have actually been made of Peter?
    Jack620 - No sorry, no idea. It wasn't any problem to machine.
    Quote Originally Posted by jack620 View Post
    For $350 in 2004 dollars you would hope it was something special.
    Yes but Id guess that it probably wasn't. The cynical side of me says is more likely to be more marketing hype than Titanium.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post

    Anyway what I like about your guard is the vertically wider opening compared to usual guard (see D below).
    Thanks Bob. I'd like to be able to say that I carefully took that into consideration when designing the guard etc etc but in reality I just patterned it off my old GMF grinder which has a wide opening than the later models. .

    I really just wanted the guard to reduce the amount of bits of wire flinging off in all directions.

    peter

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    North Perth
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    23

    Default Cutter “c” in background

    Bob
    what can you tell about the cuttingwheel on the grinder. I have had a run in with an anglegrinder using a cutting disk and am looking for something safer.

    cheers Peter

    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Nice work on the guard although I also initially wondered about the amount of Ti in it.

    It just so happens I was reading up about these alloys a few back and it turns out that although they were invented about 50 years ago, according to the web sufficient quantities of the alloy were not available until the early naughties when it was almost all used in specialist aircraft parts. Thats probably why those early pots cost so much. Like cheaper SS since the Chinese got into major alloy production Ti/al alloys are now quite common in cook ware and the amount of Ti can be worked out by simple density measurements because Al and Ti have a significantly different density.

    Anyway what I like about your guard is the vertically wider opening compared to usual guard (see D below). After my guarded wire wheel ripped a few workpieces out of my hands, pulled them inside and rattled them around inside the guard and then spat them them back at me, I removed the guard and it's still that way. It's just possible to see the wire wheel over behind and between the two grinders at the front.

    I don't know why I didn't think of a wider opening guard because that is what I subsequently made for the CBN/diamond wheel (E). CBN wheels are most unlikely to explode so this guard is made of galv sheetmetal purely to provide some protection against stuff falling onto the CBN wheel rather than for operator protection

    Combo1.jpg

    I still have the RHS guard for the grinder the wire wheel runs on so might modify it instead o making a new one.

  10. #10
    BobL is online now Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by TootsieB View Post
    Bob
    what can you tell about the cuttingwheel on the grinder. I have had a run in with an anglegrinder using a cutting disk and am looking for something safer.
    cheers Peter
    That's a home made gizmo. see here for details //metalworkforums.com/f65/t1967...tachment-bench
    It's really only suited to short pieces eg no more 300 - 400 mm long, and max cutting depth is about 40mm.
    Its particularly useful for quickly shaping odd (non square) shapes.
    For longer stock I'd recommend something like a 6 x 4" bandsaw.

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