Sunex 8 inch Bench Grinder

I received this grinder yesterday, so this is an early assessment. My old (cheap) grinder had given out, and I was looking for something to: use as a general purpose grinder for lawnmower blades, general metal grinding, and chisel and tool sharpening. Generally speaking, the grinding wheels that come on bench grinders aren't suited for tool sharpening, they are too coarse and the wheel tends to overheat the metal edge. I looked at specialized sharpening machines, but they are expensive and not suited for general purpose grinding, and I didn't want to buy two tools. My compromise was to buy a good quality bench grinder and get a higher quality grinding wheel for my sharpening needs. I opted for a Norton 3x blue wheel in a 100 grit. These wheels run cool and are supposed to last 3 times as long as a regular wheel. So- I had the wheel and yesterday I got the grinder. Opened the box from Amazon and there was another box inside. Opened that box and there was another box inside- suffice it to say it got here safely! Good job, Amazon. There was some assembly required; attach the spark shield, attach the particle guards, and attach the tool rests. I turned it on and was surprised at how quietly it ran, it spooled right up to speed, but it started to walk across the bench- I needed to follow the directions and fasten it down. I replaced the finer wheel with the one I bought and commenced setting up to sharpen some dull chisels. A wrench is not included. First was to fine tune the wheel to reduce the wobble- mark with pencil and place masking tape under opposite points under the flanges, it now runs pretty well but not perfectly. I then took my brand new wheel truing tool (sold separately) and took down the high spots, so the wheel runs true in circumference. Finally, time to get to the chisels. The tool rests are not particularly well designed, in fact they're kind of cheap- stamped out of a single piece of steel, one was bent and I had to use a hammer and anvil to get it in shape. The rests do not adjust for angle, they simply slide front and back. Get it close to the wheel and that's all you can do. Once the grinder was fastened down, a bulb (40 W max., not included) was put in the light, and the wheel trued up, I was able to get the sharpening done in about ten seconds per chisel. I really like this grinder, it is basically a very good tool. It has a very robust feel, a heavy gauge electrical cord, a rugged switch, generally a solid feel. I think I am going to come up with some new tool rests and throw the factory ones away, though. I like the fact that the power switch is sealed from grit and dust, and the light is on a long adjustable stalk, and is very bright and useful (it works independently of the grinder power switch). The motor is quiet, smooth and powerful. I like the fact it runs an 8" wheel because the larger size runs cooler and cuts flatter. I like that this is built ruggedly, it feels like it will last a long time. I had considered the Delta grinder with the adjustable speed feature, but I think I made the right choice with the Sunex, it seems like it is designed and built to last.One more thing- I watched a youtube video on grinders and watched how to sharpen a drill bit (hint: don't rotate the bit). I had to try it, and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and easily it can be done. The trench in the right tool rest seems to be designed for positioning drill bits for sharpening.

Good product

This is a rock solid bench grinder. The construction is well done, the paint and finish are very good. The on/off switch has a nice feel to it The light stem and socket are typical. The grinding wheels are adequate (and well balanced), I have changed one out and replaced it with a United Abrasives/SAIT 100 grit wheel, per my needs. The wheel shrouds are not cast, but are still well constructed. The unit seems to have plenty of power, it spools up quickly, runs with little or no vibration. My previous grinder (a Sears buy), I had bolted to my bench; I was eager to try this bad boy out and placed the grinder on my bench just on its 4 cushioned grips/pads. I proceeded to grind some angle iron without the grinder moving or vibrating all over the bench, it is heavy and stable enough to operate without bolting it to Terra firma, yet today it remains without the tie-downs. Unless your grinding the edge of a 4 foot piece of 6" I-beam, I doubt you would need topermanently bolt down this grinder. A best buy, recommended!Update: Grinder is doing well. I did finally bolt the grinder to my work bench; my son, grandson and others come over and use it, thought it best to secure it in one place. I think there is actually some formal regulations on shop safety that specifies it needs to be bolted.

Revising my review. Still was a hopeless piece of junk. Would really love to give it a minus-5 stars if I could.If I could give any positive light on this device, it would be to say that it has a really powerful motor, spins up fast, and coasts a LONG Time after power-down. The negative side of this though, is that while it's trying to buck itself violently off your bench-top, you gotta hang on for dear life for an awful long time.Seriously, the grinding disks were wobbling badly due to cheap retention system that hinged on using snap-rings in a groove on the shaft, coupled with two poorly stamped-out, not-at-all-flat flat washers. Tried noting the side to side run-out with a dial indicator but it didn't have enough range to take it all in. Still, I did note and mark which were the highs and lows on the left disk, pulled the disk and resorted to shimming with bits of tape and cardboard, and almost got it squared up. Almost. Still wanted to fly off the bench top. Then I tried the same with the right disk. To loosen it, I had to take a grip on the left wheel to steady the motor shaft against my wrench on the right-side retaining nut. And the whole left wheel spun loose, screwing up my pathetic attempt at shimming it.After wasting more hours than I care to mention, and looking at the unfortunately now scrapped shipping container, I decided returning it was not a viable option. Option 2 was a trip to the trash can.. It went to the land fill the following morning, where it can rust away in peace forever. Replaced it with a 8" DeWalt unit from Home Depot for 2/3 the price and a whole lot better machine.

I've used grinders in the shop on the farm and ranch all my life and after years of using other grinders this is the best of all. It starts slowly but within seconds is at full speed. I mounted it on a heavy duty pedestal with little modification. It was perfectly balanced and works excellently. I replaced the left grinder wheel with a DeWalt 8" crimped bench wire wheel. The right wheel support has a slot for sharpening drill bits and it works well. The wheel change was simple but time consuming; the bolts, nuts, washers for the panel cover are very small for my fingers. The wire wheel works great. I love this grinder and would strongly recommend it. I've had it about 3 months and used it for numerous jobs without a glitch.