I found my grinder! It's not much, but it's been missing since I moved. Opened an unlikely box in the basement workshop this evening, and there it was:
It needs to be disassembled (again) and repainted. When I bought it, it was Winter and I needed a grinder; so I took it apart, cleaned it up, oiled the bearings, gave the gears a dab of grease and put it back together.
There's the "business end" view above. Not a fancy toolrest but good enough to touch up a screwdriver tip. With a hand crank, you can keep it slow and not have to fret so much about taking the metal's temper.
I'd like to find a new wheel for it; that one's glazed, a little out of round and mildly concave. But hey, it works. --Maybe I should look for a small buffing wheel for it, too. That'd be kind of fun and perhaps a little better -- and safer -- than my old trick of chucking the buffing wheel in its arbor in a (borrowed) drill press.
It needs to be disassembled (again) and repainted. When I bought it, it was Winter and I needed a grinder; so I took it apart, cleaned it up, oiled the bearings, gave the gears a dab of grease and put it back together. 
There's the "business end" view above. Not a fancy toolrest but good enough to touch up a screwdriver tip. With a hand crank, you can keep it slow and not have to fret so much about taking the metal's temper.
I'd like to find a new wheel for it; that one's glazed, a little out of round and mildly concave. But hey, it works. --Maybe I should look for a small buffing wheel for it, too. That'd be kind of fun and perhaps a little better -- and safer -- than my old trick of chucking the buffing wheel in its arbor in a (borrowed) drill press.
The wheel could be dressed with a good hardened rowl. I think low RPM grinding wheels are a different breed than newer powered ones. The new ones will work, I am sure, but every antique hand powered low RPM wheel I ever saw was of a finer composition than today's cheap stuff. My envies... that is a nice rig for dressing blades.
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ReplyDeleteI like these old grinders too. I re-did a small chain driven Luther grinder a while back:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/yho46vm
That chain-driven grinder is wondrous, Paladin! Nice find, and good work, too.
ReplyDeleteSpray painting tip (which you might already know) -- Fill the sink with warm water (105 or so degrees) and warm the can of paint. The work piece should also be warm but not wet -- turn on the oven to its minimum setting but monitor for "warm" and turn off the heat element when there. Warm the work piece for 5-10 minutes therein.
ReplyDeleteThe temperature of both paint and work piece will help the paint flow to a smooth consistency. If either is too cold, the paint droplets will "skin over" while in flight or immediately after landing and fail to produce a smooth finish.
Keep the coats thin for best drying. A thick coat (again) skins over and prevents the deeper liquid paint from drying. This prolongs the drying and makes sags more likely.
I'm told that thick coats applied in the cold have the same effect on humans. :)
If you tie one end of a longish string to the grinder handle and the other end to your big toe, then you can "run" the grinder and have both hands to control your work piece.
ReplyDeleteReference: Leo Frankowski's invention of the spinning wheel.
You could try using the edge of the long side of an old file to dress it first.
ReplyDeleteOr buy a single point diamond dressing tool off eBay.
You'll probably need to enlist a helper to turn the crank while you dress the wheel.
Does anybody have any information on the Fairchild company? I have an old electric bench grinder model 950 and was trying to find info on this company and the grinder. Any help would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteTom
Im looking for info on a fairchild 950 grinder also any help would be great it has 4 1/2in wheels on it
ReplyDeleteI also have a fairchild 950 grinder looking for info to good luck
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of grinding wheels online that you can find to replace your old one. You can also find good quality buffing wheels there. But, I think this one is good enough -- you’ll just have to clean and polish it to make it look new again.
ReplyDelete>Jeanette West