Struggling with a Wilton Square Wheel - Need Advice

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stockremovaldroid

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Dec 14, 2020
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Long ago I was bequeathed a workhorse of a machine known as a Wilton Square Wheel (this one was actually a decades-old Olympic Foundry model) from the family of a talented and prolific knifemaker.

I have used it successfully for a few knives, but with much, much difficulty. With1hp of power, no variable speed controls, and limited configurations this thing is a beast at bulk stock removal but a boar at finishing work.

I find that, when I am trying to make clean grinds at high grit, it is too easy to make a mistake, which becomes something I need to spend more time cleaning up and opens up the piece to even more mistakes.

I was trying to make this work as a way to carry on the man’s legacy, but I am getting to the point where I want to do better work.

So, I am asking you all, has anyone ever found a way to make a Wilson Square Wheel work as their primary grinder? Should I consider getting a modern, variable-speed 2x72 grinder? Would it really a big upgrade?

Thank you.
 
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I have a square wheel grinder that I bought around 1980. I had no trouble finishing blades at high grits. As it came the grinder ran faster than I really needed so I put a variable speed motor on and a smaller drive wheel. I made maybe several thousand blades on the square wheel.
Lately I have been having a problem with the belts tracking. I will be grinding and suddenly the belt will move either to the right or left of the contact wheel. It is a big nuisance. I have put a new tracking wheel on, which really didn't help that much. I think maybe something in the tracking mechanism is worn out but I can't seem to find out what it is.
I have a burr King, and four TW-90 grinders but would still use the square wheel for grinding profiles if the tracking problem could be fixed.
 
Tom Lewis said:
I have a square wheel grinder that I bought around 1980. I had no trouble finishing blades at high grits. As it came the grinder ran faster than I really needed so I put a variable speed motor on and a smaller drive wheel. I made maybe several thousand blades on the square wheel.
Lately I have been having a problem with the belts tracking. I will be grinding and suddenly the belt will move either to the right or left of the contact wheel. It is a big nuisance. I have put a new tracking wheel on, which really didn't help that much. I think maybe something in the tracking mechanism is worn out but I can't seem to find out what it is.
I have a burr King, and four TW-90 grinders but would still use the square wheel for grinding profiles if the tracking problem could be fixed.
Click to expand...

Mine runs fast too, I think variable speed might be the upgrade I’m looking for. Which grinder do you use to do bevels and flats?
 
Take a look at the cost of the "slow down" pulley, then consider the cost of a 2hp 3ph motor with a Chinese VFD drive. Does your grinder have the original 10" drive wheel? Could even go down to a 4" drive wheel to really slow it down.
 
Definitely more about controlling the speed of your belt more than the setup in your case. This looks to be a rigid machine (I have not used one) but belt speed control is needed to take your work to "the next level". As you have noted, hogging off stock is much different than surface conditioning and requires more control of the belt speed. Good luck!
 
If you have a 220VAC circuit available in your shop, I'd recommend upgrading to a 2hp, variable speed motor.
Double check the frame size on the motor's nameplate, but it's likely a 56C motor, which will have a 5/8" shaft.

For variable speed, you're gonna need a 3 phase motor. I'd recommend starting with an 1800RPM, as with 4 poles, it will have a little better torque on the lower speeds. You can also "2x" the inverter/VFD to get more speed if you need to, though if you stay with the original drive wheel, you probably won't want to anyway.
Make sure you get an "inverter rated" motor, as VFDs tend to cause the motor to run hotter, and inverter rated motors have better insulated and more robust windings. They'll last a lot longer.

For a VFD, the KBAC-27d is more/less the Cadillac of VFDs, but if you're not looking to spend a few hundred bucks, you can always go with any of the open frame import VFDs off of Amazon or eBay. They normally run anywhere from $50 to $100 for a 2hp/1.5kw, but they need to run on 220VAC input. The KBAC drives can be converted to 110VAC BTW, though the 2hp drives will only yield about 1hp to 1.5hp or so.

If you go with an open frame VFD, just make sure you keep the dust out of it, or it won't last very long.

If you end up staying with just a 1hp motor, you can find VFDs that will run off of a 110VAC input, it's just not going to be a lot of torque at lower speeds, and you'll likely end up bogging it down when trying to hog material.

BTW, you can also do all of this with a DC motor and requisite motor controller, but these are usually a bit more expensive and harder to find. YMMV.
 
