Fixture

[BigLakeBob]

You don't need that much grunt! But if price is right and the c/l of it and your lathe line up, bigger is better sometimes. Make sure the c/ls are compatible. Here is a picture of mine that is a good size for a 12"-15" lathe. I think it holds up to a 3" wheel for OD grinding.

[Steve Little]

I rang the machinery house. Unfortunately the 240 volt unit was sold. I must have got the price mixed with another item I asked about. He said it sold for AU$900.
I went straight to my other friend, ebay.com.au and found a similar size 3 phase unit for $350 just 30 mins from my place. It lacks a belt guard and is not as pretty so I offered $300 cash and pickup within the hour. Being Christmas, he was onto the cash deal in a flash. I went from his place to a great store that sells toolroom equipment and bought a range of roughing, medium, and finishing stones to suit hard chrome.



I have a length of 3 phase lead but not sure if I have a plug.
For $300 and the limited work I will do with it, I think I'm safe to feel happy with it....unless one of you killjoys tells me its too big or too powerful
The stones were $30 each and the 2 new belts $15 each.
Thoughts? Some helpful hints on how to use it.

[Steve Little]

Bob if you mean centering the spindle to my lathe, it has adjustment for that.









Do I have everything?

[harleytoprock]

Nice grinder! Make a fixture to hold the diamond dresser in a locked spindle, 3 jaw chuck. Make sure the diamond point contact with stone is below center ( really depends on stone rotation direction). True stone each time grinder is installed on lathe to insure stone is square with work. Protect ways from grit. Experiment with feed rates. Light cuts!

[BigLakeBob]

Steve, I think that is a great unit, especially for the money. Boy, timing is everything, jump on ebay and 30 min away. The only thing I might do is tighten the gib on the cross slide if you have some play now, and maybe even use the carriage lock a little, you can always loosen it up when you go back to turning. I would also relieve half the wheel width, when dressing (on the right side of the wheel- furthest from the work shoulder) dress it maybe .010 smaller so you are only using half the wheel. Then when grinding I always start on the shoulder side, (left in your case) and feed right, this helps prevent corner wheel break down. So go to the shoulder, feed in, grind right, back off of work piece and repeat. As we all know in machining there are many ways to skin the cat, but this method works for me. Also, a .0001 or .0005 reading travel dial indicator on a mag base may help control the in feed amounts and help when you back off to start the next cut if you choose to use my method. (Note: if there isn't a shoulder then I would grind left and right and not back away each time, you can grind these pieces without backing away, just when you get close to finishing you may have more of a radius at the shoulder.) Great buy! Have fun.

[Steve Little]

Thanks Harleytoprock and Bob.
The synchronicity was sweet. I literally got off the phone from the secondhand machinery house and went straight to eBay. Dialogue with eBay seller below: Start at bottom and read upwards.



New message: yes bring the money over today ...


eBay
New message from: hopeless99 (191Turquoise Star)

yes bring the money over today

jack
Reply
Your previous message

Will you take three hundred. I would bring cash and pick it up today.
Regards Steve

WALDOWN TOOLPOST GRINDER
Current bid: AU $350.00
Auction ends 13 Dec, 2016 07:01 AEDST
Bids: 0
Place bid
Get to know the seller hopeless99

• Located: MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia
• Member since: 26 Apr, 2005
• Positive Feedback: 100%

[Steve Little]

Had a look at YouTube to see what was on offer. I came across an old apprentice training video for tool post grinding. Before watching the vid I was thinking coolant was involved. He was re-grinding a dead center in the head of the lathe. No coolant.

Check if I got this right:
The grinder will rotate (anti clockwise) down toward the swarf tray of the lathe (ways protected Toprock).
Lathe chuck will run in reverse (clockwise) at low speed 39 or 64 rpm?

Roughing stone: mid to fast feed rate. How many thou" can I take per cut?

Mid stone cut and feed: mid to slow feed rate?. How much per cut?

