Hand Crank Grinders

Posted to Youtube and elaborated on here.

Hand grinders are cool. When I was a kid our neighbor Mr. Russel had one on his work bench. I loved to crank the grinder every time my Dad and I went to visit. Now I have a few of my own.
One of my hand grinders had lash in the spindle that let the wheel rattle back and forth. A couple of quick adjustments and a little oil and it's working like a champ.I recently purchased a little hand crank grinder because of it's unique design.

After posting a quick repair vid on Youtube  http://youtu.be/FFpl-vYX8Oc I received a comment from McQualude (yes that's the name) that it was a Luther 51 grinder. While researching the name I came across this thread on Sawmill Creek  http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?169813-Luther-Grinder-resurrected-Thanks-George!   In addition I found this catalog on Toolemera http://toolemera.com/catpdf/luther1920CAT.pdf
This is a really cool little grinder. Until I read the catalog I had no idea that it could be set up as a tool grinder, milk separator, and even a breast drill. I especially liked the foot treadle on page 19.
The inventor must be Luther McGiver. 

One of the things people comment on in most of the articles and videos I've seen is that the wheels are out of balance. Most think they need to install a new wheel.
If you dress the wheel by holding a diamond point, star wheel, or even a piece of grindstone as a dresser, against the wheel so that it just touches the high spot as it turns then slowly advance the dresser until as the high spot wears down it ends up touching the whole surface of the wheel it can be brought back round.
The other advantage is, the wheel will be sharp and square so it will cut much quicker and not heat the part as much.

Just about Christmas

I'm going to be a man of leisure for the next 9 days.
Christmas shutdown at work and I'm looking forward to getting caught up on all the things that slide away at the end of the work day.
I have a:
              pegboard panel to install over the basement workbench
              new kitchen sink faucet
             sparkplugs to install in the truck
             new shut off  switch to install in the tractor
             finish installing the power panel repairs in the basement
             post to this blog.
One done :-)

Training the future people who get things done.

 Starting on a new quest. Learning how to train people with videos.




http://youtu.be/Zmo8xPX_zKo

Rant alert.

For the past month I've been driving home from work down Cedar Street in Lansing. I pass the corner of Saginaw and Cedar and there is usually one or two people standing there with a sign. "Unemployed need help"
Hell I even gave one of the guys a couple bucks. Then I thought what the hell am I doing.
I'm concerned about you poor people who can't get a job because the Boss won't hire you. How am I helping you to improve yourself. I give you 2 dollars. You learn to stand there and beg for a living.
You now work for the government. You get government food, you live in government housing, you drive a government car, your kids are in government daycare, now you use a government phone to call your friends back at home and send money back to your family so they can move here.
What will happen when we decide we can't afford to support you anymore. Since we are the government we will shut down the mill. No food, no house, no car, no daycare, no phone. Wait a minute no phone to call home? Might as well go home now.
I don't mean South America either. Move back to the little hick towns that everyone moved to the city to get away from. Your welfare checks will still keep coming. Raise chickens and hogs, they'll eat anything and the first two make 10 more. Then you can feed yourself. Sell what you don't eat. Houses in the country are falling down everyone moved to town. Save up 10 welfare checks and buy or rent one. Get a 1000 dollar beater on payments and use it. Home school the kids if you can, they ride the bus if you can't. You'll be too busy to call anyone and you won't want another mouth to feed.
Problem solved.
Your food is right there for the fixing. The house is as good as your willing to make it. You're supporting yourself and your family.
Congratulations you're now a Republican.

Built me a shelf and it's ready for hanging.

Have you ever just started something without a real plan? I don’t mean without blueprints, measurements, and cut lists. I mean just an idea and two boards.

Lydia wanted a shelf for her Grandmother Brown’s china. At the old house there was a built in china cabinet in the dining room and she always had them on display. She mentioned that it would be nice to have a shelf along the east dining room wall. We talked about it and it went into the someday pile of projects.

While searching for a piece of cove molding to match the missing piece over the front door I talked about molding with the local Carter Lumber. They didn’t have 3” cove molding but they did have crown molding in 4” wide. Being extremely tired of hunting after the 5^th Big Box store not having any I said, “Okay I’ll take the 4” crown molding.

I picked up enough to replace all the molding on the front of the house so it will match.

When I got home buyers remorse set in and I thought “Why in the world did I buy so much wood?” It wasn’t going to look right. I would have to take all the old off and rip down the new to 3” wide.
Back to the drawing board.

