1.5 HP Bench Grinder

Reviewing BUCKTOOL SCM8103 10-Inch Variable Speed Wet Sharpener …..I was impressively surprised at the overall workmanship/value at $229. Bucktool workmanship and finish…..overall metal case feels strong, tight and well assembled. The finish on my tool has a manufacturing defect on the surface of the top plate (photo) that does not impact function. Electrical toggle switch and speed knob are solid, smooth and crisp. Electrical power wire and plug meet spec. The 10” honing stone…… appeared smooth and worked well right out of the box. No vibration or wobble when spun at full speed (160 RPM). I was impressed that the stone was very close to true. The stone also turns bidirectional. Jig universal support arm …….. very close to square with the stone (photos). A number of reviews reported issues with this. I adjusted the jig alignment slightly with a little vice work. Stropping wheel…….wheel rotates smooth with only very slight wobble. But it feels “light weight”. It has very thin 1/16” leather (photo) and I suspect it may have to be replaced during the life of the machine. I did locate Bucktool parts (photo) and ordered an extra wheel, stone and jig-arm (being shipped from Hong Kong). Jigs….Nice to have two jigs (short knife and grinding/square-edge) provided. I use the Tormek square edge and truing jigs, which will work with this Bucktool. NOTE - The mounting position of the Bucktool support arm prevents the Tormek truing jig from anchoring on the arm shaft, so I will look at adding a “flat” on the jig-arm to help anchor the truing jig screw. Sharpened my first four plane blades today. Process was easy, and I am glad I used a waterproof mat…..water management vs RPM can be interesting. Sharpening took about 3-5 minutes per blade and my first edge (at 30 degrees) was reasonably smooth and square (photos). However, I did notice the stone is rough and will not leave an extremely smooth edge, especially when sharpening at less than 25 degrees (very fine chips in the blade’s leading edge). Happiness factor….I was pleasantly surprised how quiet this machine runs. Even at full 160 rpm, it is impressively quiet (video), especially when compared to other 10” stone sharpeners. Also, considering the cost, my plane blades sharpened well. But if you are looking for that “razor-super-sharp” result, this stone will probably not get you there. However subsequently lapping the blade on a flat diamond stone for a quick second bevel, does provide a very sharp blade that serves my wood shop well. First impressions, this feels like a solid investment. Overall, quite pleased with “first day” experience. The bidirectional variable-speed wheel that is ready "out of the box" with only minor tweaks, strong metal frame, square support arm, multiple jigs, stropping wheel, compound, 2 year warranty, great value-for-money and “really quiet” yields a healthy 5 stars.

Good grinder, I use it everyday! runs true and quiet and smooth.

This low speed grinder is perfect for sharpening wood chisels and blades for wood planes. My old grinder’s rpm’s was too fast and would heat the tool blades and burn the edges. This Bucktool 6” low speed bench grinder spins at a comfortable 1750 rpm’s, has negligible vibration and all in all is a well made tool. I am very happy with the purchase. Also, the delivery was four days ahead of the scheduled date how’s that for spectacular.

I began my search for a new 8" bench grinder with a good deal of pessimism. My history with these important tools has been mixed. I have a couple of well-made 6" grinders, but they are underpowered, and I really wanted one with 8" wheels for grinding my turning tools. I am replacing the equivalent model made by Rikon. Right out of the box both wheels of the Rikon wobbled badly. I took it back to the retailer, who insisted that the grinder itself was fine and that the wheel collars were a little asymmetrical. All I needed to do, he said, was to fiddle around with them until the wheels ran true. That didn't work, nor did turning the collars flat, or replacing them with precision-ground ones. Finally, I checked the grinder itself with a dial gauge, finding that both arbors have significant runout. The grinder has sat mainly idle for several years now. Having recently bought several high-dollar items for the shop, I decided that I couldn't justify buying a name brand like Jet or (gasp!) Baldor. Turning to reviews, I saw that the Buck (which I had never heard of) was highly rated. I managed to suppress my skepticism and ordered one. Being about 70% certain that I was going to end up returning this grinder, I decided to check everything before even switching it on. I was dumbfounded to find amazingly tight tolerances! The arbors (shafts sticking out from either end of the motor) are within 0.0002" of perfectly round, and the steps against which the collars rest are within 0.0004". The collars themselves are another matter. Although robust and apparently well made, they are not machined, and near their edges (they have a diameter of just under 2") they wobble by 0.006 to 0.008". That doesn't sound like much (about the summed diameters of 2-3 human hairs), but where it counts, on the periphery of the 8" wheel, that translates to about the 0.025" that I recorded there. I switched out the collars with the aftermarket, machined ones (made by Raptor) I had on hand from the Rikon failure, which wobble only by 0.001-0.002". I consider this to be really stellar performance for a bench grinder in this price range! The Buck grinder is nicely finished. I was delighted to see that the wheel covers, although stamped and not cast like a Baldor, are of heavy construction, probably about 1.5 mm thick (about 16 ga). This is a really high quality grinder for the price, and I highly recommend it.

