My dad came across this hand-cranked grinder from a relative's place as they were cleaning it out. Very cool looking with open gear set up.
I hadn't ever seen a grinding wheel like this. It has a spoked metal center and the abrasive is just a 3/4" layer formed around the outside of that. Unfortunately, the abrasive had been cracked and broken off of the wheel at some point. We still have some of the pieces but not all of it.
In the photos the rustier wheel with the little nubs on it is the grinding wheel. While we could replace it with a more modern wheel that is all abrasive, I would much rather be get new abrasive put on the old wheel. That spoked wheel is just to cool to not use.
So - does anyone have any ideas on where/how to get a new set of abrasive formed onto that wheel? I googled a bit and couldn't find anyone that does it or even a description of a home-brew way. (Well there was a person or two who theorized they could use grit mixed with portland to cast a new wheel for something like a foot-powered wheel - but no one said that they had actually done it).
I found one person that said that forming new abrasive on an iron wheel disappeared in the 60's in favor of the wheels we have today. So maybe there is someone somewhere who keeps that old machine in their basement????
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