Hitchcocks Forum

Our local branch of Lidl is advertising a bench grinder to go on sale under thirty quid. It's said to be 240 watts. Is that a good rating? I would want it for polishing.

Not for polishing your tongue I hope?

(Lick bench grinder) LOL!

John, looking at the website it doesn't actually say the wattage (which says something in itself!) but the product number, PSBS 240 B2, does suggest 240 W which in my experience is way too low for polishing. I reckon you'll need at least 2,400 W for that. The problem is that low wattage devices will "stall" as they just don't have the torque to resist the drag of the mops. If you have a good electric drill that may do the job but remember to clamp it in a vice, the rule with polishing (for those that don't know) is to take the work to the mop, not the other way round!

REgards, Mark

Couldn't that be 240 volts, not watts? Rather than 110v.

240w would only be 1amp at 240v.

I use the pillar drill, with a fluffy paint roller, forced onto a slightly bigger shaft so it doesn't rotate on it. Bit fiddly in use, but works! I could do with a proper one though!

My ancient Black & Decker bench grinder is 250w, ideal for grinding small item's, drill sharpening etc but not for polishing.
Terry

Curse the spellchecker! But the ad definitely said 240w. Lidl stuff can be good value; not in this case I fear.

Aldi are also selling what looks like the same thing, and they say 240w.

Rather sneakily our power supply has changed over the last few years to standardise with the rest of Europe and is now 230v. When manufacturers code equipment they usually rate in Watts as this is the measure of work and is constant rather than variables like power supply.

REgards, Mark