Best small precision cylindrical grinder?

[CarbideBob]

Things to know that would be nice.
Ballpark budget first.
Variety of work material, shapes, run sizes and min part sizes also. Will you need to change wheels often?
Should I mention part tolerances?

Older Cincis are built like a tank and can be so very abused and just keep on running forever.
CNC Kellenbergers are oh so sweet but be sitting down when you get that quote. I belive enrty here new is close to 1/4 million. A friend of mine has four.
Personally I am not a fan of the B&S 13. Owned two. Not a real accurate OD grinder IMO. You are not going to make good Cat-40 or HSK holders on this.
Myfords are great small footprint guys but not big enough for your use.
I did very much like the Landis 2R.
Bob

 

[MCritchley]

Think max length on the Myford is 10”
Think the OP called 12” part length.
I had a nice Myford and it was pretty good. Straight up little machine.
Mine also had the swing down ID spindle.

Landis is pretty good, I might point toward a nice Studer!
Cheers Ross

Why would they be advertised as 12” between centers?
I get that it’s not much more capacity than the OP needs and you always loose some between centers length if you have a chuck. The best grinder for the op will be the one that’s close to him and is not a complete pile of junk that needs a rebuild.

https://pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_Archive/15_Mfrs_Publications/Myford/Myford%20Sales%20Lit.pdf

I would stay away from B&S universal machines. They have a very finicky hydraulic system that must be adjusted in series. So if you want to adjust the indeed traverse fluid allocation, you are adjusting every valve downstream.
The swivel wheel head is cool and can do a lot of tricks, but there are a lot of components between the grinding wheel and your hand.

There is a shop in Milwaukee with mainly Landis and Cincinnati’s and are well liked by their operators and shop owner.

 

[michiganbuck]

My vote would be for the brown & Sharpe 13 grinder.
Good to have with it a steady rest, a face plate magnet, a 4-jaw chuck, and a collet set.

likely $2,500 to $12,000 for a decent one.
Oxnard Ca:

Brown Sharpe 814U Universal Cylindrical Grinder -...

Brown Sharpe 814U Universal Cylindrical Grinder

losangeles.craigslist.org

Detroit:

No. 13 Brown & Sharp Universal and Tool Grinder - tools - by dealer...

EXPERT MACHINE REPAIR AND SALES Leasing and Financing Available from Capital Financing Brown & Sharp O.D. Grinder Re-Alignment Table and Bed 1. Grind table and sub-table complete, re scrape to...

detroit.craigslist.org

Note: I saw this machine before it was rebuilt and it looked good then,

 

[drcoelho]

Here is the best currently being manufactured as seen in my shop:

 

[triumph406]

would be my version of the MV Agusta in that size, tho.

The OP's probably like the rest of us, wants an MV Agusta on a Laverda budget.

(No offense to Laverda's, The Jota is one bike I always wanted to ride, they were quite rare in the UK, and I didn't know anybody who had one, one day, one day...)

 

[michiganbuck]

The OP's probably like the rest of us, wants an MV Agusta on a Laverda budget.

(No offense to Laverda's, The Jota is one bike I always wanted to ride, they were quite rare in the UK, and I didn't know anybody who had one, one day, one day...)

OT:
Nice bike..likely take me a week to master pulling a hole shot with 0-60 under 3 seconds. that is If I could master it..?

2022 MV Agusta Superveloce S zero to 60 time - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

[Laverda]

OK as for the grinder being used. The parts that are being ground are hardened shafts (52100, 8620, 4140....etc). They are usually 6" to 8" long and about 1" to 1 1/2" diameter. May times they are 2" long by no more than 3/4" diameter. I mentioned 12" x 4" as maximum to play it safe but will probably never need that capacity. Think of a small gearbox shaft with different diameters, splines and threads on both ends. All grinding is between centers and done after heat treat. Some shafts will have roller bearings running directly on the shaft. I am currently making a wheel axle where the tapered rollers run directly on the shaft as that's what the factory did. Most times the ground area will have a bronze bushing running on the shaft. So roundness, surface finish and for times when a roller bearing in running on the shaft, I need to hold .0002" on the diameter. I am copying engine and gearbox parts for things where no parts are available. Mostly pre-war British motorcycles. I just finished making crankshaft main shafts, crank pin and connecting rod sleeve for a 1929 AJS. Next I need to make the gearbox shafts and gears for it. Next I have a 1936 Triumph to make parts for. When the parts has been heat treated (I have the oven to do the heat treat) and you wait weeks to get the part back is a problem. So I want a small grinder to do it in house. Also at times I make intake and exhaust valves which also need grinding as they can sometimes have non standard shaft diameters so have to start with a bigger valve blank. I also make parts for other peoples bikes such as valve gear for a 1936 Hemi Crocker.

