Old Machinist's Bench Grinder

[SC-AW11]

Hey guys,
I was given a bench grinder by my old Machinist neighbor. I've always hung out with him since I was a little kid, working on bikes and lawnmowers and stuff. I've learned a lot from him. Now he is getting older and on the cusp of retiring from his and his buddies machine shop. He has a lot of older good tools like Proto and such, and said that hes gonna be clearing out his garage and giving me a lot of his older things. Today he gave me a small load of some type of generators that I'll post up and ask about later, and a nice old bench grinder with another stone and wire wheel.

Anybody seen or have any information on this grinder? "Sterling" 1/2 HP

Thank you!

 

[87Pomona]

Cant beat free!

 

[Outlawmws]

Can't beat free, but What is the COO? Looks suspiciously Asian, probably Taiwan?

 

[SC-AW11]

haha true. Not sure, I'll look tomorrow

 

[softailgarage]

Damn Outlaw, how could you tell? I looked up Sterling and your correct.

 

[heyutokyo]

I love free.

 

[Outlawmws]

Damn Outlaw, how could you tell? I looked up Sterling and your correct.

I've just seen a lot of them both in person and in pics. There are a lot of Asian made tools all made on the same tooling/casting patterns if not in the same factories. Vices, Drill presses, Grinders even the Horizontal cut off saws and I'm sure more.

DP's and the Cutoff saws probably show the least amount of changes from what I've seen, For vises there are the "machinist" knock offs, and then there are the rotating double head vises within the different sizes but generally the bigger stuff; but still the same casting patterns used from sales brand to sales brand. Not sure if one foundry makes em all and sells the raw stock to other factories that finish the machining and assemble them, but they all finish with the same look and feel...

On grinders I only see two styles, the one pictured above which is the better (And rarer) of the two, or a more rounded motor that looks more like any old motor with tin guards and wheels tacked on, which have the arbors and therefor the wheels so close to the motor case that it interferes with actual work pieces at times.

One tell tail on the grinders are the guards. If stamped sheet metal it is far less likely to be an old school Baldor/Wissota or other US brand, as the Asian factories won't "waste" material on guard castings...

 

[Packard V8]

I've just seen a lot of them both in person and in pics. There are a lot of Asian made tools all made on the same tooling/casting patterns if not in the same factories. Vices, Drill presses, Grinders even the Horizontal cut off saws and I'm sure more.

DP's and the Cutoff saws probably show the least amount of changes from what I've seen, For vises there are the "machinist" knock offs, and then there are the rotating double head vises within the different sizes but generally the bigger stuff; but still the same casting patterns used from sales brand to sales brand. Not sure if one foundry makes em all and sells the raw stock to other factories that finish the machining and assemble them, but they all finish with the same look and feel...

On grinders I only see two styles, the one pictured above which is the better (And rarer) of the two, or a more rounded motor that looks more like any old motor with tin guards and wheels tacked on, which have the arbors and therefor the wheels so close to the motor case that it interferes with actual work pieces at times.

One tell tail on the grinders are the guards. If stamped sheet metal it is far less likely to be an old school Baldor/Wissota or other US brand, as the Asian factories won't "waste" material on guard castings...

FWIW, I also have been seeing them for enough years to recoginze the general types. What's interesting is Taiwan made some decent machine tools back in the 1980s, but then moved their factories to China and the same tools made from the same patterhs are now noticeably lower quality and lesser finish.

It's not that the Chicoms can't make good machines. On one visit a factory director told me, "The buyers from the USA never ask us 'How good can you make it?' They always say 'How cheap can you make it?'"

jack vines

 

[WWIIjeep]

Adding to what's already been said, that Taiwanese "Sterling" looks like a partial clone of a Wissota (with a few modifications), and the eyeshields are either Baldor GA10 add-ons or clones of the Baldor GA10 eyeshield.

It's probably a very decent unit, especially when compared to the current crop of mostly lousy Chinese grinders you'd find at Horrible Fright or the Big Orange Retail Giant.