Keeping your Grind Bucket from Freezin

Why would it be time consuming to just dump and refill the bucket everyday? A few gallons of water wouldn't take much time to refill.
 
MJV said:
Why would it be time consuming to just dump and refill the bucket everyday? A few gallons of water wouldn't take much time to refill.
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Two bad elbows, not being allowed to lift more than 5 pounds at a time, and two flights of stairs to fill the bucket:( The out side tap get turned off for the winter and drained so it doesn't freeze. Carrying buckets of water is something I never gave a second thought to before I started having elbow problems, now I have a hard time pouring a cup of coffee, and while finish sanding I have to take breaks and ice my elbows. If I were to carry the water out each day it would freeze before I got to use it:p, yes I am exaggerating about that. It would cause problems later and shorten the time I could grind though.
 
OK, now i know why. Maybe some kind of insulation around the bucket and an insulated top would help to keep the heat in and not cost as much to keep it from freezing with some type of heater in the bucket.
 
You could move to Australia! We need more knife makers over here. There is not many places where water will freeze here. Only the alpine regions Tassy. But Tassy isn't really a part of Australia!!!
 
I think I am just going to go with the heated water bucket from P Auto in the new year when I start getting down to some serious grinding again. Between now and Christmas I need to build a second bench and lower my grinding bench about 4". I also have a few I need to pre HT sand so I can send them out in the new year, and of course there is the forge thing I am working on. I really hope that I will be able to forge in the new year, but that all depends on the next round of elbow surgery working, or finding a power hammer for dirt cheap.
 
MJV said:
OK, now i know why. Maybe some kind of insulation around the bucket and an insulated top would help to keep the heat in and not cost as much to keep it from freezing with some type of heater in the bucket.
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I think that the heated bucket I am looking at may have some insulating in it, but a lid would be a great addition.
 
okay another scenario I was thinking about.. how about a heating pad wrapped around the bucket?

or you could get an old cookie tin (round to fit under bucket) place a 60w light bulb inside the cookie tin this will act as a heater, people use this for chickens water.. we have some chickens here and I may use this idea as well, my wife told me about it last year...
 
get a fish tank heater. they're cheap last forever and really don't consume that much power at all. I've had a bunch of fish tanks and they're cheap trust me. you should look on thatfishplace (dot) com that's where I always he my stuff. good luck!
 
I second the salt water suggestion. I don't know how cold it gets where you are but I have read that water with a maximum amount of salt concentration will freeze at something like minus 5 degrees farenheight or higher.

Use a plastic bucket though.
 
How about keeping the bucket in a ice chest with a 20 watt bulb plugged in, you could run it thru a cheap wall thermostat to keep it at a constant temp. It would stay pretty toasty in there. I have a large 3' X 2' X 3' wooden box that I keep my handle materials in that is set up like this. Keeps the wood and stag at a constant temp and keeps out the humidity as well. edit to add that the thermostat must be in the box for this to work out...just sayin..
 
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The old farmers trick is to use an incandescent light bulb and one of those clamp on reflectors. Mount the lamp to something so that it can't fall into the bucket.
 
Matt Brook said:
You could move to Australia! We need more knife makers over here. There is not many places where water will freeze here. Only the alpine regions Tassy. But Tassy isn't really a part of Australia!!!
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You work out the visa issues Matt, and I'll be on the way. Last I checked, your country wasn't exactly the easiest to immigrate to, although admittedly mine isn't either. ;)
 
javand said:
You work out the visa issues Matt, and I'll be on the way. Last I checked, your country wasn't exactly the easiest to immigrate to, although admittedly mine isn't either. ;)
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Well if you have a trade I am sure it wouldn't be a problem. Mining is draining all our tradies at the moment. Its actually not as hard as it seems!
 
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