Pedestal Grinder: bolts to floor needed?

drcoelho · Jul 15, 2020

How many of you do/do not bolt your pedestal grinder to the floor? In my case, we are talking a 12" Baldor on Baldor stand, used mostly for sharpening tooling, no super heavy grinding...would prefer to not bolt it, opinions?

rblalexander · Jul 15, 2020

Push on it and see if it falls over I guess. Picture would help.

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Limy Sami · Jul 15, 2020

If not the floor, bolt it to a big plate of steel with bevelled edges.

Milland · Jul 15, 2020

1/8" steel plate, mounted to the stand at the base with flathead screws and big enough to be stood on while doing most of your grinding will keep it stable, but will prevent tip-over unless grossly mishandled.

Thin enough to be a low trip hazard, stiff enough to not deflect too much. Bevel the perimeter if you want to further reduce tripping and make sweeping easier. Can still reposition without much headache.

FWIW, my 8" stand-mounted bench grinder is heavy enough that I don't bother bolting or using a stand plate (as above), but I also never do really aggressive grinding on it.

[OK, Limy - now you're doing it on purpose. Stop snipping me, you scone-eating varmint!]

vanguard machine · Jul 15, 2020

i've never bolted my 2HP marshke to the floor.. but then again it weighs like 300+ lbs on a very wide factory base, so you're mileage may vary

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Limy Sami · Jul 15, 2020

Milland said:
[OK, Limy - now you're doing it on purpose. Stop snipping me, you scone-eating varmint!]

One either has it, ..................or one has not

lucky7 · Jul 15, 2020

Any earthquakes in your part of California?

L7

M.B. Naegle · Jul 15, 2020

I've never had need for anything over 1HP, and if there was a risk of pushing it over, it wasn't being used or treated properly. I've had a few that would vibrate a bit, but that's always a balancing issue. So, no, I don't bolt them down. IMO they're meant to be moved around as needed, at least when they're that small. I could see bolting down something in the 5-10HP range, but I wouldn't know.

dalmatiangirl61 · Jul 15, 2020

I did not want to bolt my grinders to floor either, did not like the look of a plain steel plate either, found a couple of dozer sprockets, much better look

Just keep people in sandals away from them!

drcoelho · Jul 15, 2020

I was planning on mounting the pedestal on a wider base with self-levelling feet (Zambus) to give it more stability.

All your feedback is appreciated.

And YES, earthquakes DO happen in my area (SF Bay Area)

But I suspect if the big one hits, a falling pedestal grinder will be the least of my problems....

machinistrrt · Jul 15, 2020

Bolt it down. Set the anchors well below surface so you can epoxy the holes closed if needed.

It's not what's planned that you guard against, it's the most boneheaded thing you can think of.
When all else fails, think like a lawyer

jbacc · Jul 15, 2020

Never mind bolting it to the floor, I have mine on wheels so I can move it around my over-packed shop (2 car garage) :-)

gustafson · Jul 15, 2020

IF you are not leaning on it it need not be bolted

A 12" Baldor was made to remove some material, and if you were bound to use it to its ability, it ought to be bolted down

Phil in Montana · Jul 15, 2020

Build a wood base out of 2x8s two thick 24x30 and bolt it to that...Phil

dana gear · Jul 15, 2020

lucky7 said:
Any earthquakes in your part of California?

L7

We are inspected by once a year by our insurance carrier as well as Cal-osha. we have to bolt everything down.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Jul 16, 2020

gustafson said:
IF you are not leaning on it it need not be bolted

A 12" Baldor was made to remove some material, and if you were bound to use it to its ability, it ought to be bolted down

I remember moving quite a big shop full of machinery. One of the machines was a 18" double ended grinder. The machine was primarily used by the guys in the welding shop. The more important machinery got bolted down first so the grinder was connected up but hadn't yet been bolted down. The guys found that the vibrations caused by the wheels being slightly out of balance and the heavy grinding it was being used for caused the machine to move around the shop on it's own.

Regards Tyrone.

jermfab · Jul 16, 2020

My personal preference is to put every tool and piece of equipment I possibly can on a skid. Make sure you can get a pallet jack between the runners. Conversely, make sure the skid is large enough the tool can be used safely.
Makes moving day, shop reconfiguration and cleaning and maintenance so much easier. You can get “Gucci Vitton”, with leveling feet:

But simple runners and a frame work just as well:

You can even use any old material fall-off from the most recent job:

I’m 6’4” and generally appreciate getting machines up and at my level as well.

Jeremy

David Utidjian · Jul 16, 2020

Keep in mind that if a pedestal mounted grinder ever gets out of balance, for whatever reason, it may start to walk around the shop as it spins down. At certain RPMs even slightly out of balance condition can cause the pedestal to move quite a bit as it passes through the harmonics of the setup. I would just pick a spot, bolt it down, never have to worry about it. If you have had it for a while that spot should be pretty well established by now.

-DU-

camscan · Jul 16, 2020

David Utidjian said:
Keep in mind that if a pedestal mounted grinder ever gets out of balance, for whatever reason, it may start to walk around the shop as it spins down. At certain RPMs even slightly out of balance condition can cause the pedestal to move quite a bit as it passes through the harmonics of the setup. I would just pick a spot, bolt it down, never have to worry about it. If you have had it for a while that spot should be pretty well established by now.

-DU-

Don't bother to bolt it down, let it find its own favourite place.
Watch what you grab hold of when it goes for a lie down.

machinistrrt · Jul 16, 2020

jbacc said:
Never mind bolting it to the floor, I have mine on wheels so I can move it around my over-packed shop (2 car garage) :-)

I feel your pain, I have the same problem though I didn't put the pedestal grinder on wheels, anything else that's practical is.

Be it known that you *can* put a quart in a pint pot if you let the air out first.

Pedestal Grinder: bolts to floor needed?

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