old timey grinding wheel! sorry no pics...

B

bearhunter

Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
1,946
just thought that i would tell you fellows that i found an old peddle powered grinding wheel in my favorite pawn shop last week...

it was hidden in the corner with a bunch of random junk... its in great shape with iron seat, peddles, frame, etc...

he wants 250 bucks for it... i dont have the money right now, but he said i could pay him for it over the coarse of a couple of months...

its a sweet looking piece of history IMO... heck, i would just like to have it for the historical aspect, plus i sure could use it for my axe collection...;)

anyway, i just thought i would share the find with you fellows...
 
Nice! I've come across a couple but the wheels have been is such lousy shape they weren't worth buying. Although, it almost would have been worth it to see the looks on peoples' faces as they watched me haul it in to my apartment building. Post some pics soon!
 
Grindstones are useful for sharpening axes, but the wheel must be in good shape. I have one that I keep outside. I cut a piece out of a car tire to fit over the upper half of the wheel to protect it for the winter. They have to be used wet though. I suspended a coffee can above the wheel and poked a hole in the edge of the bottom and inserted a nail so the water runs down the nail onto the wheel. Works good.
 
I love peddle grinding wheels. We had one on our small farm when I was a boy. Sadly my parent's left it behind when we moved - I was 5 years old. But I still remember climbing up on the seat and also pumping the peddles with my hand from the side. It was too big for me peddle it from the seat.

I saw one at a garage sale week before last. It had been converted to electric power and the 18" wheel had a 3/4" deep flat spot. The guy wanted $150 for it. I should have bitten. :(
One of these days...........

A big wheel like that can take off a lot of metal while still keeping things cool - no tempering of the edge. Small high speed grinders can't match that. There's just no substitute for a big slow wheel.
 
This is my current favorite grinder. I have three grinders mounted on my bench. This is an old grinder with remote motor that I found at an estate sale last fall. These are getting hard to find. This one was mounted to an old farmers bench in a small out-building shop. The motor still purrs like a kitten. It's the smoothest running electric motor I have.

On one side it has a drill chuck. Very handy, as many attachments designed for drills are available at reasonable prices. That's a rubber abrasive wheel on it now. Those are great for polishing metal.

On the other side I attach various grinding wheels, wire brush wheels or buffing wheels.
Old%20grinder1.jpg

Old_grinder1.jpg


What I really love about this machine is that it came with a 4-groove pulley on it so you can vary the speed at the grinder. The old farmer had it mounted in one fixed position. I machined some slotted C-channels to mount the grinder axle. This way I can move the grinder to align it with any of the 4 different pulley sizes.

And having a grinder with a remote motor is a real plus. Most modern grinders have a motor mounted between two grinding wheels. The trouble is that the motor gets in the way when you're trying to position larger pieces on the wheel. With a remote motor you have unfettered access to the wheels. But beware, this setup is inherently more dangerous. With no guard over the grinding wheel it's best to wear safety goggles when using this machine.

Old%20grinder2.jpg


Old_grinder2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Sweet grinder, Pegs. I've actually had my eyes open for a 2x42 belt grinder and a remote motor wheel something like yours. Nice job on making the four pulleys work better by using the c-channel strut, good thinkin! Me likes. :thumbup:
 
M3mphis said:
Pegs, have you ever thought about rigging that grinder up to use water?
Click to expand...

Good idea!

Wouldn't be hard, would it? I might get a way with just attaching a pan right under the wheel and filling it so that the water level just touches the grinder.

It's a coarse wheel - made for mower blades and such. Coarse wheels already produce less heat than fine wheels. And when I run this one at slow speed the heating is negligible. But a water bath would be sweet.

But back on topic, how 'bout some pics of that peddle grinder, Bearhunter?
jump.gif
 
well, i dont have it! i dont have the $ right now, but i am trying to figure out if in can swing it soon...

i guess i could take pics of it the next time i go in there...
 
The wheel is 20 inches, a good 2" wide.

grinder2.jpg


grinder1.jpg


There's an arm (barely visible) in the above photo that holds a metal cone water dripper (partially visible) above the stone. In front of the seat is a metal plate that blocks the water spray (like a bicycle fender). The stone is solid and spins true; the only defect is a small chip on the side:

grinder3.jpg


The side of the stone had a stenciled manufacturer's mark, I could make out "C Q Abrasives, No. 120".

It cost a hundred bucks. My wife took one look at it and said, that thing is going to make a terrible racket.
 
OMG! That thing is FINE!
bigshock.gif


The frame, seat and peddles appear to be much newer than the wheel. Somebody did a nice job of rebuilding it.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, are the peddles 180° opposed? Is one or the other always on the down stroke?
 
Last edited:
Square_peg said:
OMG! That thing is FINE!
bigshock.gif


The frame, seat and peddles appear to be much newer than the wheel. Somebody did a nice job of rebuilding it.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, are the peddles 180° opposed? Is one or the other always on the down stroke?
Click to expand...

I was pretty stoked when I found it. The cranks are indeed set at 180 degrees opposed. The previous owner went a little heavy with the black spray paint (note the overspray on the wheel).
 
Thanks for the comments. Haven't used it yet. I deciphered more of the markings on the stone; in addition to the CQ symbol, it says "Cleveland Quarries". Looked it up, and found some interesting history. Seems like this pedal grinder isn't as old as I thought.

This grindstone is made of "Berea Sandstone" from Ohio. "Berea Sandstone is an excellent building stone due to the composition of grains of Quartz bonded by Silica. The extreme hardness of the Quartz grains of Berea Sandstone enables it to preserve an abrasive non-slip surface... The silica bond does not deteriorate with time, exposure to water or temperature change and so prolongs to longevity of the stone."
from http://www.clevelandquarries.com/technical-data


Cleveland Quarries Company was formed in 1929, consolidating the operations of two other companies.

In the 1940s, Cleveland Quarries sold household grindstones through its Berea Abrasives division, with many model including:
The Harvester
The Streamliner
The Sterling
The Norka
The Bi-Treadle
The Harvest King
The Eureka
The Samson
The Little Giant
The Hercules
The Keystone
The Shipstone
The Family Grindstone

Up until the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, Cuba had been one of the largest importers of grindstones, and after the trade embargo, the Cleveland Quarries Company's grindstone business suffered. "...most agree that the [sandstone grindstone] industry died in the 1960s."

Source: Sandstone Center of the World, by James A. Hieb, 2007
http://books.google.com/books?id=1il2qNB5srIC&lpg=PP1&ots=8tMM1hHU_Q&dq=sandstone%20center%20of%20the%20world&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=sandstone%20center%20of%20the%20world&f=false


Here's the patent for this pedal grinder (before it was modified?), by the Cleveland Quarries Company, dated 1940:

patents

http://www.google.com/patents?id=s5lKAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=2213065&source=bl&ots=WXvzxdWx0k&sig=fkZybWGtyaviPabZCmkLCXq00G0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pKsuULKsMKPEyQGag4DQCw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=2213065&f=false

"This image from 1921 shows the scale of Quarry No. 7. Workers get to their workstation via ladders. Stacks of stone already cut from the quarry can be seen on the top left."
96a1d909178dbe63140e32da62467a9d.jpg

text and photo from ClevelandHistorical.org
http://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/258
 
One of these was offered to me for free. supposedly it is in good shape, I still havent seen it though. Going to have to go get it soon...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top