Recent Craftsman Block Grinder Acquisition

[Chiz]

I found this ¾ HP Commercial Block Grinder on CL. The guy was giving it away because he did not want to pay a “recycling fee” to dispose of it because of the steel and cast iron. I was told it ran but had a bad vibration in it. All I had to do is drive 2 hours to pick it up. Worst case scenario I would have a vintage grinder stand. This had some very heavy use and is a mess, there is close to a ¼ inch of caked on rust and grime on the stand, on the grinder itself if it could rust it did. Back in my shop the grinder did indeed vibrate badly. The wire wheel and the stone were removed and the grinder was turned on… no vibration. The shaft was not bent so I put this is the que for CPR (cleaning, painting and restoration). Because of the hard life this obviously had bearings will be replaced. The only missing part was the iron tool rest on the right (anyone have an extra one?)

I will post the restoration process on my restoration thread when I begin.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

You did very good, stand alone on ebay gets you $100, IMHO think finding that tool rest will be tricky cause all the ********* block guys like those better than the thinner versions, you may have to find a pair from another brand and adapt?

The block heads would have preferred you posted in this thread:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157794
or this one to keep these all in one area for future reference as these two threads contain a wealth of knowledge for people rebuilding craftsmen block grinders;
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249539

Best of luck, post updates as you rebuild

 

[lilredex]

Rest looks straight forward,

should be easy enough to make another....you already have a sample.

 

[davethorik]

I'm the guy that sold you that block and while I don't recall giving it away, I hope it has a good new home.

 

[ducksface]

I'm the guy that sold you that block and while I don't recall giving it away, I hope it has a good new home.

You worded that very graciously.

 

[Stadger]

Zing!

 

[Chiz]

I'm the guy that sold you that block and while I don't recall giving it away, I hope it has a good new home.

Dave, I may have bought a similar block grinder from you (I picked one up in Wooster 3-4 months ago or so, I have never been further north). This particular one came from the south about an hour. I got the Wooster one because I was looking for parts to fix this one that I bought new in the early 1980’s:

It was however not compatible and at the time I was more interested in getting my existing one running which was in way better shape. I kept the stand and sold the grinder which I now regret. I have since discovered this site and decided after reading many of the threads here I should have restored it. I did a post here looking for repair help and got some great info. The Wooster one had all the parts, except that one of the tool rests was broken. This grinder is missing a tool rest AND one of the cast iron rest supports. The Wooster one also had Blue paint on the front of it. As you can see there is no Blue on this grinder; there is some slight Green on it from what looks like over spray. Hopefully this clarifies any issues.

Unknown about a good home, I think he was looking for parts also.