Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

Re: Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

glh

>Yes, The first grinder I ever used for chisels was a hand grinder used in a week long class I took in the use of hand tools. There were 10 people in the class and the grinder worked well for all but two of us. I had a problem keeping the chisel parallel to the wheel, and the problem wasn't entirely the fault of the grinder holder. I have a bit of arthritis in my hands and my left hand would cramp and I simply couldn't keep the chisel square. Normally, my arthritis doesn't effect my woodworking, but some reason I simply could hold the chisel with my left hand and crank the wheel with my right and keep things aligned. Maybe a left-handed grinder would have worked better. I wish things would have worked out because you certainly have more control over the grinding speed, although you certainly can burn a chisel or plane blade on one. You'll need to true the wheel and make a holder, but it would be worth the effort if you can use it.

Uh huh...

Rich Glisson (Durham, NC)

>...I can't see doing it one-handed for exactly that reason UNLESS one has a tool rest incorporating a tongue & groove type of jig that prevents the blade from skewing. Like this one from Lee Valley. It looks like this rig can control the grinding depth, too (via the locking hinge), which is the other problem you would be left-handedly trying to cope with!

Re: Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

Fred G - Cincinnati

>I have a hand grinder I use for shaping blades from old planes. I find I don't have to be quite so careful about overheating the iron, although care is still required. I made a tool rest I clamp to the bench that has a platform the blade is clamped to. It slides back-and-forth across the base in a dovetail groove to keep presentation to the wheel consistent.

I can do it myself, since my setup lets me move the blade with one hand, but it's a little easier if one of the kids helps me. ;) Actually, they like to crank it, to see how fast they can get it going, and then see how long it'll keep spinning.

Fred

Re: Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

MikeL in SoCal

>I don't own a hand-cranked grinder (yet) but I've seen photos of a way to rig up a foot pedal attached to the crank arm by a string. My understanding is that you get the wheel up to speed by hand cranking and then maintain the speed by pumping the pedal. This leaves both hands free for holding the tool you're sharpening. HTH.

Cheers,

Mike

Cool idea!

Rich Glisson (Durham, NC)

>Thanks! I'll have to think about that one. Maybe I can even hook up an electric motor to it :)

I may have one!

glh

>Come to think of it, we didn't use foot pedals in the class I was in, but we did something else so that most of the time we could use both hands. I think we simply held the tool in position on the tool rest with the left hand, turned the crank, let the stone turn and use the right hand to assist in directing the tool. When the wheel slowed sufficiently, we go through the motion again. In any event, I had problems with my left hand cramping and it wasn't easy to keep the tool parallel.

Re: Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>I've used a hand crank grinder for 90 percent of my sharpening ever since I've been sharpening plane irons. I kept the electric grinder for those horrendous flea market finds, using it to get the bevel into reasonable shape. I use a Norton 80 grit white wheel and a home made adjustable rest. I'm right handed, so crank with the right hand and guide the tool with my left. It is very easy for me, quick, simple, and cheap. Once the iron is in reasonable shape you are only removing a little bit of steel when you sharpen.

I'm one-handed...

Steve Kubien

>in the operation of my grinder. I'm in the learning curve and I hate it. I have the Lee Valley rest/jig but I am still having problems getting a nice even grind. I seem to be digging at various points across an iron (or chisel). I would love to hold the tool in both hands.

I have briefly toyed with adding a foot pedal, without success. It is probably something dead-simple that I am missing. If anyone has pictures or plans for the foot attachment, I'd love to see them.

If I can't it working well enough, I may mount the wheel and jig to a treadle sewing machine base I have kicking around. It was going to be the base for a lathe but sharpening my irons is more important.

Looking forward to some plans....

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

Re: I'm one-handed...

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>You could still use it for a lathe, simply hang the stone off the left side of the arbor.

Pam

Awwww man!

Steve Kubien

>More logic! I can't stand it! I'm definately not equipped to think straight tonight.

I'm going to watch Finding Nemo.

Steve Kubien

P.S. Thanks Pam :)

Re: Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

Chuck Taylor

>I have a Prairie Grinder. At first used it by turning the crank with my right hand and guiding the work piece with my left hand. That didn't work so well, so I fastened it to the left end of my bench, moved the tool rest around, and now I turn the crank with my left hand and guide the work piece with my right. Much better. :-)

Chuck Taylor

Everett, WA, USA

Pretty good flick, hope you enjoyed it.

