Got an axe to grind?

Square_peg · Jun 22, 2012

Why not grind it on this old hand-crank 'railroad' grinder?

It's something that followed me home a couple weeks ago. I cleaned it up and oiled it, got all the parts loose, and made a tool rest for it. It works fine now.

Patent date is 1911 but I know that this one was made in 1927 or later.

bearhunter · Jun 22, 2012

That's awesome pegs! I'd really like to get one of those myself.

TwinStick · Jun 22, 2012

That is wayyy cool ! GREAT find.

Steve Tall · Jun 23, 2012

I've bought a few of these for various people I know who live off the grid. Things to look for if you want to buy one:

If the shaft (or spindle?) for mounting the wheel is only 1/4", then it will take some cobbling to make it fit the smallest hole adapters (1/2") found in new grinding wheels. A 1/2" shaft would be ideal.

The clearance between the shaft and the workbench will determine how large a wheel can be used. Having room for at least a 6" wheel will give many more options for wheel replacement, and a larger wheel gives a flatter surface with less of a hollow grind. I found one that accomodates an 8" wheel.

Some guys on woodworking forums use these to sharpen their chisels, since the low speeds won't heat the steel so much. They put the more expensive white wheels on these grinders, which grind cooler but wear faster (more friable). They also seem to unanimously recommend the adjustable tool rest/guide sold by Lee Valley, which will probably cost more than the grinder.

Here's a photo of somebody's setup, which shows the Lee Valley tool rest which can be adjusted to any angle for wheels up to 1" thick:

Operator1975 · Jun 23, 2012

is that dry grind or wet grind or either way?

jds1 · Jun 23, 2012

That's a great piece. Nice find.

Jeff

Square_peg · Jun 23, 2012

It's dry but I suppose you could rig something up.

Square_peg · Jun 23, 2012

Steve Tall said:
Things to look for if you want to buy one:

Good info, Steve.

I lucked out. Mine has a 1/2" arbor and will accommodate up to an 8" wheel. Do your friends have schematics for these things? I plan on fully disassembling this unit for service. It would be nice to know what I'm going to find inside before I open it.

Steve Tall · Jun 23, 2012

Square_peg said:
...I plan on fully disassembling this unit for service. It would be nice to know what I'm going to find inside before I open it.

I cleaned up a couple, and they were pretty simple with just two gears: a big gear attached to the crank shaft (this gear is almost as large as the housing diameter); and a small gear (pinion?) attached to the arbor/shaft.

Yours is a nice one with a 1/2" arbor, 8" capacity, and an oiling port for each axle (they don't all have this).

A good source for white wheels is SharpeningSupplies. They also have an inexpensive dressing stone for squaring up the surface on white grinding wheels as needed. Dressing the wheel (with light pressure) can also fix an out-of-round wheel or one that's not mounted perfectly on center. For dressing a carborundum wheel, I use the flat diamond dresser, cost me 8 bucks I think at Lee Valley.