[entity-unknown]

I thought you all savvy shoppers and engineers might appreciate this grinder attachment for a Dremel I built. I re-built the hack version I took from Jag and this is what I came up with. It includes a cut off guide that handles up to a 1/8 rod. It has 4x 10, 20, 30, and 40 degree angles for 1/16, 3/32, and 1/8 Tungsten electrodes and seats the tip at the center of the disc.

Below are a couple pix and here's the link to download it:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1905626

Here's a link to the video showing it in action for the first time:
https://youtu.be/RPC9Tmbl3Xs
Feel free to laugh. I didn't eat yet and it was my first time with this new model so the 1/8 cut off was a bit of a fail but still successful P.S. She just finished makin breakfast

[Coldman]

To be brutally honest its a fail all round.
- no real grind angle control
- grind marks on the tip are not axial, they go sideways which will affect arc stability at low amps
- tip cut is a fail and left marks on the tungsten
- the plastic melts when touched by hot tungsten
- it goes out of round easy (no rigidity) causing distortion.

The idea is ok, just needs to be made from metal not flimsy plastic. So not a viable alternative to OEM models currently on the market it terms of cost and performance.
A bench grinder, linisher or sanding disc would do a better job. You could even clamp the dremel in a vice and do a better job without the plastic thingy on the end.

[entity-unknown]

Hey Coldman! You've always had good advice and even if you didn't, input is always appreciated!

The reason there's a gash on the 1/8 is because it went off the track when I was cutting it off since I wasn't doing it right hence user error. You can't argue that either.

If you hold a rod there for a long time it will melt the plastic a bit but you should be cleaning your Tungsten after you grind regardless but yes one out of 3 Tungsten rods having a small amount of melted plastic isn't ideal. Using acetone will remove all ABS since it naturally dissolves ABS, and would clean all the dust you just put on there off as well. I have other plastics for my 3D printer that can handle actual fire, and Nylon is fairly resilient but ABS in itself does a great job. TIG'er's often forget that TIG Torch you hold is made out of the same ABS plastic I'm using although Delrin is sometimes used too.

The grind marks are relative to the spin you put on the electrode and you might have noticed I was not spinning the same direction each time because it's been awhile. Near the end I did and that's why the 1/16 go the good grind. If you spin the rod fast it gets a beautiful spiral and that's with this or any of the 3d printed grinders. It's not like something just magically changed. I'll also add to date I've never had arc wander from any electrode I've ground down with these attachments but had my fair share when doing the bench grind with the occasional oops.

The angles are not all over the place. They were specifically made to 10 degree, 20 degree, 30 degree, and 40 degree.

As for going out of round, that's again user error. The more stable you hold it, the more round it will be. If you spin fast and get it done fast, there is zero issue. The 3/32 gives the better example of this. The same would still hold true for a world class precision made grinder because if you don't give a good spin, you will have a flat spot i.e. out of round.

As for clamping the Dremel to a bench being better, that's still not true. Two different points in a plane will always a more solid path when forcing an object against them since you create friction which guides them vs. a single point of contact in a plane since a single point of pivot will always offer unlimited angles with zero friction vs. the latter.

So I will say your comments of fail are very over zealous, but likely about as much as the overall appreciation I have for the end results Since I have over a year of using this type of grinder I can at least say it's not the Kruger effect either

[Coldman]

My comments are my objective personal opinion and worth exactly what was paid for them. Absolutely no sugar added.
If a better heat resistant material can be used it would definitely be an improvement.
Operator error can be designed out of deformation and reduced with end trimming.
Every welding text book, big brand power source operating instruction and other related material advises against non axial grinding. There are utubes showing resultant arc wander. If you have not experienced it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Not a big job to reposition so that tungstens hit the diamond wheel as it is spinning away from not across the tip.
If you only have one tungsten and need to grind it straight away it's gonna be hot. Material should resist this.
How much does it cost to print out a piece? If longevity is short and cost is high is it cost effective?
The colour is cool. (Sugar)


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[entity-unknown]

My other attachment has lasted over a year and still goin strong! I smashed a duplicate with a 4 Lbs. sledge and it took 3 good wacks before it broke and it didn't really even break. This one would likely survive 1 and still be usable.

As for the cost!!! Well it probably cost me the same amount of hours as a professional grinder costs in USD. However it will save someone the starting price of $200 for a professional one that doesn't have the starting price if they just purchased a solid rig or maybe they just don't have the cash, or maybe they just want something else
But really it costs me less than $3 in material and 4 hours print time which can be reduced but I try to keep a good quality so 4 hours is good.
So how is this tool better than a real Tungsten grinder, not a bench? The cost and the cost alone A bench has only one point of pivoting otherwise it only has two points with fixed angles thus this tool still beats a bench grind.

Now as for your axial point, that's interesting since I had asked awhile back about this and no one ever replied so I figured I was just over thinking it. I took the angle focus from someone else and honestly without the expertise, the angles make sense to me still. I'll have to look into that because as you said, it's an easy fix if I understand the logic behind the geometry. I just move the models, cut, probably fix some mesh, then re-print 100% consistently and dimensionally the same part with literally 6 motions after I turn on the printer and go do something else productive while it makes my tool

[Coldman]

I have no idea about 3d print costs, still haven't figured out 2d colour print costs yet. $3 is good.
To be fair my sharpie blade doesn't cut well either, nature of the beast. If I can't get a clean cut cut with side cutters hard up against the end ball I'll part it off against the bench grinder edge. Wish I had a high powered laser.


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[entity-unknown]

It has a groove to set the rod into I was just dickin around with it and it fell of track and got caught up. Honestly I never cut off the tips but after doing it the other day, I see the benefit. Kinda like a fresh slate real fast rather than polishing a turd, almost literally.

3D printing in general isn't expensive, but development can be, mostly in time. I wasted probably $10 developing this with a few failed prints. The cost of electricity was likely about $10 or less. The cost of time though as I said before was probably equal in hours to the cost of a cheap grinder, but thinkin bout it I still think it was less than 200 hours too so all in all savings

The real savings would be mostly for others who didn't spend the time designing it, just printing it and using it. $3 is pretty scrappable too and since it's 100% the same part upon replication, having a spare if one goes down is easy and cheap enough to achieve.

[MarkL]

The real savings would be mostly for others who didn't spend the time designing it, just printing it and using it.

My friend has a 3D printer he uses to make drone parts, I'm going to ask him to make me one of these. I'd love to use my Dremel for something useful, it mostly just sits in the box for decades at a time.

[entity-unknown]

I gave one to a guy that runs a fab shop for heavy iron furniture and he's in love. He says it's saved him a lot of time grinding so it's actually increasing his production ability. So he's running a fab shop and grinding frequently with an ABS plastic tungsten grinder attachment and couldn't be more thrilled and I quote "You have changed my fab life forever"

[Mkennedy4797]

Thank you entity-unknown. I downloaded your design and had it printed off at work...I gotta say I really like this thing so far. Being that I am still newer to Tig welding, this tool is helping me stay more consistent with my grinding and speeds the process up for me. No it's not a $300 grinder, but for a hobbiest like myself, it's perfect for what it costs to print and for the $10 worth of diamond wheels. Thanks Again.

-Matt-


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[entity-unknown]

I'm glad it's working for you! Definitely not a solid $300 grinder, but you can put that $290 into more filler and Tungsten
Once/if you do become a pro welder then maybe it might just be time to upgrade but I wouldn't be surprised if this tool is still functional by then