I have an old square wheel I bought back in the 80s. Made a boatload of knives on it then fell into a deal on a Bader 3 and have been using it since, the square wheel does run like a wild cat and some point I put the slow down drive wheel on it, I believe I got it from Tru Grit. Also rewired to 220. I learned to freehand hollow grind with the square wheel running full speed ahead but haven’t done any flat grinding on it, it sits idle pretty much in my shop but it’s a nice machine to have around. Going from the Square Wheel to a variable speed Bader 3 was like night and day though!
 
Stockremovaldro, to answer your question, for about 15 years I used the Square wheel grinder for everything, bevels, flats, etc.
 
stockremovaldroid said:
Long ago I was bequeathed a workhorse of a machine known as a Wilton Square Wheel (this one was actually a decades-old Olympic Foundry model) from the family of a talented and prolific knifemaker.

I have used it successfully for a few knives, but with much, much difficulty. With1hp of power, no variable speed controls, and limited configurations this thing is a beast at bulk stock removal but a boar at finishing work.

I find that, when I am trying to make clean grinds at high grit, it is too easy to make a mistake, which becomes something I need to spend more time cleaning up and opens up the piece to even more mistakes.

I was trying to make this work as a way to carry on the man’s legacy, but I am getting to the point where I want to do better work.

So, I am asking you all, has anyone ever found a way to make a Wilson Square Wheel work as their primary grinder? Should I consider getting a modern, variable-speed 2x72 grinder? Would it really a big upgrade?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
I’m curious as to who the original knife maker was.

Hoss
 
stockremovaldroid said:
Long ago I was bequeathed a workhorse of a machine known as a Wilton Square Wheel (this one was actually a decades-old Olympic Foundry model) from the family of a talented and prolific knifemaker.

I have used it successfully for a few knives, but with much, much difficulty. With1hp of power, no variable speed controls, and limited configurations this thing is a beast at bulk stock removal but a boar at finishing work.

I find that, when I am trying to make clean grinds at high grit, it is too easy to make a mistake, which becomes something I need to spend more time cleaning up and opens up the piece to even more mistakes.

I was trying to make this work as a way to carry on the man’s legacy, but I am getting to the point where I want to do better work.

So, I am asking you all, has anyone ever found a way to make a Wilson Square Wheel work as their primary grinder? Should I consider getting a modern, variable-speed 2x72 grinder? Would it really a big upgrade?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Just change the motor

KBAC-27D VFD

Motor 56C frame
240vac
3 phase
TEFC or TENV
1.5 hp
 
I used to use the Grizzly 1015 knifemakers grinder. Direct drive 8" contact wheel, so it was single speed full tilt boogie! Great for hogging and rough grinding, but hard with finer belts. I feel your pain!

They make import VFD to go from 110v input to 220v output for a bit over $100. Your 2 HP motor will run at 1.5 HP though. In that case, I would prob go with a 1750 rpm motor for more torque, especially at slower speeds. It won't be NEMA enclosed and will need to be protected to keep from shorting out. I use a cheap 220V VFD and use a long ribbon cable to run the detachable control panel at the grinder itself and the VFD is mounted on the other side of a plastic curtain, 8' away from the grinder/dust.

So you can pick up a 2 hp 3 phase motor that will fit the Square Wheel and an import VFD to convert 110 to 220v if you don't have 220V in your shop for less than the cost of the KBAC27D that will convert 110 to 220V. Being able to slow the grinder down makes a huge difference in how it works, especially with finer grind belts and wanting to do more precise work.

It looks like you can get a flat platen for the square wheel and an arm fork to use small wheels for it, too, so it may be good to look into those attachments? I am not sure what you have already?
 
stockremovaldroid said:
The slowdown pulley might be just what I need!

And “Wilton” not “Wilson”… I have some editing to do.
Click to expand...
A Wilton square wheel was my first grinder when I started the journey. Bought from Kovall. The learning curve was brutal because of the SPEED! I could mess up a blade in a quarter of the time it took with other grinders. Purchasing a “slow down” wheel was the trick and the learning curve wasn’t so steep afterwards. Not bad at all. About 25-27 years in, the Baldor motor passed away and I got it rebuilt using the same one hp Baldor but this time, I had variable speed configured in. Think the whole rebuild cost me $1,100 but it was absolutely worth it.

It sits right next to a fancy Bader grinder and both are used daily.
 
I bought my first one in 1977 from Bob Scrimsher, back then it was an Olympic Square Wheel, the Wilton came later. A Gunsmith I know is still running
it at a howling 5700 SFPM. I then bought another one flipped it over on its side and reduced the drive wheel to 2" its still my sideways grinder. The bulk
of my normal grinding making slipjoints is done on a Bader B3.
 
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