Old Sandstone Grinding Wheel

[TWManson]

I just picked up an old sandstone grinding wheel, pedal powered. One of the pedals is missing. The wheel is 20"x2" and has a slight crack in it, crack is maybe 1/8" max at the edge of the wheel. I was thinking of repairing the crack using an epoxy/sand mix but just found out that is probably not the correct approach. What was suggested was a mix of Portland Cement, Lime, Silica Sand and water. Evidently that is how these wheels were made back in the day. Anyway it is pretty neat. I've been on the lookout for one and just happened to stumble over this one. I will probably convert it to motor power to make it more usable and would love to power
it with a hit-n-miss engine, but I do not have one of those yet. Tom

 

[Farmer J.]

Nice big old wheel, it should serve you well.
Cement, lime, sand and water mix would be right stuff to repair a crack. The lime gives the repair some elasticity.
Don't spin it too fast if you drive it with an engine, it may result in more drama than you ever wished for in your life..!

 

[TWManson]

Thanks for the tip! I know about the speed thing, I can calculate what surface speed I am looking for and plan accordingly. Tom

P.S. I hate drama!

 

[pfaustus]

Motorizing it is probably overkill. I've burnt a chisel with a hand crank by not paying attention. A foot pedal will go plenty fast. Put the effort into rigging a water bath and sturdy rest.

 

[TWManson]

That 'hand-cranking' concept is weird because I have always wanted to have both hands on the tool being sharpened leaving no hands to do the hand crank. Foot powered is equally odd because your brain has to separate the constant foot cycling with the hands staying steady at the same time.

I agree about the sturdy rest. This one does not look like it ever had a water bath. I saw a video the other day of a guy restoring a good-sized wheel and he made a bath tanks for it using his skills and metal forming equipment.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Our farm neighbour had a variety of grinding wheels. His special talent was sharpening knives and swather cutters. Mister neighbour discovered that by increasing the speed of the grinder wheels, the cutting edge became better. It was not so long after when his sand-stone wheel was turning fast enough to cause it to explode and kill him.
The best advice that you can have and follow is to keep your grinder wheel as is with the pedal power. If you are going to try and repair your wheel use an epoxy.
Those wheels were cut from sandstone, not made from a bunch of material and glue. A glue and sand might have been better and safer.
I had a new grinder wheel blow apart in my BALDOR grinder. The grinder jumped about 6 inches off the cabinet and stopped instantly. The grinder was not damaged.
I am convinced the Baldor grinder shields saved me from having injuries.

 

[TWManson]

Thanks for sharing that scary story! We all use bench grinders and don't really think about what happens when a wheel breaks.

I think safe operating rpm of these old big stones is 60-80 RPM. I was wondering if these stones were cast or cut from actual sandstone. Their uniform appearance made me think they were cast.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I have several 2 hp Briggs with 8 to 1 reduction gear that would work. I have a friend that makes stone marbles with one. Works good.

 

[TWManson]

That is interesting! What was the original use for the reduction gear drive?

I saw a TV show, don't recall which one, that showed peopl who made their own stone marbles and I thought it was pretty darn cool. I have some nice small stones that look like they would be good candidates. We get some decorative gravel around here that goes by a couple different names like Rainbow Rock or Mississippi River Stone. The stones are 3/4" max with many different colors. I am not sure how one would grind them into a marble.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

That is interesting! What was the original use for the reduction gear drive?

I saw a TV show, don't recall which one, that showed peopl who made their own stone marbles and I thought it was pretty darn cool. I have some nice small stones that look like they would be good candidates. We get some decorative gravel around here that goes by a couple different names like Rainbow Rock or Mississippi River Stone. The stones are 3/4" max with many different colors. I am not sure how one would grind them into a marble.

The engines were used on old walk behind tractors or tillers back in the 1960s. People rough the stones out as close to round by hand and then tools to true them up. A friend takes the Ky Agate red and black and makes beautiful marbles and jewelry.

