Buy a Used Stained Glass Grinder Online

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Having a hobby of stained glass making can be very rewarding and sometimes even financially lucrative. Although most home hobbyist's in the stained glass area do not sell their work, it is possible to build a small home business with the hobby. In this article we will talk about one very important stained glass tool which makes the process of creating the art faster and easier.

One of the first tools that a serious stained glass hobbyist will purchase is a grinder. The stained glass grinder makes it much easier to shape the individual pieces of glass that are necessary for creating a complex work of art. Without the grinder, it becomes very tedious in shaping small pieces of glass. Those who do not have this tool have to painstakingly cut the pieces as close as possible with a simple diamond tipped cutting tool. These types of cuts are never completely or extremely accurate. This can leave gaps in between the pieces that must be filled with solder.

When the decision is made to purchase stained glass grinders, one must decide between buying a new one or a used grinder. Today, thanks to the Internet, hobbyists have a wide Friday of choices when shopping for any of these tools for their hobby. With a quick search in any of the major search engines one can find a large selection of sites that offer grinders for purchase online. If one is looking for a used grinder, one of the best places to shop is one of the online auction sites. In these sites other hobbyists who may be upgrading their glass grinders to newer or better versions often offer their used grinders for sale. Many times, these used glass grinders can be purchased for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a new grinder. Always read the details carefully to make sure there are no issues with the grinder and find out when the last time it was used.

If a grinder sets for an extended amount of time, it may be extremely difficult to remove grinding head. These grinding parts are consumable and need to be replaced on a regular basis depending on how often you use the grinder. If they are not replaced on a regular basis, they may become frozen to the spindle and be all but impossible to remove. If this is the case, soak them with a lubricating agent for some length of time. Trying to force them off the spindle can damage your stained glass grinder. If the spindle becomes bent, it will become unusable.

Always check about the shipping costs if you buy a used grinder online. What seems like a really good deal at first may not turn out to be such once the shipping prices are added. You should expect to pay no more than $20 the $30 for shipping costs for your grinder. We have seen grinders priced very low but then the owner adds an extremely high cost to ship the item. On some of the auction sites you may see shipping costs to be $50 or more. That is totally unacceptable.

Also check with your local stained glass supply shop to see if they may know of local hobbyists who have grinders for sale. It would of course be safer to buy one locally were you can try it out beforehand, but it may not always be easy to locate used grinders in your area.