Resto-Mod Grinder

[creativecars]

AKA… My wife thinks I’m crazy “Grinder”

Several weeks ago I was looking at a drill press I saw on Craigslist and next to it was this pathetic old grinder sitting on a wood and metal stand. As the deal was struck for the drill press the grinder became part of the purchase, the price, free.

I load them up and head for home. It didn’t take long to realize the grinder was on its last leg, it did run but vibrated so badly I shut it off immediately for fear of flying parts. The bearings were gone, I mean not just a little but more than 1/8” slop in all directions.

 

[Zeke]

So, did you want to tell us more? You gonna paint flames on it or what?

 

[creativecars]

Were getting there... gonna make this an epic journey.

Actually I am writing this now and have to go back and find the pics.

 

[Erampu]

I'm wobbling with anticipation.

 

[creativecars]

So I pulled the top off only to discover it did not have bearings, instead free floating bushings in the aluminum housing. Upon further inspection I discovered the bushings on the shaft were in great shape, but they had been spinning in the housing and that is where all the play was coming from. You add the play to a very worn and abused grinding wheel it was no wonder the thing seemed like it was ready to scatter parts all over the garage.

After identifying the problems it was onto ‘fix it’ mode. I asked around and looked on the net and was unable to find bushings… now what? I started sanding what was left of the paint off the outside and realized the whole case was made out of cast aluminum, kinda cool I thought. It is not a great heavy duty grinder, but had potential with some cool factor.

Now what to do with the bushing problem… I thought about jb weld in the housing, but decided it would only run into the low part of the machined area. The new thought was to use some putty epoxy like quiksteel, roll it up like playdough and string it into the area to fill the void between the bushing and the housing. And bolt everything back together before it set up.

 

[creativecars]

The fix/bandaid worked out pretty well. I got it back together before the epoxy set up and spun the shaft by hand to center the bushings. Now it was back to the case, the "mod" part. With some 120 grit sanding the case looked kind of cool with the natural aluminum showing, but I could not reach all the nooks and crannies of the casing so I used some paint stripper to work in to those spots. With the 120 sanding done I wondered if I could polish this thing. I used to sand and polish alternators and valve covers back in the day so I sanded it some more with 220 then 320. Looked pretty good for the areas I could reach well.
Now on to 400 and 800 wet or dry paper… now you see why my wife thought I was crazy to spend that much time on an old grinder. Since I got it for free I thought it was worth putting some time, money and energy into a cool project and to show my son it could be done.

 

[torqueman2002]

That's just kool!



Do you have use a 'booth' or the like to control the dust from sanding?

I've been thinking about such a deal for this size project with an extractor to exhaust to the outside, 1 for polishing/sanding and 1 for spray painting.

I'm subscribing to your thread!

Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[creativecars]

No booth or evac. system. Just a da sander a dust mask and safety glasses if it gets too bad. It was warm out so I had the garage door open. The wet sanding is just messy, but not dusty, so no problems there. The polishing will scatter dust, lint, compound and **** everywhere though.
BTW... the key to shine is SMOOTH.

 

[creativecars]

With the case coming along it was time to focus on the base and stand. The oak base that the grinder was sitting on was not too bad of an idea so I trimmed it up for a better fit, painted it black for contrast and drilled some holes so I could adjust the tool rest. The stand needed some care an attention but it had a cool factor too, at least to me, it was made out of stainless steel. I cleaned it up with some wd40, but that did not take care of the rusted surface left by a mounting strap many years ago. I used a rag saturated with vinegar to pull the rust off, it worked fairly well and took most of the rust off, but not all of it. Still have the tool rest to finish, but otherwise it is done.
Since all I was out was some sandpaper, stripper and time I decided to put it back together with a new Norton grinding wheel and Forney wire brush. Screws to the housing were replaced with stainless Allen head cap screws and mounting bolts with stainless Allen head button head bolts.
BTW… don’t buff your skin off. 
Details were added with Wal-mart blue paint… after all it’s just a grinder.

 

[tarbellb]

Awesome. Somebody will be so stoked when they find this gem in a garage/barn years down the road.

 

[bluebolt]

Purty! Some real nice work!

 

[vertguy]

Very cool project. Having done some aluminum polishing in the past, I can really appreciate the work required to make it look good. But I also decided never to polish another project as the mess and difficulty with trying to make the finish "perfect" was way too much work. I ended up just having my polished projects plated.

