Hand Cranked Grinder Questions

[george wilson]

EGAD!!!!MEL!!! We HAD those large old 24" diameter SANDSTONE(Means too soft to sharpen a stick of butter! Wheels all over the museum. I tried getting boys in the crowd to turn my antique plane iron. This went on for 3 hours and I STILL got nearly nowhere!

They did have leather covered "Cutlers" grinding wheels in the 18th. C. You shoved ground emery into the leather . I think one of those would have been more effective than those WAY TOO FINE sandstone wheels. The purchasing secretary paid I think $300.00 each to have those custom made. They must have had coarser sandstone wheels to choose from 200 years ago. Hard natural abrasives were available too.

I have an 18" sandstone grinding wheel,never used in my shop. Cut in the civil War era. I ought to set it up and see if it grinds better. Too much trouble making a water box,spindles,cranks,etc.. The old grinding wheels and a lot of hand forged hardware were found in the basement of a very old hardware store that burned in Norfolk many years ago. People were buying them to stick at the ends of their driveways!. A bit SMALL for that use!

[bridger berdel]

To me the Main thing that a hand crank grinder can do that a powered grinder can't is turn very slow. Yesterday I sharpened a 1/16" drill bit on the hand cranked grinder. I wouldn't even try that at 1750 rpm.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I've got a set up similar to Nicholas. Inherited an unmarked grinder from my dad, who was a master woodworker and kept his tools in perfect working condition. It's clamped to the right corner of my sharpening station, I added a Veritas tool rest and a Norton 6" 60 grit white wheel. Zero wobble. I was recently tempted by a Baldor on Craigslist for $200, but passed as I do what Steven does and touch up my tools on water stones after most projects.

[Mel Fulks]

Yeah,George. That purchase was just a whim, as I've always had access to employer grinders. But seeing how slow the sandstone is makes it easy to see why a coarse Washita hone was such a great thing, you could hone faster than you could grind!

[Jim Ritter]

Mountain Top Joiners Shop made himself just what you are talking about. Scroll down past the tool box.

http://www.mountaintopjoinersshop.co...-sundries.html


Jim

[Dave Lehnert]

I found a Luther Hummer once on vacation in an antique shop for $100.
http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/advert/aw67.htm

If that thing would have been closer to home it would be in my shop right now. But as luck would have it I had the car and was packed full of luggage and people.

I often thought it would be a great project for Shop Notes/ Woodsmith magazine.

Or maybe as a project kit from a company like Lee Valley. The stand could be made out of wood in the shop.

[Patrick Chase]

To me the Main thing that a hand crank grinder can do that a powered grinder can't is turn very slow. Yesterday I sharpened a 1/16" drill bit on the hand cranked grinder. I wouldn't even try that at 1750 rpm.

Low-speed grinders like Tormeks work well for that (and their drill-bit jig is pretty nice, provided you're ok with the 4-facet tip).

[john zulu]

True Mel, the workmen of the past did not have the advanced methods available today. The CBN wheel is a game changer, making sharpening considerably easier.

A friend of mine has a CBN wheel on a hand grinder, and he swears by the improvement.

My earlier comments about the set up I use were to highlight the need for a hand grinder that does not rock. I think one needs to buy a new one. All the vintage ones I have used and owned all were almost unusable. If the aim is to sharpen with the least effort, I'd aim for a power set up.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I asked for CBN in Malaysia. Crazily expensive.

[george wilson]

When drills get very small,I just use an India bench stone., I can sharpen a #80 stone with 4x drugstore glasses on. In fact,in the instrument shop,I sharpened even 1/4" drills with an India stone.

The way I do it is hold the stone vertically and present the drill to it at the angle it is supposed to be sharpened at. I guess that's the hard part,but it is do- able if you are good at estimating angles. I rotate the drill to hone it's edge to the right clearance. Then,moving the stone up and down,I hone the first cutting edge. Then,rotate the drill 180º and repeat. Make sure the cutting edges meet in the center of the drill,or it will drill an oversize hole.

One Sunday,when I was drilling all those #80 holes around a die for coining heart brooches,I had ONE #80 on hand. I broke it FIVE times that day and was able to keep on using it anyway. THAT is the ultimate in a SLOW grinder.Try it. It will work easily on a 1/16" drill. Develop skills like this one,and you won't have to wait for orders of tools to come in when you are really into a piece of work.

Heres the bunch of holes I was drilling. I purposely took a carefully ground center punch,and went around the heart,carefully enlarging the holes in the fatter part of the heart shape. That added a nicer touch to the design(If anyone else ever noticed it!)They are SLIGHT.

There's a finished heart and earrings made in 22 Karat gold. The earrings were just smaller pieces of gold laid over the center area of the heart,COINED,and sawn to shape accurately just beyond the holes with a jeweler's saw. My wife added the pearls. Our Master Engraver,who really was a master! hand engraved the initials. He's still around,retired like the rest of us old dogs.

The first picture,before you click on it,is about the true size of the heart. Take out a quarter and lay it over the quarter in the picture. Actually,if you don't have a 22" screen,I don't know if that would work.

Those cross hatched centers in the hearts are an 18th. C. authentic touch. The Dutch especially did that a lot. Now,I've forgotten how I got the lines of the hatching so accurately spaced. This is small work!

I made these as a retirement gift for my purchasing secretary,who I know I put to a lot of work during my years there. Finally,they gave us credit cards,and things got easier. Just don't go over budget, or abuse the privilidge!

[Pat Barry]

If I would happen to find one of those hand crank units lying around a flea market for $10 I'd probably buy it, otherwise for the same price, I'd go with the electric grinder.

[Mark AJ Allen]

I wouldn't use a hand grinder to replace any of my sharpening kit but with a felt wheel loaded with green stuff, I appreciate the control I have to put that final touch on the edge. Also allows for a fast touch up while working. A well appreciated tool for doing carving gouges.