Gryphon Gryphette Glass Grinder

Yeah, I'm in love with this. Lets me get nice, tight fittings between my glass pieces on my mosaics. It works well. There is splatter; the guards do a pretty good job of catching it but not all. The tray underneath holds quite a bit of water so you can work for several hours of project time and not have to be constantly putting in water. Comes with sponges, and they're fit to shape but I have yet to master getting the sponge cut down/fit to just the right position. It keeps wanting to fold over in the direction of the rotation. But I will figure it out (cut a little off to make it shorter?). My unit has a bit of an odd deal where the on/off rocker switch doesn't always switch on the first time I push it, but it does turn on. Doesn't seem like the switch will fail, just ... I don't know. Can be a bit of a nuisance when you have everything in position and you want it to start. There is a waterproof shield over the switch and I wonder if it's getting hung up on that somehow. The grinder bit it comes with is a good multi-purpose bit for general use and it is easy to adjust and easy to replace. Sure wish the replacement bits were cheaper, but I start it off with the bit just up high enough to catch the edge of a typical piece of glass (3 mm) and then when that area is too worn to work effectively I adjust the bit up by another 3 mm and that way I get 4 or 5 "fresh" bits out of one. I product a piece every month or so, so this gets probably about 1 hour of use a month (of actual grinding time) and I am just now having to move the bit up for the first time after I would say between 2-3 hours of grinding time. So, this bit should last me almost a year unless I get really ambitious. The grinder is a nice size, nice weight, doesn't scoot around on the counter when I'm using it; easy to clean and store away. At this point I can't believe I ever lived without it. I posted an image to show how I can now get such a nice fit between my pieces of glass so that I can minimize grout lines for a cleaner look.

This grinder is a work horse! I grind a lot of glass and the motor has never stuttered. It's compact and relatively quiet (for a glass grinder)

Gryphon gryphette diamond grinder or sander is used to smooth glass and tile. The unit was 110V and not clear about this except from reviews, but I though maybe the company would send a 220V unit as it was to go to Israel which only has 220V like Europe. However, I also purchased from another company a 220V to 110V converted of 200W for about $35 and this worked to run the diamond grinder perfectly. The grinder runs quietly and grinds down tile and glass rapidly with a gentle pressure. There are copies of the grinder from China (1 year warranty) but we wanted the original that has 5 year warranty as this indicates quality and trust in their product. Also the Gryphon company has a good reputation among mosaic groups in Israel. The price was best in USA while more for a 220V unit in Israel (and actually the Chinese copy looked identical and we almost did not notice "made in China" before we decided to not buy it and look to USA/Amazon).

I recently purchased this grinder from shoprainbowartglass on Amazon, ( an awesome seller). I own a Glastar All-star grinder as well as the Gryphon convertible grinder. I initially purchased to use as part of my setup to use a different type bit on. I also wanted something compact to do fast projects with easy setup and portability. Wow! The grinder arrived quickly and took 5 minutes to unpack and set up. I also purchased the additional face shield, although the grinder comes with the wings shown in the stock photo. I used a crushed ice/ water bath in the top to maintain cold water to my sponge, which I cut in half. I did occasionally nudge the sponge to the bit while grinding. I then used the grinder for the piece shown. (Not yet foiled). For scale, the piece is in a Wilson 14” cake pan. The power was great, the bit was excellent, the clean up under 1 minute. I cut with a Toyo pistol grip hand cutter. I used a Mr splash shield in my plastic tub as I noticed significant spray from the grinder going to the right side facing the grinder. You could just lean a lid from a smaller bin. My glass included textured ripple glass and was predominantly Kokomo glass. I hope this review helps. I love this grinder.

I bought a no-name brand first and got nervous so I returned it and bought this one. The store I’ve taken stained glass classes at sells it too so I knew it would be good. It works very well, not too loud and maybe it’s the way I have the sponges set up but it does make a lot of water spray. No big deal and certainly not an issue. Cleaning is standard, everything comes together and apart quickly. I’ve swapped out the grinder bit for different sizes and that worked good as well.

This product could use some upgrades. First off, the instruction book is a bit vague (especially to newbies trying to learn a new craft and are somwhat intimidated with the idea of using tools and equipment that require much caution and safety, etc.). When I first turned it on and started using it, it was working fine for a short period and then I was grinding metal on metal. My husband and I looked over the bit and actually removed it from the base to observe it further. In doing this, we realized that I had somewhat stripped the hole where the alen wrench needed to fit into to remove the bit. We had a very difficult time taking off the bit because of this; but what we also determined was that the bit was resting too low on the stem when I first turned it on and began using it. After taking the bit to Home Depot and thinking I needed to buy a new piece of sandpaper type stuff to go around the bit, the nice man at the store also determined that the hole in the bit was stripped and that there is no place for sandpaper like on a dremel. So after much discussion and confusion as to what the heck to do with this piece, I brought it back home and my husband and i worked on getting the bit back on the base and then using a very tiny tool, he was able to open the stripped hole enough to get the alen wrench into the hole, from that, we were able to adjust the bit onto the base stem where it needs to be for me to be able to grind my pieces of mosaics, etc. It now works well and I am happy to say, I am using it now without too much of a problem, but we were not happy initially with the mishap in the beginning. We think that if the book could have better instructions and perhaps more detailed pictures showing what is what and what goes where, etc. the consumer would be much happier with using this product.

Bought this grinder when I decided to get into the hobby and tried one out at a classroom. It's very compact, portable, drains and cleans easy, and comes with splash guards and a lattice base to allow small bits to easily fall into the trap. The quality of the build feels good and even after a ton of use, it's never slowed down or broke or had issues. The sponge can be easily soaked and inserted, even without taking the lid off, and changing out bits is quick and easy, though be sure to get bits that fit the machine, because not all of them will that you can find at supply stores. The machine runs quite quietly when not grinding, but obviously gets loud when you start putting it to use. It has a lot of power behind it, easily able to keep grinding when applying a lot of force (like far more than you'd need to actually grind) and the bits grind through all types of glass without issue. The only flaw that I have with it is that the water reservoir doesn't pump up into the bit, so the sponge will eventually gum up and need cleaned when you start seeing build up on your glass. A+ product for those new to the hobby or that need a small machine that can be easily moved and stored

This is my first grinder and I’m very happy with it. Up until now I’ve used a dremel with a flex shaft attachment and Diamond dust disks for grinding and shaping stained glass. Worked great but constantly grinding fingertips and nails. This grinder does away with all that. This is a small grinder with the work area surface measuring about a square 6.-6.5” which is perfect for me as I only use for smaller projects and I have a limited work area, as well. I don’t think there was much bang for the buck with this item as there are other too-notch, excellent grinders with larger work surfaces available at comparable prices but this grinder was the right size for me plus it has a powerful motor and is fast. I’m very happy with this grinder! Do know zero effort was put into the user manual and it is basically useless but don’t despair as everything about this grinder from how-to-use to maintenance is readily available on You Tube. I love this item and highly recommend.