1-1/2 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.

I purchased this wet sharpener last year since I own a small shop so chisels or anything else has to be maintained to cut right. Used for my chisels, hand planner, kitchen knife 🔪 it is a pleasure to see how everything I sharp come back as if I went to get it brand new from the store . Don't forget to buy the extra jig for the bigger knife because they only give you one little one but it's only good for the small knife. I will definitely recommend this product pay a bit more to get a good sharpener it will make your life easier 👍

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 bench grinder will do just about anything I need it for. It is a very quiet machine with very little vibration. It does not take up much room on my workbench.

Impressed. Nice and heavy. Grinding wheels are ok. Aftermarket ones will probably be more true but these do what they need. Light comes in handy.

silencieux stable et meules parfaites , aussi pour aiguisage à sec.

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.