Turning · review
A 200 mm (7.87 in) bench grinder for sharpening tools — at 2,850 rpm, which is the specification you have to work around.
The end of it A capable grinder for reshaping steel. Treat the speed as a constraint on technique, not a feature.
Every figure is a manufacturer specification, read off the listing itself, and the judgments are ours — drawn from how the specification behaves in this class of machine and from what long-term owners consistently report. Where a figure is missing, we say so rather than fill it in.
A bench grinder with two Ø 200 mm (7.87 in) wheels for sharpening metal tools: a 40 mm (1.57 in) wide fine stone and a 25 mm (0.98 in) wide coarse one, on a 16 mm (0.63 in) shaft, turning at 2,850 min⁻¹. The motor is given as 0.55 kW / 0.39 kW. Part number 71551.
Grinding is a heat problem. The steel at the very edge of a chisel is thin enough to reach a straw color in a second or two against a fast dry wheel, and once the temper is gone the tool will not hold an edge again until that section is ground away.
2,850 min⁻¹ on a 200 mm (7.87 in) wheel is a conventional speed for a general workshop grinder, and it is faster than a woodworker sharpening chisels and plane irons would choose. The practical answer is to grind the primary bevel only, in light passes, moving the tool across the wheel, keeping the wheel dressed, and to do the finishing on stones. The large 40 mm (1.57 in) fine wheel helps here: it lets the full width of a chisel sit on the stone at once.
A 200 mm (7.87 in) wheel cuts a shallower hollow into the bevel than the 150 mm (5.91 in) wheels common at this price, which leaves more steel behind the edge and makes the subsequent honing quicker.
€175 in Germany, €177 in France, €195 in Italy. Neither the Spanish nor the American listing carried a price when we checked, and the product does not resolve on amazon.co.uk at all — which is worth remarking on, because Record Power is a British brand.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-08-12. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Wheel diameter | 200 mm (7.87 in) |
|---|---|
| Fine wheel width | 40 mm (1.57 in) |
| Coarse wheel width | 25 mm (0.98 in) |
| Shaft diameter | 16 mm (0.63 in) |
| Motor | 0.55 kW / 0.39 kW — the listing gives both without saying which duty each applies to |
| Speed | 2,850 min⁻¹ |
| Part number | 71551 |
| Amazon reference | B0GJKFVWS5 (identical on 5 markets) |
| EAN | 5055151192321 |
No. The search asked for a Record Power lathe and the listing at this reference is the RSBG8 bench grinder, part number 71551, described as a grinding machine with two wheels for sharpening metal tools. Entirely different machine; we review the one that exists.
It can. Heat is what destroys the temper of a tool edge, the thin steel at the very tip heats first, and a fast dry wheel gets there quickly. The answer is technique rather than a different machine: light passes, constant movement across the wheel, a dressed wheel that is not glazed, and a pause to let the steel cool. Slow-speed grinders exist precisely because this is easier to get wrong than right.
The listing gives 0.55 kW and 0.39 kW without saying which is which. Twin ratings on an induction motor usually distinguish intermittent from continuous duty, but the page does not say so, and we are not going to decide it for you. Ask the seller.
A listing is not an offer: the reference exists on these stores, availability changes daily.
7.8/ 10
A capable grinder for reshaping steel. Treat the speed as a constraint on technique, not a feature.
Reshaping chipped edges and grinding primary bevels, followed by honing elsewhere
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for woodworking machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
Entry lathe · €155 in Germany
The cheapest full-size wood lathe here, and the one that most clearly needs bolting down before it is any good.
Best for: A first lathe for spindle work — chair legs, tool handles, stair spindles
≈ $490
230 V · Ø 254 mm (10 in) swing · 5 speeds
A properly built small lathe with five speeds and a stated swing — the first machine here that publishes what it can turn.
Best for: Bowls up to 254 mm (10 in) and spindle work, in a workshop that wants a machine rather than a starter kit
12 × 21 in · 60–3,600 rpm in three ranges · reverse · 24 index positions
Sixty revolutions a minute at the bottom — the only lathe here slow enough to start an unbalanced blank safely.
Best for: Bowl work up to 305 mm (12 in), where the first minute at low speed is the dangerous one
≈ $990
