S. Cheney & Sons grinder (w/pics)
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>I am finally getting around to thinking about cleaning this thing up and using it, so I snapped some pics last night before starting the cleaning. I picked this up at an auction my uncle had, so it makes it a special tool for me. Besides the fact that I had to pay the outrageous sum of $9 for the grinder. It has a larger crank and turning gear than I am used to seeing on hand cranked grinders; this is the biggest one I can recall seeing. It also has a pivot point, so it can be unlocked and pivoted at an angle, plus the somewhat odd (to me) tool rest for using the side of the grinding wheel. The tool rest on the side can be flipped down, and I think this is why the grinder can pivot; you can hold a tool level and pivot the grinder to the angle you want to grind. All new to me; if anyone has any clear idea of what purpose the tool rest on the side serves, I would be glad to be enlightened. Another unique item is the pulley attached to the shaft so the grinder can be run off of a line shaft. The grinder has a couple patent dates on it that I'll be searching for info on. I have found some info on the Cheney company out of Manlius, New York, but it is pretty generic info about what years they were in business. There were a lot of tool companies in the area.
It is pretty rusty, although these tools are always heavily oiled because of the bearings, so the coating of oil kept it from being totally ruined. I think it will actually clean up pretty nice, except for the wood handle on the crank that is almost totally deteriorated. Everything works freely, although there is more end play on the shaft than I would want, there is very little wear between the bearing and the shaft; it must have gotten oiled regularly. I am wondering if I should just use a 30 weight oil or if something like an 80 weight gear lube would be more appropriate.
The discoloration/rusting on the castings had a greenish tinge to it; I assume this means there is a bit of copper or bronze in the iron.
I bought a box full of eight of these grinding wheels, I think an 8" 80 grit friable wheel. The only problem was they had a 1-1/4" hole in them, so had a friend make a steel bushing to adpat the 1/2" shaft on this grinder to use the 1-1/4" hole in the wheel, which is one of the reasons I am setting it up 7 months after I got it.
I think I'll just use the existing tool rest for a little while until I save up money for the LV adjustable tool rest. It seems to be big enough, definitely bigger than the modern rests that come with grinders.
I use a hand crank grinder for all my sharpening, keeping my power grinder only for tools pruchased in really rough shape. I really feel fortunate to have stumbled onto this grinder, and thought I would share it with the group. Comments welcome.
