Another simple tool rest for many grinders

LARRYZ10

LARRYZ10

Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Messages
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I first saw a tool rest similar to this on a post by Ranger Bob on this forum. He said he got the design from the Wilmont grinder rest. I have built at least five different rests for my grinders and I whipped this one out today. I post this because a lot of newer grinder designs have a second tool arm slot and this will fit them all if they use a 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch slot.

The bars are cold rolled 3/4 inch (6" and 12" ) and the adjustable handles are from McMaster Carr and have 3 1/2 handles and 3/4 inch of exposed 3/8-16 thread. The bottom bar is 5 1/4 inches long. I cut a slot with a portaband saw in the end of the aluminum toolbar after drilling a 3/4 inch hole. I bought all new materials and the cost was about $50 including the 20" toolbar and shipping. The rest plate is 1/2 aluminum and is 2 inches x about 7 inches. Maybe this will fill the bill for someone with a second tool arm slot. Larry



fANgj51l.jpg
 
Nice design. Looks versatile. I think rests of several angles would be useful. I made a "multiple articulating arm" rest, but it's a pain in the butt to adjust and I don't use it much. Jess
 
Nice done! I agree with Jesse that a rest with the ability to adjust the angles would be awesome! I have acually been wanting to make something very simple for my NWG that will have that ability. The rest that I made when I built the grinder for it (which is what came with the grinder building plans) works alright, but I do NOT want to even mess with adjusting it because it was pretty hard to get square and parallel in the first place. The tubes that the plans call for don't fit snuggly at all. The "sliding tubes" require two bolts to tighten; 1 to tighten it 'down', and 1 to tighen it to one of the other sides, so it is basically tightened into a corner of the recieving tube. It makes getting the work rest square to the face and to the sides of the platen (when using a jig you need the platen edges to be square to get matching plunges) a pain since it can change quite a bit everytime you go to re-tighten the bolts to make the tube snug, even tightening the bolts just a little too much of not quite enough can make it out of square.. :thumbdn: :mad:

Hey, I was wondering if you would have any idea how to make a simple rest for the NWG that would be able to adjust angles. You and Ranger Bob seems to be pretty dang smart with designing different types of work rests (I think it was you two that postd an number of pictures of your different rests in a thread not too long ago) so I figured it can't hurt to ask :D lol Just putting it out there man, incase you have any ideas ;) Here's a vid of my grinder btw:

[video=youtube;aNMuKGMcqlc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNMuKGMcqlc&list=UU2rJM5fwM7F-Fy9E74-fYSQ[/video]

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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If you had several angles you worked with you could make several of the "posts" with the angles you want and just drop in the one you want.
 
The rest I looked at before building this one had a half round piece of 1/2 steel bolted to the underside of the rest plate and the 3/4 inch bar was sawn down the middle for about an inch and then the half round piece was drilled and tapped for an Allen head bolt or cap screw and the table tilted back and forth so you set an angle against the wheel. I omitted this feature on purpose because I had already built one and it was hard to use. I wanted this rest to be "rock solid" and I can use my other rest which tilts nicely and has a table milled to a sharp edge for that job. Here is the other tilting rest:

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Sweet! Thanks for posting that pic Larry, I appreciate it :) I'm sure I can make something similar, but much crappier looking and not as solid as yours :D ;)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
Larry You did a great job on that rest.

How long did you make your two arms for it? That is the same design I use on the Esteem grinders and have made a bunch for KMG owners.My arms are 6". So far have had very good feed back with them. If you buy some cheap angle blocks they work well for quick set ups. Also 6" machinist square help to get the rest square to the platen. To some these tips may be obvious but these tip have helped some of my customers so I though I would share it here. LOL

Brett Mathews
503-806-3558
 
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You have an email Brett? I don't think I can PM you without being a paying member.. :confused: Do you think the adjustable work rests that you make to be able to attach to the KMG would somehow be able to be attached to the NWG. I seem to get stuck on trying to figure out how/where to attach it to the tool arm since my bolts for the platen go all the way through the tube. With the bolt heads sticking out on the outside, they just seem to get in the way, making it hard to attach a rest like yours to a tool arm like mine. I'm not always that good with thinkng of simple solutions to mechanical type problems etc., I always tend to take the long way around a problem. Thanks again for sharing all the info everyone! :)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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Brett, The arms are 8 inches long. Since this photo was taken I have replaced the adjustable handle connecting the arm to the tool arm with a left hand thread bolt for more grip. It works quite well . I had some large friction washers on hand in case I could not get a solid lockup of the pieces but did not have to use them. The new rest is better in my opinion and the rest table could be attached like Ranger Bob's to tilt. The cost of this new rest could be quite a bit less if the steel were purchased in larger amounts and the adjustable handles were replaced with 3/8-16 cap screws. I just bought enough steel for the project and so paid top dollar at the steel yard. The aluminum rest is entirely adequate however and is cheaper to build except for the left hand bolts which are expensive. Larry
 
Larry Help me out here I do not get why you would use a left hand thread bolt. If any down force is applied to the arm I would think it could loosen the bolt. Maybe Im missing some thing? I use a spring type washer that seems to work well never had any slipping anyways
 
Brett, I really had to crank down hard on the handle that connects the rest to the tool arm to keep it from moving when I adjusted the other parts and I did not try the friction washer. My machinist friend looked at it and said that I should drill and tap a new hole in the tool arm with a left hand thread and any downward pressure would make it tighter. I don't fully understand the theory but he is the second machinist to make the suggestion and I have to say it works better or at least maybe I think it works better. The washers I had had little teeth on them and I thought they might tear up the aluminum. What are the washers that you use called? They very probably might work even better than the left hand thread idea but I had to do it because it cost so much more so it must better..right? Kidding. I'm open to any suggestions. The rest that Ranger Bob made is a nice design as well. I am using both styles of rest and am happy with both. I now have 7 rests for my two grinders and each is useful for specific purposes. I think that your rest and the one that Ranger Bob built would handle the majority of grinding tasks. just for fun here is a photo of the rest I made last week. Thanks, Larry

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Hi Larry The washers I use are called belleville washers. As for working with aluminum Im not sure they would so well but they work very well with my rests made from 1018. As for the left handed thread thing I saw someone on here say that they would be better a while back but I do not understand there theory on the left handed thread nor do I agree with it. LOL With a right hand thread if you push down on the arm and it moves it will in theory tighten the bolt. With a left handed thread I would think if the arm slipped it it would loosen the the bolt and the rest would just fall. Either way I do think it better to use the socket head cap screws rather then the threaded type handles as they just do not have much leverage compared to a long allen key.
Thanks for your input Larry!!

Brett Mathews
Esteem Grinders
 
I think the issue that you guys are questioning has to do with how your articulating arms are built. If the threaded stock is what is extended away from the grinder then,downward pressure loosens things up. You are putting counterclockwise force on the "nut". If this same piece were the piece with the through hole the downward pressure should just let it move if it was not right enough, but it would not loosen up. I would guess that Brett has a design that is the second in the above examples.
 
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