Surface Grinder Restoration & Belt Conversion WIP

This guy went a little overboard but it turned out nice, just wanted to share something I saw lastnight when I was looking up the manual. http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/34899-Delta-Toolmaker-Surface-Grinder-Project/page2

As for the tool I wanna say its probably looks like a section of pipe with two tabs on it and a T handle on top. I will try and take a look at some of the tools for the old lathe we have on the sub tomorrow if I get a chance. Some very similar parts and tooling for that guy as its from around the same time era. We probably dont have it but I may find it in the tech manual. No promises though.
 
Very Nice work, Patrice! I understand making these great old machines look beautiful. Mine looks better now, but the flaking off green paint not so good. I just wish I had more time to spend. The one in the link from Quint is insanely beautiful! I also have three beautiful Little Giant power hammers that I fuss over. :)
 
That looks nice Patrice, One thing I noticed It looks to me like you have one of the pulleys turned around. the should line up with the small diameter of one with the larger diameter of the other. This is so that the same belt canbe used when/if the stone speed is changed.
 
Thanks Quint, I did find a picture of the wrench on the Yahoo group and it looks like what you described. I'll make a similar one if only a tab uglier. ;)

Don, too many machines too little time. ;)

Thanks for that Bill. It is a wonder I am even allowed near machinery at all. :o
 
Took a pic of the back side

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Glad you found it Patrice as I tried looking for the one at work and couldnt find it and ended up getting pulled to do something else when I was looking for the manual.
 
Thanks for trying Quint.

Getting close to the end.
First a picture of the pulleys and belts. I put a links belt on there thinking it would help with vibration but it is awfully noisy. I tried aligning the pulleys the best I could but it is still noisy and I will go back to a regular belt to see it that it where the noise comes from.



Of course, I had to have some leftover parts. :( Well only one but even with the exploded parts drawing I am having a hard time finding where it goes. It's a 5/16-18 X 3/8 set screw.



I did a quick grind with the older wheel that came with the grinder and this is what I got. Far from perfect as I imagine that wheel need to be dressed, chuck ground, etc... to get a better finish. Plus actually knowing what I am doing couldn't hurt. But who would have thought it possible to have so much fun flattening a piece of steel ;)



And just grinding that small piece produced a good amount of dust. Well after spending all that time cleaning the grinder I am not about to get it all dirty right away. So works starts on the dust collection.



Just need to figure out the flexible part of the collector so that it can follow the movements of the table.



Thanks for watching
 
Very nice. I have had good luck with the link belts, hard to imagine thats what is causing the noise/vibration but it could be. I may have missed it but did you check all the bearings?

Cant wait to get myself one of these beasts. A surface grinder, a hardness tester and I will be very happy. Well maybe build another grinder with some things I learned from the last grinder I built. Oh and a power hammer would be nice too :D
 
Patrice, that set screw might go in one of the pulleys!

The finish on the block of steel you ground is no good, but expected after all you did and without dressing the wheel, or grinding the chuck...

Good job man!
 
Patrice,
What ever you do don't grind your chuck with that wheel without dressing it!
Also,attach your collector to the table and use some plastic flexible suction tubing so the collector can move with the table.
 
Don, not from the pulleys. I'll continue looking or just wait for something to loosen. ;) As far as the finish, I also found out that I I am running the links belt backward and that I need to make rubber or felt pads for the motor feet that were originally used on the grinder. Not saying it will solve all but it can't hurt on top of using a new and dressed wheel.

Calvin, it was suggested by Don I think that I get a few hours of grinding under my belt and feel comfortable with it before I attempt to grind the chuck. As far as the collector, I was wondering how flexible plastic tubing would fare with the hot sparks?

Thanks again for your help guys.
 
That finish looks like what you should expect from a wheel that's badly in need of dressing. Grinding in the chuck will affect parallelism and accuracy, but not the surface finish. That looks like a very porous stone also, so don't expect a high grit finish with it.

When you start seeing those ripples in the surface though, that's always a sign that you need to dress the wheel. Personally, I always do a light dress on my wheel before I do any finish work on a ricasso after HT, and take light (.0005-.001) passes. Without coolant you can heat up the piece and warp it if you're not careful. There are also lots of little tricks, like doing the final pass at alternating feed angles, or aggressive cross feeding to knock down any peaks or lines established by the stone.


Looking good man.
 
Patrice, why not run a brace off that 2x4 and not even have the duct attached to the machine? I think I would like that better and might rig mine that way...
 
javand said:
That looks like a very porous stone also, so don't expect a high grit finish with it.
Click to expand...

Javand, I'm using a very porous stone and get a nice finish. Maybe I'd get a higher grit finish with a different stone? But the porous stone runs much cooler and has an aggressive clean cut.
 
Thanks for the info javand. As I suspected there is a lot more to using a surface grinder than than one would think at first glance. :o

Don, that is a great idea, thanks. After that only a simple bracket to attach the end of the collector close to the chuck, probably using the chuck's mounting screw, so it follows along as close to the work as possible. I also have to see how aggressive I can get with the collector's design to get the best performance possible while staying out of the way.

And of course I have to get rid of that pretzel and do a straighter run. Oh and did I mention I would like to be able to get proper dust collecting tubing and fittings someday instead of that home depot stuff.

Yep, maybe a dash of OCD. :o ;)
 
Patrice,
The plastic has held up just fine on mine,I have a metal elbow attached to the table and the flex tube attached to it,any sparks that enter the elbow usually burn out there. Of course there is always the chance of fire no matter what you are using,the plastic would not last as long as aluminum but a fire in either is going to be a disaster.
I know the aluminum is flexible but it will crack due to metal fatigue in short order where the plastic won't.
I'll try to remember to photograph my set up today and show you what I'm talking about.
 
Patrice, your collector will be close enough. I'm goin to change mine to be fixed and not attached to the table. I've never liked the flex hose/duct and it will free up the table.

Could that set screw go on one of the hand cranks?
 
Thanks Calvin, looking forward to picture. :thumbup:

Don, the screw is quite big so I am thinking somewhere on the column or motor stand.
 
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