The grinder works great and is doing a great job of sharpening my turning tools, eventually I will replace the oxide wheels with CBN wheels, but for now the 80 and 120 grit is going a great job. I love the 1.5 inch wide disk, but wish it was the 80 grit. My disappointment is that the threads for the vision guards were not threaded properly, I had to chase them both with my tap and die set and replace one of the bolts that came with the grinder with one of my own.

This 6” low speed bench grinder is fantastic! I bought it to replace an old bench grinder that was on its last legs. I’m so happy I did! I have a sharpening business and use this low speed grinder mainly for cleaning up knife blades (Scotchbrite wheel) and stropping the blades after sharpening (leather wheel). The low speed is consistent, wobble free and a lot safer than high speed grinders. It runs very quiet and smooth. It is very easy to set up right out of the box. I would absolutely recommend this low speed grinder to anyone who wants a safe but effective grinder.

a chef, so this is my input: the system itself is high quality without breaking the bank. If you have Japanese knives, I highly recommend buying a 3000-grit whetstone, because the wheel that comes with the system is a 200-grit stone and it will eat up your knives. Other than that, it’s a solid buy and highly recommended.

This review is for Bucktool’s 10” variable speed grinder. Overall I think this product is a good one— my wheel worked great out of the box without wobble, and I love the ability to change speeds. There was, however, a glaring issue. I am mostly planning on using this for grinding/sharpening chisels and plane irons (as well scissors and knives), and the grinding jig that they included is not designed correctly. There are stops on one side of the jig (shown in the first two pictures I attached) against which the chisel or the plane iron must be placed in order to keep the blade square. When the chisel or iron is placed against the stop, however, then it does not line up with the wheel. Moving it to the left sends the jig off of the rail, flipping it over and pushing to the right hits the rail support (see last 2 pictures attached). The chisel or iron could be sharpened by placing the chisel in the middle of the jig, away from stops, but that defeats the purpose of the stops, and makes it very difficult to guarantee squareness (see middle picture attached). I called Bucktool customer support, and after sending them pictures/video they understood what I was saying. First they told me I had to put the chisel in the middle away from stops. I explained why that is a problem. Then they told me they would have to reach out to their technical team to figure it out. They told me this was a new product, hinting that maybe there are still kinks being worked out. That was quite a few days ago. I will update this review when they respond. For now I would not recommend buying this until they have a solution. UPDATE: Bucktool fixed the problem. They designed a longer bar for the jig to run on and sent it to me right away. It works perfectly now. Changing my review to five stars, this is a very good grinder for the price.

Works as expected.

Muy buen, pero muy buen producto de calidad, recomedable

For the price. I’m am quite impressed. For those wondering tormek stuff is compatible. The dressing diamond will only work on the horizontal mounting holes for the tool rest. the vertical won’t work because the threaded post location is too far away. On the horizontal it’s in a position to work since the mounting is closer to the wheel. Also you need to cheat the V groove a wee bit by not fully seating it into the post to get enough distance. It works so I’m happy. The machine is quiet runs true. It’s heavy and seems well built. The cons: I did need to square up the tool rest and the welds are garbage to say the least but strong. I don’t think the stone is very good quality. It’s states 1/2” bore I measured with a vernier and it’s 12mm. So it may work with tormek stones. I did find lots of sludge from the stone, it was more than what I expected. It does lose a lot of water the catch tray should have been wider and it’s also a bit of pain to put on. I tried the knife tool….i went and got a tormek one. I’m sure the supplied one is good for an experienced sharpener but I needed something easy. I felt like I can do a better job by hand but that can also be my inexperience. All in all for the price it’s good. I bought it on sale for 245$. It came with a square edge tool, knife holder. Dressing stone for course fine and lapping paste.

El uso que le he dado es para proyectos en casa y me ha funcionado muy bien. He logrado buenos afilados en las herramientas que utilizo y de forma fácil. Su funcionamiento es muy silencioso y eficiente.

Smooth running, no vibration, quality built.