Show us Your Vintage Bench Grinders!!!!

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: I'm pretty certain your almost 100 year old grinders are qualified as Outlaw already has mentioned. that is another piece of good old cast iron you are showing and the front one has a name under all that paint that maybe says Chas something and can't read the rest. care to share any details on the makers of those two old beauties?

any pictures of them showing them hooked up to a motor before you set them on a shelf?

if we didn't have projects on the to do list or shelf then we would be out buying some so it's a good thing. isn't it?

 

[Fretters]

You have good eyes. It is indeed what the name starts with. Chas. E Hall, Buffalo N.Y. On the other side, it says Union Grinder and there's a no. 10 on one of the uprights. I'll take some better photo's of both of them later.

 

[Coleman]

Been picking these things up around here for a while. Seems like everyone wants to throw them out cause there old. Sure can't find anything like them new!

I hate you.

 

[plc-landscape]

Will clean the plate tomorrow and get a better look at it... It does run and sounds smooth, really smooth - I love it... I did open up the switch and the wires are looking old. I bought new wire and think I should maybe ground it....? Where would I add the ground wire? Maybe drill a small hole in the pedestal and add a screw? Not sure.... it's 110

 

[Outlawmws]

Will clean the plate tomorrow and get a better look at it... It does run and sounds smooth, really smooth - I love it... I did open up the switch and the wires are looking old. I bought new wire and think I should maybe ground it....? Where would I add the ground wire? Maybe drill a small hole in the pedestal and add a screw? Not sure.... it's 110

This works, but ground the motor chassis to the pedestal as well.

 

[Coleman]

Little grinder I found! Needs a home.

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[sasquatch12]

Those 5 inch stones are getting hard to find. i had that grinder for awhile , ok for light work. (That thing looks almost new.)

 

[Coleman]

Not a scratch on it. I have the original box as well!



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[Pupuhd]

After some wheeling & dealing, buying & selling, for $60 out of pocket I picked up a Cincinnati model 104, 12x2 pedestal grinder. It has a 3 phase, 2hp motor. Hooked up to a Teco vfd and runs great.

It's vintage because on the brass tag the Phase box has a 2 exed out with a 3 next to it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at one point in history I believe 3 phase was actually called 2 phase.

Need to make new tool rest since old ones are badly worn. Will some day restore, but for now it's an inexpensive upgrade to my Baldor 6" grinder. Not much info online on these older vintage Cincinnati's, any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WWIIjeep]

It's vintage because on the brass tag the Phase box has a 2 exed out with a 3 next to it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at one point in history I believe 3 phase was actually called 2 phase.

No. 2-phase and 3-phase systems are not the same. In 2-phase power, the 2 phases are 90-degrees apart. In 3-phase power, the 3 phases are 120-degrees apart.

2-phase power is now virtually obsolete except for a small industrial area in Philadelphia. The X-out and re-stamp probably means that the motor was rewound for 3-phase at some point.

 

[NotStock]

My (what I am assuming to be a) Queen City 1/2 hp 8". Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Just finished a rebuild in this thread.

 

[plc-landscape]

Installed new power chord today. It was suggested that I ground the motor as well. Would I simply add a ground wire from one terminal on power switch to the pedestal? Bottom 2 lugs of the switch are for power, and the top 2 are the lights and motor, motor being the thicker 2 wires in the photo.... The ground in the image is just temporary, not staying in that spot...

 

[WWIIjeep]

Installed new power chord today. It was suggested that I ground the motor as well....

The motor is already bonded to the pedestal by the two bolts that attach it to the pedestal from inside. If you want to make that a more positive connection, take out one of those bolts and put a shakeproof lock washer under the bolt head, then retighten. Shakeproof lock washers are the kind with little bent tabs all the way around the perimeter. Some people call them "star washers."

For the power cord ground connection, look at the back inside of the pedestal, in the opening where the switch cover fits. You'll see 2 tapped holes back there. They are either 8-32 or 10-32 thread (I can't remember which). Use a crimp-type ring terminal on the wire and one of those tapped holes to make your ground connection, again preferably using a shakeproof washer under the screw head to "bite" into the screw head and the wire terminal.

 

[Outlawmws]

Glad to read you were not planning to leave the ground there!

You can tag the ground you have to a good screw inside (may need to drill and tap...) then run another ground from there up to the motor case. In both cases you want "clean bright and tight"

In reference to that, you might want to give those old switch connections a one at a time remove, clean, and reconnect...

 

[Outlawmws]

WWII, I don't like trusting to a mated bolted surface as all too often the paint insulates. I'm not very trusting of the star washers for those connections to rely on for ground as they often corrode over time and you can lose the ground anyway.

I know that factories often do it that way, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen the above conditions defeat the so-called ground.

Heck a significant number of "computer problems" on cars are due to bad grounds and/or poor contacts at the connectors.

 

[plc-landscape]

Thanks WWII and Outlawmws....

 

[Fretters]

Finally got around to taking some better photo's of those two grinders.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: as usual you posted a couple more awesome pieces of old English iron. or are they American or another country's? great pictures and limited details so i for one would love the details and maybe one day see them in action.

almost looks like a leather belt was the method of getting the power to one of them. I'm just guessing here, but maybe late 1800's or early 1900's?

Very nice.

 

[Fretters]

The Chas. Hall one is American, the Union English. Not sure of the dates on them, to be honest. They're both flat belt drive, though the Union one has had that V pulley added to one side by a previous owner. That's probably why they've chopped the other rod for the tool rest off, (so yet another previous owner modification I have to rectify ). The Hall one is a fixed pulley, so would have needed a separate fast & loose drive system else electric motor drive, whereas the Union has the fast and loose pulleys and yoke on the spindle, so could merrily run from a lineshaft system as is.

