TREADLE GRINDER ~ PART XV ~ DRESSING THE WHEEL

[@amishpope]

Looks like a great exercise for training for an arm wrestling contest. This is very interesting watching this wheel come together. I will be watching auctions for one and I'll know how to care for it.

[@OldSneelock]

Tim Caldwell The grindstone is going to be a great addition to the tool array. I'm sure you would find a use for one.

[@brucemorris6319]

What makes the wheel out of round in the first place? I traded for a leg operated grindstone with a wheel bought same size as yours but it has a chunk out of the wheel about 3 inches long and 2 inches deep . I guess the only way to fix it is to do the same thing you’re doing. I don’t use it it’s just a yard art peace.

[@OldSneelock]

If you sharpen tools like axes, planes, or chisels I haven't found a better stone than a wet sandstone wheel for sharpening. If you leave the stone sitting in the weather the rain and weather will rust the steel and soften the stone. The wheels were often abused and left sitting in a shallow pan of water to wet the stone. The wetter edge of the stone was heavier and gravitated to sit in the water. The water broke down the bond of the sand and clay causing the wheel to wear faster in one spot. Since most people didn't dress the stone the out of round just kept getting worse. Like a washboard road the item being ground bounces at the low spot. That causes the item to slam into the wheel on the other side of the low spot creating more of a low spot. The wheel destroys itself in use. Dressing the wheel and keeping it protected from the weather will let it still be useful a hundred years after it was cut from the earth.

[@oljames1687]

..yep, i would find a low rpm electric motor and some pulleys. Sit back with a glass of tea a bag of pork rinds and gave the handles a turn from time to time...!

[@OldSneelock]

Ol James I'm considering a hamster wheel and a series of Rube Goldberg trips and levers to crank the cross feed. I think it could be done for peanuts.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I go with Weaver Drafting (as long as he don't draft ME) and then set it up on the drill press table with an abrasive bit of some kind to get it close. Then rig up a variable speed rig (drill motor maybe) and use the jig you have to true it up. But you know how I think.

[@OldSneelock]

Lewie McNeely Sounds like a fun project to set up. 😃

[@lewiemcneely9143]

You know how I get. Grading is the same way except you get to fill in the low places sometimes!

[@joshcottreau]

An angle grinder with a cutting disc is a great tool for dressing a wheel.

[@OldSneelock]

I wanted to see just how well I could do with this method. How long do you think I was willing to crank the wheel? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHPXgKePibppjaM Turns out not very long at all. 😊

[@joshcottreau]

Old Sneelock's Workshop the grinder certainly made short work of dressing that wheel lol

[@tarz9386]

I'M not going to say what I think you should do but it would involve a power tool. I will just wait to see what you come up with. good luck.

[@OldSneelock]

Mike Tarzwell Part of the fun is batting ideas around. There are no bad ideas. Just some hurt less than others. 😈

[@lewiemcneely9143]

OH yes!

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Come on Mike. You might as well bounce in with everybody else!

[@tarz9386]

how about a big hammer and a coal chisel ? ha

[@lewiemcneely9143]

That sounds like one f MY cures but I think Unc is just a dab more refined than I am.

[@jusb1066]

what do they call those hammers,scutch hammers? with a replaceable comb end, might save some time with the stone dressing, or you could nibble some off with a regular cold chisel perhaps

[@OldSneelock]

Jusb1066 I was hesitant to chip on it. Sandstone is rather fragile.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

That's why I was thinking on the drill press table. You could feed it by hand and it'd be on a flat surface. And be able to see just what you were doing with the studio lights boring down on it. I was also thinking bandsaw but you'd need a diamond wire or some such.

[@JohnDavis-yz9nq]

Never did finish it? Variable speed motor?

[@OldSneelock]

Finished. Upgraded. Been using it since 2018. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2itd5iJg7uBnNU

[@JohnDavis-yz9nq]

@@OldSneelock good deal glad to hear that. Very nostalgic piece of equipment. I can’t think of anything that would be better to sharpen knives on. From traditional pocket knives to kitchen knives.

[@OldSneelock]

@@JohnDavis-yz9nq It really works well. I have since rebuilt another and sold it to my nephew for his knife making business. I have a larger one in process. 😁😎