Craigslist Find Surface Grinder - Now The Fun Starts

gr8legs

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Rest In Peace
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Maybe this should be posted as a POTD since it's only partly done - but it's my story and I'm sticking to it:

Our local Craigslist had a surface grinder listed - Talked to the guy and went to take a gander and well, here we are. An old Delta surface grinder - small enough to fit into my shop but missing a couple of parts and needing a general cleanup and re-wiring. Price was right so I bit. Fork-lifted it into the pickup with the seller's forklift (one of those would certainly be handy around the house, eh?) and brought it home. Craned it off the pickup and built a skid so it could roll around on the pallet jack. Almost everything in the shop is on wheels because there's no space otherwise for tools and work simultaneously.

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Before getting too deep into it, problem #1 was the Z-Axis adjusting screw was long gone. We knew that from the get-go (it was a price negotiating point) so something temporary (for the next 20 or so years) was the first order of business. Without that screw, loosening the column lock could crash the grinding mechanism into the chuck and probably ruin a potentially useful tool - bad idea.
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I thought about it for a while, went to the web and priced things like 3/4" Acme all-thread (not too bad) and Acme nuts (yikes!), then settled on making something out of locally available and cheap parts. Went to the farm store and got a 2' length of 3/4" all-thread (3/4"-10 tpi - 1 turn = 1/10" - how convenient is that?) and several hex nuts.

Rummaged around the junk bin and found a 3" length of round aluminum stock left over from something long forgotten - Cleaned it up on the lathe and bored through it at 3/4" to clear the 3/4" all-thread.
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Then turned down a shoulder to fit into the hole in the casting on the grinder
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Now for the fun part - I planned to use one of the steel nuts for the threads in the bushing I just made, so figuring out the dimensions for a hexagonal pocket was the next step. After a bit of pencil gnawing and calculating, a set of construction points was determined - so off to the mill we go!

First things first, I only made one bushing so after programming the mill I did a test cut of the pocket in a piece of scrap lumber
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And amazed myself when it fit!
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So next I loaded in my home-made round stock fixture (an old 3-jaw lathe chuck on a steel plate) and got ready to cut the actual part (first doing an 'air cut' to be sure things were approximately where they should be):
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Looked good, so away we go!
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And, after just a little adjusting, head-scratching and swearing - Voila! The nut, she fits!
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So, a little more fitting and adjusting and now the grinder has a coarse Z-Axis screw and I had a nice time playing with tools - it's a Win-Win!

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The hex-pocketed surface grinder bushing:
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IMG_9680 - p.jpg gr8legs, we must be related.
Picked this up about a week ago. Am working to get wheels under it now.
The motor was replaced with a open fan so grit can get into it and will have to pull the slides to inspect and clean. May have to scrape a bit.
The feller I bought it from made a new course feed screw and nut. Will probably have to make a lap to clean up some tight spots on the screw.
Note the baking pan to catch the sparks n grit.
Got other projects which will take over when this is on rollers. Like getting the garage cleaned up so there's room for more machines.

Nice work on the nut fit and really good pics of your work. Thanks!
 
There's one on craigs list in Pueblo for $750. It's a different brand but all the same castings and parts. I think it's still too high.
That one for $1350 is unlikely to sell for that price.
 
That is a Delta "Toolmaker" grinder. Be careful when ordering extra wheel hubs, as I believe the taper OD is .750" not the standard 1".

Since the replacement screw is probably not a ground thread I'd be hesitant to make a dial for the screw. I think a tenths indicator holder on the Z axis (in mill speak) might be better (and easier :) )
 
Great job on the hex bushing! Looks like a fun project. :encourage:
 
Note the baking pan to catch the sparks n grit.

I've never seen a grinder throw sparks to the right. Every surface grinder I have ever seen turns clockwise as you are looking at the wheel. This is new.
 
Since the replacement screw is probably not a ground thread I'd be hesitant to make a dial for the screw. I think a tenths indicator holder on the Z axis (in mill speak) might be better (and easier :) )

Yeah, - The replacement screw is the 'coarse' Z-Axis adjustment and just gets the head to approximately the right altitude. There is a fine screw (not shown in any of my pix) that moves the Z-axis in 1/1000" increments.

Stu
 
Hey Gr8legs, nice work. I have that same grinder, mine was a filthy mess when I got it. It was so bad I had to completely disassemble it just to clean it.
Mine was not missing any parts but I found the brass tapered sleeve bearing in the spindle was quite worn. Lots of hand work with a piece of drill rod and 600 Grit paper and blue paste and i got it to fit quite well. A Fenner link belt help get rid of some of the vibrations as did extra weight to the base. If you find a source for extra wheel hubs please let me know. For the $350 I spent I am pleased.
 
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