Need info on a Wilton Square Wheel Grinder

R

redshanks

Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
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I recently bought a Wilton that had been sitting on the shelf of a local tool company for 15 years. Yep, it's one of the old ones. It had never been sold or used so I guess you can call it new except for the scratched up paint as a result of being moved around and having stuff piled on it for years. It didn't come with the 8" contact wheel, no one at the tool company remembered seeing it, but I think I got a fair deal on it for $800.00 out the door. It probably cost much less than that when it was new 15 years ago, oh well.

I've only started playing around with it to clean up some old knives and axes using a Scotch-Brite belt and have been looking for ways to slow it down a little. I can't afford a variable speed motor, so I've been trying to find a smaller drive pulley. So far, the only one I've been able to locate is the "Slow Down" pulley sold by Koval for 135 dollars. Does anyone know of a source from another maker or something else that will work without too much modification?
 
I bought the slow down wheel for my square wheel grinder and it works 152% better than the original. The only downside is getting that old big ass wheel off. I did everything I knew and all my buddies knew to get it off and it was "welded" onto the motor's shaft after 6 months use. I can only imagine what your situation must be like after all those years. Of course, being an older model...shoot, it may just slide on off. We eventually got a stearing wheel puller and literally ripped it off the shaft. The part that was "welded" to the shaft stayed on and I had to get my dremel tool and start to slicing and dicing and eventually cut it all off. It was a big hassle, but worth it after I got the slow down wheel on...much better behaved.

When you put your slow down wheel on, I would strongly advise you to tap it on, say, 3/4ths of the way and try it out with respect to alignment of all the wheels. Tap a little more and try it again for proper alignment. I just hammered mine on all the way and it was a smidgen too far. I can't ease it on back out now, but it runs just fine.....but it would run better if it was out an eigth of an inch or so.

Best of luck.
 
Godogs, I just tried to remove the drive wheel and after loosening the 2 set screws, it slid off the motor shaft just like a wet diaper from a baby's bottom. What is the diameter of your slow down wheel?

J. MacDonald, thanks for your suggestion. I took a look at Rob's web site and he does offer a 4" wheel. I'm not sure what size to look for, but I e-mailed him to see if he has anything larger than the 4" wheel.
 
Well, I used to make the slow down wheels. I even supplied Mick Koval. It seems that the Sq wheel has really lost a lot of popularity over the last 3 or 4years. There just isn't enough demand for those parts to justify buying material and setting up to machine them. I also made a high quality aluminum tracking wheel to replace the plastic wheel on the newer machines. In the process of house cleaning last spring, I was ready to throw these surplus tracking wheels in the scrap barrel...but posted a note on another forum and was able to give them away.

My current workload is too heavy to make a slow down wheel. Things slow down for me in late fall/early winter.

I think the 4" wheel is too small. You don't have enough adjustment to get the 72" belt stretched out with a 4" drive wheel.

Sorry that I can't help.

-Rob
 
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