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>

Re: Pretty good flick, hope you enjoyed it.

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>And I bet none of you guys (in North America) understand the seagulls :-)

Re: Pretty good flick, hope you enjoyed it.

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>That's why they provide subtitles, think I understood. Of course, understood perfectly when they all flew into the sail, but that was non verbal. :)

Pam, who spent a lot of time with the DVD

Re: Anybody use a hand-cranked grinder?

Robert Tarr

>Yep. It is clamped right next to my Tormek. I really enjoy using it for rough grinding tool steels (I have bench grinder, behind the Tormek, for the really rough stuff and it is great with wire wheels). I am a lefty, so I think it is a bit easier for me, but I second the foot pedal...just a piece of rope and a piece of plywood (I prefer plywood for the bit of give, versus wood, should I get over ethusiastic, while stomping). Just drill a hole in the 20" or so piece of plywood and put a piece of rope through the hole and tie a knot in it. Now bring the grinder handle to the bottom of the stroke and tie off that end, while keeping the wood about an inch or so off of the floor. Crank up the grinder by hand and keep it running under foot power. I know a guy who rigged this up, with a hinge at the back (would be your heel end), to keep the piece of wood from moving around, but I have not found the need.

Hope this helps

Robert, who is still trying to find a good answer to his wife's question about needing so many sharpening "things"

My first hijacking!

Steve Kubien

>I loved the seagulls! I'll never listen to one of those rats with wings the same way again. We have TONS of them around here.

Steve Kubien

"Focus, dude"

MINE,pretty self explanitory

Bob Hackett

>Great flic!Even Dr. Death was caught laughing at least twice during it.He sat down and watched on his own,pretty high praise for a 16 year old who`s heavy into goth.

I think seagulls are a fairly universal bunch,they only differ in levels of audacity and agression.Up here black faced gulls kick butt on the much larger greybacks.The greybacks will walk right up and take things out of your hand if you`re not watching though.They all firmly believe that they personally own everything even remotely edible within eyesight of thenselves though.

Gulls roost by the hundreds on the larger assembly buildings in the shipyard where I work.When ever they take off all together(such as when spooked by loud noises from below).The people below mutter s---t,and mean it.You can always tell the new guys,they`re the ones who look up.They only do it once.

Mainely,Bob

Re: Pretty good flick, hope you enjoyed it.

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>No trouble understanding them, and that was the best part of the movie - that's EXACTLY what they sound like, even in the States (maybe they only have one dialect?).

Goths

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>We had a goth son, too. Now he wouldn't be caught dead in anything but plaid shirts and lumberjack boots, and neither LOML nor I can figure out why the women aren't climbing over each other to get to him - he's looking and sounding very healthy and positive, and doing good stuff. Hang in there.

This same son once (about the age of ten, before his goth years) spent ten minutes at the dump trying to pet a seagull - every time he approached the flock, they'd take off en masse and circle around for a while, cursing at him; then settle down until he approached again...repeat indefinitely.

Re: Goths

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>You need to tell him he can't wear the boots to bed, tends to put off women. :)

Pam

As usual...

Bob Hackett

>the opposite seems to be true.His girlfriend is into it too.Together they make up the "death squad".Alarms at the airport go off if they get within 5 miles of it.I`ve never seen as vast a collection of chains,safety pins,zippers and other things metalic(keep in mind that I was a biker in a past life).

I try to take pictures whenever I can(he`s not keen on it).He asked he why I was so set on it once,I told him I was definately going to get major mileage with them later in his life.I really let the cat out of the bag on that one.

Mainely,Bob

seagull evolution

Clay Craig in Miami

>One thing I've always wondered about seagulls. When someone on the beach feeds one, it immediately makes some 'food here' squawk, so that every gull for a mile around gathers, to fight over the rest of the eats. Why would this be a survival trait? Wouldn't it make more sense to shut up and eat one's fill?

I've only come up with one theory - Maybe all the seagulls in any given stretch of beach are closely enough related that it aids ones own genes to make sure the cousins eat too - ?

"My mind is a dangerous place - I don't like to go in there alone."

Clay

Re: seagull evolution

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Don't think I'd try to discern motivation here, could be any number of types of cries that just happen to attract other gulls. Maybe s/he's only does it when it's more than s/he can eat? In fact, it appears that whatever it is, the population is increasing, so it works.

Pam

Re: seagull evolution

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>And how did we get here from hand-cranked grinders, again? Speaking of evolution...