78 January/February 2022
H o w t o
(^12) U s e I t
BEST BENCH GRINDER
BAUER 8"
Price: $85 | 3,65 5 -rpm, ¾ -hp
motor | Grinding wheels: Coarse
(36-grit) and fine (65-grit) |
Adjustable work rests | LED
work light
We appreciate bench grinders like
this Bauer, with big, meaty eight-
inch wheels. We noted the large
wheels took a little longer than
models with smaller ones to spin
up to speed. But with their mass,
the big wheels act like flywheels,
maintaining rpms when we were
working them hard. Larger wheels
also last longer, with more abrasive
material to wear down before they
need replacement. We found the
cast work rests to be strong, easily
adjustable, and effective. We don’t
always need the work light, but it
does come in handy—especially
when the grinder is in a dark, out-of-
the-way corner of the shop. Bauer’s
bench grinder is a notable value at
about half the price of similar mod-
els, and at the end of the day it will
achieve the same results.
BEST BELT GRINDER
KALAMAZOO
INDUSTRIES BG248
Price: $995 | ½-hp Baldor
motor | 2 x 48-in. 85-grit belt
| 7,255 sfpm (surface feet per
minute) | Adjustable/removable
work rest | Adjustable head
from vertical to horizontal
The BG248 belt grinder is
a metal-consuming beast.
During testing, we were
surprised how quickly it was
able to remove material from
steel bar stock. Working
side by side with a wheeled
machine let us quickly spot
some of the advantages of
the BG248. We had water on
hand to cool our workpiece but
used it much less frequently
than we did using a traditional
bench grinder; the belt speed
and surface area put less
heat into the material. The
biggest advantage we found,
though, was the ability to grind
surfaces very flat, straight, and
precisely. This precision is ideal
for cleaning up parts that need
to fit together tightly.
BEST WET/DRY SHARPENER
WEN 10"
Price: $142 | 115-rpm motor | Reversible
rotation | Wheels: 15-in., 225-grit stone
sharpening wheel; 8-in. leather stropping wheel |
Universal jig/work support | Water reservoir
Wen’s Wet/Dry Sharpener is extremely use-
ful. We’ve spent plenty of time honing edges on
chisels, hand-plane blades, and knives by hand,
trying all kinds of sharpening gadgets, with
mixed results. And though this Wen took some
care and patience to get the work support set
up and square to the stone, once it was ready to
go for a task like sharpening chisels, we could
fairly quickly remove enough material to rejuve-
nate some very sad, worn edges. Removing the
“wire” or burrs created during sharpening was
something we needed to do by hand on a hone,
or whetstone, taking only a couple of strokes.
We were able to complete the process on the
leather-covered stropping wheel, finishing the
tools’ edges to razor-sharpness.
BEST OF THE TEST