 

[creativecars]

Thanks guys. I had not polished anything in a long time. I wanted to show my son that something like this can be done... with patience.

 

[iajonesy]

Very cool!!! I wonder how many of those are still around? I have never seen one in all my 65 years. You might have a rare gem there.

Mike

 

[exmaxima1]

Very cool!!! I wonder how many of those are still around? I have never seen one in all my 65 years. You might have a rare gem there.

There's one in Chicago's far west suburbs:

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/tls/5300942759.html

 

[organ]

There's one in Chicago's far west suburbs:

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/tls/5300942759.html

So at least 2...

 

[creativecars]

Very cool!!! I wonder how many of those are still around? I have never seen one in all my 65 years. You might have a rare gem there.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I did a little looking around and there are a few here on GarageJournal. But like you had net seen a Speedway grinder before this one.

 

[torqueman2002]

Sweet!

 

[creativecars]

Sweet!

Thanks torqueman. It was fun, except burning the skin off my hand.

 

[Hammer1963]

What a cool find and an even more awesome resto-mod. That grinder looks fantastic! I am also very relieved to find someone that is on the same level if not greater than level of sickness than myself. My wife thinks I'm nuts for all the work I put into my hammers/dollies/spoons that I rework. Thanks for posting your great work!

 

[creativecars]

What a cool find and an even more awesome resto-mod. That grinder looks fantastic! I am also very relieved to find someone that is on the same level if not greater than level of sickness than myself. My wife thinks I'm nuts for all the work I put into my hammers/dollies/spoons that I rework. Thanks for posting your great work!

Thanks man, Hammer on.

 

[creativecars]

There's one in Chicago's far west suburbs:

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/tls/5300942759.html

Thanks, exmaxima1. I only need one, but if someone wants to do a similar thing here is your chance. These are only 1/4 hp, so not a power house. They are pretty simple though.

 

[exmaxima1]

Thanks, exmaxima1. I only need one, but if someone wants to do a similar thing here is your chance. These are only 1/4 hp, so not a power house. They are pretty simple though.

I had a very similar Thor up until a few months ago. Same self-aligning sleeve bearings and shaded pole motor. Mine was 1/3hp, and from what I remember, it practically dimmed the lights upon start up, yet didn't have much actual power. Very cool looking, but not the most practical design.

Yours is ART.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4857328&highlight=Thor#post4857328 Post#12

 

[bonneyman]

That came out gorgeous! Nice job!

 

[firemanast]

SWEET

 

[creativecars]

I had a very similar Thor up until a few months ago. Same self-aligning sleeve bearings and shaded pole motor. Mine was 1/3hp, and from what I remember, it practically dimmed the lights upon start up, yet didn't have much actual power. Very cool looking, but not the most practical design.

Yours is ART.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4857328&highlight=Thor#post4857328 Post#12

I agree, not the best design, but has potential. I will probably use mine for wire brushing and light grinding. Maybe tungstens, I would like to tig weld, but just have not taken the time to really learn yet.

 

[creativecars]

I'm wobbling with anticipation.

I see what you did there.

 

[creativecars]

That came out gorgeous! Nice job!

Thank you sir.

 

[nine4gmc]

Super nice, you added like 3hp removing the paint and polishing!

 

[creativecars]

Super nice, you added like 3hp removing the paint and polishing!

Thanks... with some stickers it may be pushing 220, 221 what ever it takes.

 

[creativecars]

SWEET

Thanks.

 

[396foxRN]

I have one of these if anyone is looking for an old speedway. It's aluminum too, still has its original blue wrinkle-paint finish on it. I've used it for a basement tool, but now that im consolidating all the tools to the back garage, I bought an industrial 1.5hp rockwell/baldor to cover all future grinding needs. I was just thinking last night that I'd like to sell this off to someone who thinks its cool.

 

[dodge610]

I have one of these if anyone is looking for an old speedway. It's aluminum too, still has its original blue wrinkle-paint finish on it. I've used it for a basement tool, but now that im consolidating all the tools to the back garage, I bought an industrial 1.5hp rockwell/baldor to cover all future grinding needs. I was just thinking last night that I'd like to sell this off to someone who thinks its cool.

So how much you looking to get for it and do you ship.

 

[jgromada]

Great job! Its nice to see old grinders & vises live on.