As for MV Agustas, no interest in them. In the 1970's a Laverda would leave any MV or Ducati in the dust. A 1970's Laverda Jota would do 144mph off the showroom floor and had 90 HP. It was the fastest bike you could buy from 1975 until 1982. A Ducati 900ss of the same era had 70 HP and would only do 125 MPH. And a MV had about the same as the Ducati but was much heavier. They also had horrible Italian electrics where as Laverda was all Bosch.

I have 6 Laverdas, two 750cc twins, three 1000cc triples and one 1200cc triple. Plus around 30 other old bikes. And finally wanting a MV on a Laverda budget, a 1970's Laverda Jota cost more than either the MV or Ducati. For comparrison my 1976 Laverda triple cost $6500 new out the door when you could buy a Honda 750 for $2100. My newest Laverda which is a SFC1000 that cost $18,000 in 1988 which with inflation would be $45,000 today. Probably why Laverda went out of business.

 

[RC Mech]

We have a 11” x 22” Kondo that is very nice to use. Made in Japan.

TOS also make excellent grinders. And lathes. And mills. But I don’t think TOS makes a cyl grinder in that small a size.

 

[Boat Brat]

Think max length on the Myford is 10”
Think the OP called 12” part length.
I had a nice Myford and it was pretty good. Straight up little machine.
Mine also had the swing down ID spindle.

Landis is pretty good, I might point toward a nice Studer!
Cheers Ross

The early machines were 10 inch, later (MG12) was …. You guessed it 12 inch!

 

[Overland]

Sounds like a Myford might be ideal, and kind of neat UK machine on UK bikes.
How close are you to Crystal ? Go check em out.
Bob

 

[cyanidekid]

nobody likes Okamoto? don't know how small their smallest is, I did bid on one once, but that's the closest I've been to one.

 

[john.k]

Any grinder will hold tenths and better .....my WW2 vintage Landis 16x72 Universal can grind limits I cant measure,and I doubt anyone in this country can.....its not compact though ,being nearly 20 ft long.,and weighs near 6 tons by the crane scale on a recent move.

 

[MCritchley]

One other brand you might consider for the work you are doing would be a Parker Majestic. They were pretty popular in Detroit tool rooms for one off work. They are simple machines and are much less intimidating than a larger machine.

 

[Garwood]

nobody likes Okamoto? don't know how small their smallest is, I did bid on one once, but that's the closest I've been to one.

Okamoto is Shigiya. Shigiya was already mentioned early in this thread.

 

[EmGo]

One other brand you might consider for the work you are doing would be a Parker Majestic. They were pretty popular in Detroit tool rooms for one off work. They are simple machines and are much less intimidating than a larger machine.

Yeah, now that we have a description of the work, something more toolroomy like your Parker or the B&S 13 makes more sense. That'd be a lot more versatile for onesy-twosies. If he's worried about accuracy, get an Arnold gage. That takes a lot of the skill out of it.

About the triple, Paul Unmacht got one of the first ones ... ran it a few times in AFM but mostly around town and on the ride. It wasn't that great. We were always going to make a real crank for it so that at least it would sound good, but he fell in love before that could happen and she took him to the cleaners. Good thing you love them because no one else does

 

[triumph406]

About the triple, Paul Unmacht got one of the first ones ... ran it a few times in AFM but mostly around town and on the ride. It wasn't that great. We were always going to make a real crank for it so that at least it would sound good, but he fell in love before that could happen and she took him to the cleaners. Good thing you love them because no one else does

I think Slaters in the UK were quite successful racing the Jota. Can't remember if it was endurance racing or shorter races.

Always thought Laverdas were a bit agricultural, didn't they make tractors as well?

 

[technocrat]

Always thought Laverdas were a bit agricultural, didn't they make tractors as well?

Combine harvesters. You see a few of them in Australia, more left than the bikes.

 

[Big Buck]

There's a lot of good machines , the key is to have a top shelf operator , Heald grinder's work pretty good , if your grinding angles find one with a sine bar

 

[EmGo]

I think Slaters in the UK were quite successful racing the Jota. Can't remember if it was endurance racing or shorter races.

Believe it or not, Butler & Smith did real well with this thing, so anything is possible:

Usually, anyhow Worth a quick trip through Mush'es photos if we're gonna talk antiques

Photo Essay: Mush Emmons

www.cycleworld.com

He was always at AFM races, both sears, ontario and riverside, should have some of the valiant laverda triple losing its ass

It really wasn't very good. Top-heavy and overall heavy, who cares what the top speed is if you can't get through the twisty parts ?

 

[Peter from Holland]

Studer and Kellenberger Like mentioned earlier
But also Fortuna Schaudt Tschudin and the Italian Tachella are good machines
As always with used machines Condition condition

Peter