I bought a Thörns T2 tool grinder... from Denmark.

[samthedog]

I have been wanting a tool grinder for a long time and had just missed out on one 6 years ago. I have always regretted this and have been searching for a grinder in my price range on a daily basis.

Having made contact with many people through owning a Colchester Chipmaster, I have had the pleasure in meeting Erik, aka rcflier on this forum. Erik lives in Denmark and I live in Norway and we have traded a few things in the past. About 10 days ago Erik contacted me regarding a Thörns grinder he had in his boiler room that he wanted to sell. Not wanting to pass this chance up, I organized myself as quickly as possible and made plans to take my 4 and 7 year old kids (they are on holidays and I had no baby sitter for them). Erik and I agreed to meet in Ystad, Sweden which is a 1370 km round trip.

Erik had booked a ferry trip from Denmark to Sweden, and I started the trek to Sweden. I arrived at about 21:00 with my tired kids in tow and met Erik at McDonalds. He had loaded the machine into a horse trailer and we were left with the challenge to load it into my little trailer. We were fortunate that we had assembled exactly the right equipment between us and that a kind tow truck driver happily assisted us in the transfer.

My trailer floor began to sag under the wait and I was forced to chock it up and leave it at a service station overnight. I arrived the next morning and headed to the hardware store with the trailer - gingerly driving the car so as not to disturb the machine and send it through the floor of my trailer. When arriving at the hardware store the warehouse guys happily assisted and lifted the machine off. They cut a piece of 22mm ply to reinforce the floor and then reloaded the machine. I strapped it down and was on my way.

The return trip took me over 12 hours but we made it. I still have the machine on the trailer as a friend with a crane truck is still on holidays. Overall, I am very happy with the machine and although it was a little rusty and worn, Erik did me a great deal and I will begin restoring it to it's former glory. It was a top-shelf machine in it's day and I believe it is worth the effort as it is both a tool grinder and surface grinder. I was very fortunate that Erik managed to find some of the documentation and the original sales document for it.

Anyway, enjoy the pics:

View attachment 58021

 

[David]

Nice tool grinder Sam! Those hard road trips makes the purchase more gratifying every time you turn the switch on! Now the kids may view the machine in another way !!!

David

 

[samthedog]

Nice tool grinder Sam! Those hard road trips makes the purchase more gratifying every time you turn the switch on! Now the kids may view the machine in another way !!!

David

Thanks Dave. It is the longest I have travelled for a machine yet. I will be doing the best I can to get the old girl working like new and all made up! The great thing is that I am now able to get a few of the grinding jobs done I had planned as it is a very capable surface grinder too. The only concern is that it is a dry grinder and I have a lathe and mill in the same workshop. I am going to need some really well thought out dust control.

Paul.

 

[Charley Davidson]

Very nice outfitted package you got there, See you got a powered work head with it, nice!!!!:man:

I'm currently setting up my tool grinding setup and building walls around the area to keep the dust issues down.

 

[Ray C]

Nice... I have a very simple and old cutter/grinder but it's in good shape and I get a lot of use out of it. Grinding is underwhelmed by lathes and mills but, it really is where the action is in terms of finish something to the highest level of detail. Totally under estimated piece of machinery!

Good luck w/it...

Ray

 

[samthedog]

That is a beautiful grinder.

The ancillary items really complete the package. You look to have enough wheel adapters to keep each and every one of your wheels mounted.

Dull cutters won't stand a chance in your shop!


The more I look at those pictures the more I like that machine!
The controls look to be laid out smartly. The column looks big and the spindle and headworks have style.

What vintage is that machine?

Senna: I couldn't say although if I had to guess, I would say mid sixties to mid seventies. The styling is very similar to my Jungner milling machine and Colchester Chipmaster, both from the sixties.

This machine does not have an air bearing on the spindle and relies on well lubricated bearing instead. I don't know how much of a problem this will be (if any) but I have been reading on other forums people saying that it's a big challenge grinding flutes without an air spindle.
Any comments regarding this? I have no experience in this area and to me, if the bearing is smooth and well lubricated I can't see why it would be that big of a deal.

I have also forwarded my literature on the machine to Tony at lathes.co.uk so that he can add it to his site.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

I have been going through the accessories for the machine and only have 5 collets and none in the sizes most used. I am wondering if getting a 40 INT ER 32 chuck would solve the problem as these can be had cheap enough and I already have a full set of ER32 collets. Anyone tried this? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

What collets does this machine take Paul?

I'd be inclined to just search for the correct collets unless they're just as rare as hen's teeth. Something about maintaining the originality of this machine appeals to me.

I'd really like to read the manual for this grinder as it intrigues me.

Hope you have luck getting the manual and I really hope you'll post it up if you do get it.

I have scanned the documents and will put them up my blog when I get a chance. The problem with the collets is that 40 taper is quite rare as there are not many machines that use it. I have spoken to Erik and he does have a set that I will buy from him however these are not the originals for the grinder.

This machine is built like a tank and is so well designed that I am looking forward to giving the old girl a new lease on life! It will make for a great winter project and I already have a few people on my street who have placed orders for having planer blades sharpened.

Paul.