$39 Harbor Freight tungsten sharpener

So, after seeing this on the shelf, the last time I went in to Harbor Freight for some cutoff wheels, I thought I'd bring in a piece of 3/32" tungsten to see if it would work, without doing anything to the tool. Sure enough, it does.

http://www.harborfreight.com/media/c...mage_17084.jpg

http://www.harborfreight.com/bench-g...l#.UxqU6T9dXbx

The chuck for the end of the cable drive has a plastic sleeve that just slips off with a hex head on the chuck.

The chuck needs some working by hand initially, the threads are a little burred, but once you've worked the threads a few times, you don't even need to use a wrench to get the tungsten to sit nice in it.

It goes larger than 3/32" and it looks like with a little bit of cutting in the 4 reliefs on the chuck sleeve inside, you could get it to work on smaller tungsten, too.

The grinder is only $35 on sale.

The grinder wheel does work, but I bought a 3" diamond cutting wheel that is for a 1/4" shank (comes with an adapter to a 1/8 dremel tool), centered it on a 1/4 bit on the drill press and drilled it for the 10mm shank of the grinder.

http://www.harborfreight.com/media/c...mage_21813.jpg

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece...l#.UxqUdD9dXbw

It says it's 1/8" in the ad, and it does come with an adapter to a 1/8" shank, but the hole is larger. The wheel comes with a few other pieces that can be used, but for $10, you can't go wrong.

The grinder starts out really slowly, but it has a speed dial that ramps it up quickly if you want it to, with plenty of power to run as a quick sharpener and it's small enough to put on a welding cart.

If you really wanted to, you could chuck up a finer grinding or sanding bit on the other end, to put a polish on the tip. Haven't tried that yet, but this thing saves a ton of time, space and money!

I use this setup, and I drilled a hole in the safety shroud to push the tungsten in and help sharpen them. Work well. I sharpen up 10 1/16" and 3/32" blue tips and put it away for a long time. Small and stores well. Still using original stone, though out the flex piece.

But for the price, it is fast and hard to beat.

Nice. I like the hole idea. So did you just set the guard up so the hole aligns with the side of the grinder wheel on the bottom/ side to get linear grinding?

They have another grinder that is about the same size, a little stronger, for about the same price, without the cable drive. I liked the idea that the cable chuck works on the tungsten, without a drill. I have a nice, cordless Makita that can work, too, but I like having everything in one spot. I'm sort of limited on space in my garage, so having the cable is good for that. I do need to get more tungsten to stock up/ sharpen for a quick change.

I'm very happy with the results from the HF 180 grit wheel that comes with the "Saw sharpening replacement kit" that I saw in this vid and just dedicated their $10 4in grinder to (with coupons, less than $20 for both)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH9h5Tu76As

That grinder look like a nice deal I will have to see if our Princess Auto or TSC stores have anything like that, small and ease to find a place to put it, it is a lot cheaper then a tungsten sharpeners from $250.00 and up some over $1000.00.

My version of a 300.00 grinder. Just switch collets and adjust angle. Hmmmm...... am I very cheap(frugal), or inventive?
Attachment 11917

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Originally Posted by ljdm1956

My version of a 300.00 grinder. Just switch collets and adjust angle. Hmmmm...... am I very cheap(frugal), or inventive?

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The latter, and only because I thought of a similar idea. :-) But your execution is less Rube Goldberg than what I had in mind.

Collets are naturally the right size, so why not use one to hold the tungsten at the grinder?

Cheers,
Richard

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Originally Posted by DaveBonds

Nice. I like the hole idea. So did you just set the guard up so the hole aligns with the side of the grinder wheel on the bottom/ side to get linear grinding?

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Hey Dave,

Exactly what I did. Works very well. I sharpen both ends of all the tungsten and put it a way for a long time. Might look into the diamond wheel on the end of the 6" grinder, then I could save a little space and use both wheels on the regular grinder.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ljdm1956

My version of a 300.00 grinder. Just switch collets and adjust angle. Hmmmm...... am I very cheap(frugal), or inventive?
Attachment 11917

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Looks a little scary for me as most of my grinders have a slight vibration to them. And it will kick toward you to make sure it's tight.

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Originally Posted by RichardH

Collets are naturally the right size, so why not use one to hold the tungsten at the grinder?

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You mean without the C clamp? That would probably allow people using a bench grinder to get a little more consistent point.

So far, no kickback. Consistent point angle, the c clamp holds it pretty well. Quick and easy to change the angle for different sizes. My grinder has A LOT of vibration to it, and no problem. It's an old, small, rickety almost useless grinder, so if I wanted to devote it just to tungstens it wouldn't bother me, but if I did need it for something else, its really easy to use it, and put the collet back on again
Also - as far as kicking back (which it doesnt) the picture doesnt show it well - the collet is really pointing downward

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Originally Posted by everlastsupport

You mean without the C clamp? That would probably allow people using a bench grinder to get a little more consistent point.

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Yeah, it's an idea I'm still noodling, to create a grinder attachment that uses collets to hold the tungsten.

Handheld, you could use the collet to hold a steady front hand while you turn the tungsten; this avoids wearing one spot on the wheel. But the collets don't lock without a tailcap applying pressure, so that's about all you could do handheld.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RichardH

Handheld, you could use the collet to hold a steady front hand while you turn the tungsten; this avoids wearing one spot on the wheel. But the collets don't lock without a tailcap applying pressure, so that's about all you could do handheld.

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Will take a little longer before your fingers get hot.

I just chuck mine in an electric drill.

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Originally Posted by joshuab

I just chuck mine in an electric drill.

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That's what I do with the little HF grinder. Chuck them up, insert in the hole in the guard, spin slow and lean to side of grinder to touch the side if the wheel.