In the mean time the shelf got moved up on the list. While we were on a vacation trip to Saugatuck she pointed out 4 or 5 really ugly shelves and said, “That might work.” A subtle way of nudging my elbow. I can’t stand crap furniture, and I hate to spend money.

That weekend while she was at work I took the unusable crown molding and mitered it, added a piece of ¾ x 6” poplar, some braces, and poof the shelf was done.

Lydia painted the shelf the next weekend and then we spend an afternoon digging through boxes for the dishes.
The shelf just fit in the space between the door frame and the ceiling with enough room for the dishes. I’ll have to dig out the pictures of the finished shelf.

Did I tell you she liked it really well? Yep I’m making another shelf for the opposite wall. Good thing I bought all that extra crown molding.

Dave N.

aka Old Sneelock

Branching out into new things.

Youtube setup.

10-7-11

I’ve been on Youtube for about a year and a half. The first video was Salvaging a Wood Auger. It was posted on February 28th 2011.  http://youtu.be/FO5ZRy_dnNM

During that time the channel has logged 11804 views.
I joined up with AdSense about 6 months ago. Because after reading the fine print for the fifth time, I thought it was a plan for having my own ads on the channel I didn’t do the final steps. About a month ago I did some more research read the fine print for the 10th time and finally got all linked with the program.
On October 1^st 2012 AdSense reported my first dividend.  $0.17. I won’t retire on it but I’m now a paid videographer.

It’s a learning process. I’ve been making changes as I learn more.
     a. Can’t have anything on the video that I don’t own or have full rights to.
     b. Spreading out the types of videos doesn’t bring in more views.

3. I’m trying to tap a bigger audience but the tool tutorial style seems to be the biggest draws.
4. It’s best to have links to other websites. Each time I mention one of the videos on Old tools or someone mentions one on Sawmillcreek forum I get a spike in views.

10-7-11

Linked the channel to my blog and my Facebook page. We'll see how this turns out.

Working Combinations

Tonight I was cutting some 2x4’s for a bench. I had picked up a combination square from the measuring tools drawer and laid out lengths and hole positions without thinking about much more than where the marks ended up.

I got to a stopping point and began to put away the tools I had used. When I got to the combination square I picked it up and noticed that it was heavier than I was used to. Looking more closely I read the name, Millers Falls on the blade. Out of curiosity I pulled another combination square out of the drawer. This was one my Dad had used as long as I can remember before he gave it to me. I’ve had it for 40 years or more. Setting the two next to each other I studied the differences.

I picked up the Millers Falls at an antique shop. I prefer using good tools when ever possible but my budget precludes going with the haute couture name brands that are priced as art works rather than tools. My only rule on buying tools is that they must be usable. I may only use them once but the rule works and so far I’ve been able to keep from sliding too far down that slope. Buying tools works best at an antique shop that doesn’t know what tools are. They generally cost less when set against Victorian bric-a-brac.

The head on the Millers Falls was made from cast iron. The japanning was still pretty much intact and the vial on the level was clear and read accurately. The scribe point that screwed into the head was there and the point was still sharp.
The head on Dad’s was made from aluminum. If there ever was any paint on the head it was long gone. The vial on the level was missing completely along with the scribe point. All that was left was the holes where the two used to be.

The blade on the Millers Falls is straight, the markings clear and even though someone had wire brushed the blade the numbers are still sharp and easily read.
The blade on Dad’s is worn to the point of being nearly unreadable in anything but good light.
When I checked the two for square, drawing a line from the edge of the bench, flipping the square over and checking against the line, they both read exactly the same. The lines were straight and square at 90 degrees to the edge of the bench.

The Millers Falls felt better in my hand. The weight, only a few ounces on such a small item, made a difference in how it set on the board. I guess solid would describe the feeling. The pencil rode along the blade smoothly. No hesitation or wobble in the blade as the line was cleanly struck.

I have no idea how old the Millers Falls is. Dad’s is at least 50 years old. The wire brushing on the Millers Falls tells me it might have been rusted at some point but there isn’t any pitting on the blade. Dad’s is just as clean as the first time I saw it in Dad’s toolbox.

When new the Millers Falls was probably much more expensive than Dad’s. Having the scribe and level intact indicates that it was well protected. Dad’s has been used an average of once a week for everything from laying out steel plate to setting kitchen cabinets. Dad’s square never did have a scribe or level vial that I’m aware of. My parents taught me that I should always buy the best I can afford. New doesn’t always mean better. Keep what you have, take care of it, and it will last.

I intend to keep using Dad’s square. It’s nice to have the connection through the tools that we both used. It’s like having him still helping. However I will be using the Millers Falls much more frequently.