 

[Fretters]

There is also this to get put back together one day too. Can only find this image of the base. Don't seem to have one of it complete. The shaft is a gnats sloppy in the bearings, (runs directly in the cast), so I may make a new shaft for this one before reassembling it.

Don't think it was the original pulley on it either, as it had a V belt pulley. I'd have expected a flat belt pulley on there, though that notch in the cast could suggest it is supposed to be V belt drive. It's similar to that Hall unit in that it has basic flanges etc. for the wheels. Nowt fancy, and no left & right hand threads on the shaft, just both ends RH.

 

[Outlawmws]

So both the pedestals are Bronze sleeves and the caps simply clamp them? I was expecting Babbitt bearings.

 

[Fretters]

Not sure, to be honest. Haven't checked what the bearing material is, if any, as yet.

 

[drivesitfar]

I picked up one of these little aluminum Thor grinders a couple weeks ago and then another one pops up on Craigslist with the shields and the wheel guards. they don't have a ton of power, but they will work on my little bench i use for golf club repair. now I have a spare unless somebody wants to buy the one without the shields and wheel guards for their home's bench.

 

[2oolhound]

Finally got around to taking some better photo's of those two grinders.

The union is so cool. It looks like it has a fair lead to switch from the 2 pulleys in the centre. Since the 2 pulleys are the same size I guess the drive pulleys were different sizes. It needs a shorter grub screw that sits below the surface of the pulley.

 

[Fretters]

Hadn't noticed that grub screw protruding 'til you mentioned it. That might well be me who's loosened it off, just to make sure it wasn't rusted in there. I was going to make a start on that when I first got it, but decided to pop it to one side for the time being instead, save doing my usual trick of having more than one project on the go at once.

With that one, only one of the pulleys is locked to the spindle. The other one rotates freely on the spindle. It's the old fast and loose system, which would be used for a constant drive source like a lineshaft system, rather than with something which can be easily stopped/started like an electric motor. The yoke on the front is used to move the belt between the pulleys. The one which is fixed provides the drive to the spindle, then move it over to the other pulley to disconnect it from the drive. The pulley will turn, but the spindle remains stationary. Flat belt pulleys have a slight crown too, so when you change the belt between pulleys it automatically centres itself on the pulley due to its tendency to aim for the highest spot on the pulley. It's the same method used for bandsaw wheels, linisher wheels etc.

 

[rt dak]

In the midst of restoring my grandfather's old Thor. Just the guards left to do.

 

[Mavawreck]

That looks awesome. How'd you get that crinkle finish?

 

[drivesitfar]

i second that question on how did you do the black krinkle paint job. I love those old Thor grinders. nice work

 

[rt dak]

That's how it was originally. Just painted new black over top of it.

 

[drivesitfar]

looks awesome.

 

[Mavawreck]

That's how it was originally. Just painted new black over top of it.

That is interesting. My craftsman roller has a very similar finish and I'd assumed it would come off with the paint. Good to know.

 

[Outlawmws]

If you strip the paint, it will. He clearly did not or it wouldn't still be crinkle.

Black crinkle is often available in the auto-parts stores as the car guys use it more then the average Joe going to Walmart or Lowes...

 

[nine4gmc]

Great job on that Thor, I have a can of crinkle paint in my cabinet just waiting for the right project...

 

[rt dak]

The crinkle itself was in good condition, just dirty. I sprayed it down with some cleaner and scrubbed it with a gray scotch brite. Rinsed it off, blew it dry and sprayed it. The center smooth section I stripped down to bare metal.

 

[Nortonscustom]

Here's my old Cincinnati 2hp. Uses 12" x2" wheels. I dug it out of a scrap yard. Repainted, put new bearings and starter in it. Used a pair of lighted eye shields off a burned up Baldor grinder I had. It has had 10 years of heavy use since and never missed a beat. Great machine.

 

[Fretters]

Good God. That's a grinder and a half. That's an impressive beast.

 

[Geurt]

Here's my old Cincinnati 2hp. Uses 12" x2" wheels. I dug it out of a scrap yard. Repainted, put new bearings and starter in it. Used a pair of lighted eye shields off a burned up Baldor grinder I had. It has had 10 years of heavy use since and never missed a beat. Great machine

Wow!
This thread can be closed now. Nothing can top that one

 

[drivesitfar]

Norton: that my friend is one very cool looking grinder. i posted a Cincinnati 6 or 8 inch a few months ago that my car's mechanic wanted so it's his now. if i had this one it would still be in my possession. very cool colors and add on with the baldor lighted shields.

tell us is it a single or 3 phase? also how did you burn up a Baldor because that is not the norm in my experience with mine?

Very cool grinder on a very cool stand and nice location in your shop too.

 

[Outlawmws]

Man that's a huge grinder/buffer. I'm surprised it still had it's guards, most of those are converted to buffers with that long reach.

 

[Nortonscustom]

tell us is it a single or 3 phase? also how did you burn up a Baldor because that is not the norm in my experience with mine?:

It is 240v 3phase. The Baldor was $5 at an auction. Got it for the parts. Heavens knows how they did it.

Outlawmws, it was just laying in the mud fully intact. Had to take it apart to get it into my truck. Still about killed myself doing so. The stones were wore all the way down to about the hubs. Took half a day with hammer chisel to clean out the discharges on the guards from all the iron dust.

I have a really big Queen City buffer that is about a foot wider than the grinder. And a couple other Cincinnati's. I'll take some pics the next time out in the shop.