 

[wrenchguy]

they were cut from sandstone blocks taken out of a quarry. only turn it fast enough that the water from the drip cup stays on the wheel. this applies to any diameter wheel. leave the crack and get it outa rain during freezing weather.
this setup i built uses 4to1 reduction to get slow enough. it was originally handcranked by a second person.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

they were cut from sandstone blocks taken out of a quarry. only turn it fast enough that the water from the drip cup stays on the wheel. this applies to any diameter wheel. leave the crack and get it outa rain during freezing weather.
this setup i built uses 4to1 reduction to get slow enough. it was originally handcranked by a second person.

Great setup. Mine might be 6 to 1, I was going to ask, Where's the knife?

 

[Roberts210]

That needs a seat so you can sit and use the foot pedals--that is how it was sold new. The seats looked like bicycle seats but were of stamped steel. Also, half of a small tire should be tied to the frame, and filled with water so the lower half of the stone is immersed in water so as to cool your tool. Using the foot pedals, the surface feet per minute will be perfect for sharpening. No need to motorize it.

 

[TWManson]

Thanks for that video of your motorized wheel, that is very cool. And yes, I thought mine was designed to have a seat on it. I am sure I could fabricate a pedal assemble to replace the missing one.

 

[Farmer J.]

Also, half of a small tire should be tied to the frame, and filled with water so the lower half of the stone is immersed in water so as to cool your tool.

Now, that is a good idea to easily make a water tray, I never thought or heard of using a section of old tyre. Thanks for passing it on.

 

[TWManson]

Yeah, I saw that tire idea also somewhere else. I personally don't like that look, I would fabricate something before using a tire. It does not have to be round, it just needs to be big enough to submerge a couple inches (??) of the wheel and it should be made easy to dump.

 

[Roberts210]

You could get a motorcycle tire, maybe, just the right size with some cool lettering on it. I dunno, but there are some cool tires out there.

 

[pfaustus]

I was wondering if these stones were cast or cut from actual sandstone. Their uniform appearance made me think they were cast.

There were instructions for concrete and sand grinding wheels in places like mother jones and the like in the 70s. I think they sorta worked.

The old ones were cut from sandstone quarries. There was someplace in southern Ohio known for it. I remember reading about big stone lathes. They were mostly put out of business by the invention of carborundum and electric grinders.

 

[WisJim]

I used a short length of plastic rain gutter capped on both ends as a water tray under my pedal grinder wheel. It's easily dumped out after each use.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Section of old bike or motorcycle fender.. balloon tire size, inverted....

 

[dutchgray]

I have seen archive film of industrial knife grinding where the operator sat infront of very wide large diameter (~3') wheels, occasionally one would blow up and they would need a replacement operator.

 

[dutchgray]

This is a different bit of film but worth a watch, hand grinding knife blades in Sheffield England in 1979

 

[TWManson]

That is fun to watch, thanks for sharing that clip. Tom

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

This is a different bit of film but worth a watch, hand grinding knife blades in Sheffield England in 1979

Thank you very much for that history lesson. And even in 1979, 75 % of knives came from Sheffield England. Wow the history of those knives that are still here that my Dad and father in-law that carried and proud of.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I just picked up an old sandstone grinding wheel, pedal powered. One of the pedals is missing. The wheel is 20"x2" and has a slight crack in it, crack is maybe 1/8" max at the edge of the wheel. I was thinking of repairing the crack using an epoxy/sand mix but just found out that is probably not the correct approach. What was suggested was a mix of Portland Cement, Lime, Silica Sand and water. Evidently that is how these wheels were made back in the day. Anyway it is pretty neat. I've been on the lookout for one and just happened to stumble over this one. I will probably convert it to motor power to make it more usable and would love to power
it with a hit-n-miss engine, but I do not have one of those yet. Tom

If you want to do something productive like sharpening lots of knives. I would just chain it down like the cool video.