Are there any peddle powered sharping/grinding contraptions out there?

M

MT Borg

Joined
Jun 14, 2007
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I have the paper sharpening wheels and have read here that about 1700 rpm is good for them and I started to wonder if there are any non-electric/non-motor driven ways to spin them.

I image a simple bicycle set up would work but could it get them up to 1700 rpm... and could you pedal that rpm and still hold the blade for sharpening? Are there any examples of this out there?

Was thinking about this as at our Farmers Market there isn't electricity and if I could set up a sharpening system driven easily by pedal power, that just might be the ticket.
 
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Kinda a cool idea.... you always think... if civilization collapsed, would you be able to sharpen your knives without electricity? (JK, of course we could...., but its still fun to think about)
 
You have the right idea for the market...all you need is some parts and your imagination.

Here are some other guys that had the same idea. The "Arrotino" was a weekly cry in Italian towns and neighborhoods but he's found around the world.



larrotino9.jpg


larrotino7.jpg


larrotino6.jpg


larrotino4.jpg


larrotino25venice.jpg


larrotino2.jpg


larrotino12.jpg


larrotino11bicicletta_arrotinoResia.jpg


larrotino10.jpg


modernize to a vespa like this (a photo that Bernard Levine found)
larrotinomoto-grind.jpg
 
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Wow those are great... I imagine with modern gears you could really get the RPM's up... I need to talk to our local bicycle shop. Would be a fun summer project to document... Thank you
 
MT Borg said:
Wow those are great... I imagine with modern gears you could really get the RPM's up... I need to talk to our local bicycle shop. Would be a fun summer project to document... Thank you
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Yeah but with the paper wheels you don't want to get the RPMs up too high. Using a grinder at 3400 already seems too fast to me.

If you found an old exercise bike with the weighted wheel that spins for awhile so you can sharpen in between pedals I think that would work nicely. I don't know how easy that would be to carry around though.
 
Noumenon said:
Yeah but with the paper wheels you don't want to get the RPMs up too high. Using a grinder at 3400 already seems too fast to me.
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I agree but I would like the option of both slow and fast... if it was geared like the back wheel of say a 12 speed bike and you had the 2 paper wheels and say 2 more that you could put courser wheels on, it would meet all your needs.

If you could set up say a dolly on the back to tip and roll... hummmm
 
I recall my grandfather had an old sand stone pedal type grinding wheel out in the old barn on the farm.

I'm sure there are still some around at antique stores as there was one at every farm of decent size back in the 1800's and early 1900's.

They are not real portable but they work if you have a shop or a barn. They did not make the speeds shown on the smaller wheels that are powered but they worked on hoes, rakes, axes and the like. I know from having used it when I was a kid.
 
hot damm that's a great bunch of pics ramm9. many rural farms had foot powered sandstone sharpeners. our buddy could probably advertise in The Mother Earth News & find an antique one in a barn.
 
This is all very interesting stuff, but it would be cheaper and more practical to find or build a grinder running off DC from batteries.
 
Batteries die, pedal power dies when you lose your legs or die, why is this not in the maintenance section?
 
Phil Hartsfield used to sell a manuel hand turning sharpener, he called, "Lil Cranky". I think I read about it in on of the older Gun Digest Book of Knives. He used to bring them to knife shows. Too bad he no longer sells it. As far as the bike grinder hook-ups, there are a lot of them on You-Tube.
 
I met a fellow in central Mexico who forged his knives, and used this pedal powered grinder. It's a little hard to see, but it is very crude.

IMG_2252.jpg


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Enjoy,

Mike L.
 
Mike L... those are some great photos. Quite the ingenuity at work there. Necessity being the mother of invention. Might be interesting to see the knifes that produced, being in Mexico they must be very practical/basic, but not necessarily. thank you.

While riding our motorcycles down to Cobo several years ago we stayed in towns so small the electricity was turned on only from 7-10 am/pm so a grinder like that would be a necessity, or nothing at all.

I wonder if someone was to blueprint/proof that design and make it available to 3rd world countries....
 
MT Borg said:
I wonder if someone was to blueprint/proof that design and make it available to 3rd world countries....
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You can already buy them in many Third World countries... if you can afford them. Pedal powered sewing machines are seen being used by street-side tailors all over S.E. Asia, and the islands below and behind. Foot powered grinders can be found in most central markets as well as hand powered. That's why family is so important in these sorts of places. Turning the crank is a job for the four-year old while dad does the grinding.

Stitchawl
 
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