Fine stone: slow feed. How much cut per pass.

Not sure if this electric motor is wired to be switched in direction, but if it can be, is there any benefit? Im thinking sparks down my neck would be attention grabbing, but not necessarily a benefit.

Grinding and/or electrical motor knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

A quick disclaimer: I won't be able to try any ideas that come out of this thread for a while. In fact...I won't be able to see over the top of my lathe for a while.
As of Thursday, my mode of transport will be a wheel chair for the next 5 weeks.
Wheel chair bound for Christmas and New Years. Ohh yeah! That was top of my Christmas list.

Com'n AMCA members....Post interesting topics and many pictures to keep us invalids entertained.
Steve.

[bbinns]

Hi Steve,
Who are you using for hard chrome? I have a few Excelsior Big X kickers that I need to do and Im in Melbourne.

I like your toolpost grinder, should come in handy for many things. When I was younger we needed to grind down the input and output shafts on an automotive gearbox to use in some home made agricultural equipment. Dad made a bracket for the 4" angle grinder (basically a piece of 20mm RHS with two band clamps around the grinder body) and fitted it into the lathe toolpost in the same way you would a cutting tool. Worked well for that purpose and surprisingly the angle grinder didn't fail with the side load! Not the accuracy of the real deal, but it cost nothing to make.
Cheers Ben

[Steve Little]

Hi Ben.
Good ingenuity from your dad. I plan to make the same holding fixture for my 4" grinder, fitted with a slitting blade. I need to grind a specialised shape on the end of a HSS turning tool.The slitting blade will give me the sharp corners in the profile I need.
I first heard of Hard Chrome Engineering in about 1994, so I know they've been around for a while. They quoted $350 for chroming and grinding each of these shafts.
I got them to do the chrome only, because I wanted to have a go with my external hone.
There was a Big X for sale at the Bendigo swap a couple of years ago?
It was on the back of a flatbed truck with another bike. Positive memory of the other bike escapes me, but it may have been an XA Harley. Did you buy the Big X?
Regards Steve

[Rooster]

Hello Steve,
I've been quietly following along on this very interesting thread. Sorry to hear you are wheelchair bound; I hope you fully recover, and have a nice Christmas anyway!

[Steve Little]

Hi Rooster. Thanks for your input and kind thoughts.
By rights...I shouldn't be taking any kind thoughts. It was a stupid incident from my past that's come back to haunt me.
40 years ago my first road bike was a K1 Hoona 4 with a 900 kit in it.
Young, with little experience, I'd had a few beers at a game of footy and then rode to a party to meet up with a pretty sinorita. Didn't make the party, or the sinorita.
A corner came out of the darkness and my speed didn't match it. I ran wide and the front wheel dug into a rut in the drain. The bike and I did some dainty, synchronised, somersaulting, followed by some un flattering flailing and tumbling before a barbed wire fence kindly caught and nestled us for a while.
During the ruckus, my left knee socket and ball had a disagreement and decided they wern't in a relationship any more.
Given time, they patched up their differences and joined up and all was good.....until the little bit of cartilage that was left, wore out a few years ago.

I'm having stem cell treatment tomorrow and have to stay off the leg for 4 to 6 weeks. No weight at all on the knee. We don't want to crush the darling, newborn baby cartilage. The wonders of the modern world.

Regards Steve

[larry]

Hondas are dangerous.

[painterdale]

Best wishes to you, Steve!
Dale

[1950Panhead]

flailing and tumbling before a barbed wire fence kindly caught and nestled us for a while.
During the ruckus, my left knee socket and ball had a disagreement and decided they were not in a relationship any more.

Steve,
Thanks for your help in the past and posting on the forum.
I see you still have your humor.
Do as the doctors say and best wishes for recovery.

Jerry

[Peter Cooke]

I'm having stem cell treatment tomorrow and have to stay off the leg for 4 to 6 weeks.

Right in time for the Great Race Steve?

I see your on the starters list. Good luck with the knee.