Old sharpening grinder...

[PDXDave]

So I'm back after a bit of break with another scrap yard rescue.
Someone dumped this old Intedge sharpening specific grinder.

It runs perfectly and the bearings are nice and smooth with no rough spots or run out.
It came from a cutlery shop that was in downtown Portland for many many years.

As near as I can tell, the company was known for their kitchen knives and not tools at all, so I'm thinking it's probably built by someone else to spec and re branded.

Any information on this old guy would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[jabberwoki]

Damn what a nice piece.

 

[PDXDave]

Damn what a nice piece.

Thanks.
It never fails to amaze me what people throw away...
The scrap value was three bucks, so obviously I'm giving it a home.

 

[PDXDave]

Damn what a nice piece.

Thanks.
Not sure why that replied twice...

 

[1982fxr]

Looks like an old USA made Doerr.

Never seen anything like that double wheel guard.

 

[humber2]

Thanks.
It never fails to amaze me what people throw away...
The scrap value was three bucks, so obviously I'm giving it a home.

That’s not a lot to fork out for a knife sharpener.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That’s not a lot to fork out for a knife sharpener.

Snerk.

 

[Mintgrun]

A little googling around implied it might used be for lapidary work.

 

[OldDoItAll]

3450rpm seems kinda high for knife sharpening.

 

[four.cycle]

Looks like an old USA made Doerr.

Indeed.

Doerr Electric Corp. - History | VintageMachinery.org

 

[PDXDave]

3450rpm seems kinda high for knife sharpening.

I had the same thought, but knowing where it came from most definitely cements it's history.

They did a lot more than cutlery, but it's hard to say how this particular piece was used.

 

[Mintgrun]

I don't see any means of setting angles/supports for sharpening.

 

[yatg]

Lapidary (rock polishing) grinder.

There's one on ebay right now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/257611113170

 

[RoninB4]

They did a lot more than cutlery, but it's hard to say how this particular piece was used.

-The type of abrasive discs/wheel would be an indicator for how it was used in general. Hard/rigid wheels would be for removing relatively large amounts of material (rough shaping). Softer/semi-flexible discs/wheel would be for removing less material but improving the surface finish. That's about all you can get, an exact purpose will be speculating unless you knew the department it was used in. Dismounting the abrasive wheels/discs may have markings on them to identify the abrasive itself, which would offer a clue about what it was used on. It's a nice looking grinder.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Amazing machine! Can I call it the "3 buck *****"? My WAG is they used it for scissors... which are tricky to sharpen.

I have a geared down dedicated sharpener, the motor runs at 3250 RPM, one side is direct drive, but the sharpening wheel spins at about a 1:20 ratio, and sits in a water bath trough. Found it at a local contractor supply house, it'd been there long enough to get a nice layer of dust....

And it SURE as hell wasn't no 3 bucks! Congrats!