Harig 618 Automatic Spark Guard Broken

[jwweathers]

I recently purchased a Harig 618 Automatic, and I’m working to get it up and running. I believe everything is there, but the spark guard is broken. I will repair it if necessary, but I was wondering if someone here might have a spare that they would part with. Appreciate any help!

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[michiganbuck]

I imagined a surface grinder with a spark guard after the table being angled downward so sparks would be deverted toward the floor into a container.
Good to have a shield behind the chuck to help keep grits from bouncing toward the collum.
Good to place a surface grinder so grits and flying parts go in a safe direction.
Making a spark guard a piece of angle iron and then bolting to a plate is quick.

 

[jwweathers]

Agreed.

 

[michiganbuck]

Be sure to have a decent wheel if intending to grind the chuck
I kike to check that the chuck is not overtightened, 20 lbs is about the max.

 

[jwweathers]

Roger that. I don’t have immediate plans to grind the chuck, but I may do it if I decide I need to. It has a Walker permanent magnet chuck. My Harig Super 612 has a Walker electromagnetic chuck. Not sure which is better…

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

Permanent magnet doesn't heat up. I'd avoid grinding the chuck until you have considerable experience and have read at least 37 opinions. There's more to tightening a chuck- I remember that one end is supposed to be tighter than the other. Once you collect a bucket of sparks, what do you do with it?

 

[michiganbuck]

Q: (Once you collect a bucket of sparks, what do you do with it?)
If grinding Gold bricks, send the tailings to me.
Grinding gold likely loads up the wheels, so also send the dressings to me.

OT:
I spent much of last Saturday panning for gold and got near nothing.
Im thinking that I have to dig down to the ancient riverbed to find the gold.
The ancient river flowed south, and now that the Great Lakes are down, what is left of it petters out and flows only for drainage, so travel north in part and to the south in another part.
We panned-washed about five five-gallon buckets of gravel for a couple of teaspoons ob black sand..

*If we have enough Gold buffs here on PM we could start a thread on the subject.

 

[michiganbuck]

Electromagnetic chucks can be turned down for a delicate part that may distort...other than that, I like a permanent mag chuck. It is surprising how even a half-inch thick long part can distort with the pulldown of a mag chuck...a not flat chuck can allow the error of the chuck to be put into the part being ground.
That is a bugger..you get a half thow belly in one side and then another belly on the other side for a really messed up part...*Good to check a fresh ground chuck with a decent straight edge.

Good to put top grinding parts all about the chuck to avoid wearing a hole (low place) in your chuck

The old chuck tightening (I think) was 17 lbs on the right side and 12 lbs on the left side, so to allow for the chuck to expand from heat. I just tighten them with a one-hand, arm swing from the elbow..not a pull or jerk from the shoulder.
The worst is bumping the back-rail with a heavy part..but it would take a lot of slamming a part to move a chuck.