Surface Grinder

[Darren]

I'm at it again .... 

This surface grinder came up locally on Ebay and nobody seemed interested. The seller was scrapping tools stating the scrapman was offering more than Ebay values on some gear. And it was less hassle/time consuming for him. From a chat we had it sounded like several tones of tooling had already gone inc some very desirable gear... but I suppose that is the way if you are in it for the money ... 

Anyways, I got there just in time to save this ...







It looks rough and I nearly didn't bother, but I'm glad I did as all the ways are almost perfect with the scraping marks clearly visible.

I had a quick go with it

This is cast steel cut on the mill with a tipped cutter



And this is my first go on the grinder



I also manage to save a bunch of tooling at little money too .. 









Alas I couldn't save the BP and Student, they are still there with a ton of other stuff .. but for how long I don't know? He might list those, I suppose it depends on how he feels at the time. The BP looked in good nick too ... 

[sbwhart]

Wow nice find Darren as well as surface grinding you'll be able to use it for grinding tools up, end mills etc, with the right fixtures.

Stew

[dsquire]

Darren

That looks like it will be a nice addition to the shop. It will give you another option for working with some pieces. The tooling bit looks like a good find as well. I will be watching as you get it cleaned up and have it earn its keep. 

Cheers 

Don

[Darren]

Thanks Stew, I think I should find it quite useful. I already have a J&S grinding vice and a spin index to be getting on with 

[Darren]

I will be watching as you get it cleaned up and have it earn its keep. 



Don

Speaking of which ..... nothing like the present 

All white ...



I didn't like that much as white shows up all the casting marks ... sooooooo ....

All grey now 

[dsquire]

Darren

WOW. I'll bet the white paint wasn't even dry when you hit it with the gray paint. 

Cheers 

Don

[Stilldrillin]

`Ere we go again! 

Don`t know how you do it Darren......   

But I`m pleased to see you do! 

David D

[CrewCab]

Nice find Darren 

love the colour 

CC

[Bernd]

Nice stash of tools Darren. I'm jealous. 

Nice little hand grinder. I've got a small manual grinder to. Comes in quite handy at times.

Bernd

[John Hill]

Nice new toy there Darren!

By the way,  how are those extensions to the garage coming along?

[Darren]

Thinking about it John, thinking about it ..... got a bit of room to go yet .... esp if I don't want to get in myself 

[Dean W]

Looks good in gray, Darren! 
So glad you could save it from those beastly scrappers.  What a crime.

Dean

[Darren]

Thanks Dean, It's a shame what gets scrapped these days...

I haven't made much progress with the grinder but I did manage to take a picture of the ways. All the ways inc the dovetails have been scraped. Add to that the main bed slide has a nice slippy strip of Format 4 and the head bearings have been out/replaced at sometime, it seems this machine has been re-finished and little used since.

http://www.pentad.net/slideway/formateng.htm

[Fisky]

Is this an Eagle surface grinder? I have one that looks almost identical that is now surplus to requirements so if anybody wants to acquire one that is already grey but not quite as pretty as Darren's at a very sensible price please contact me. This is my first post as I have been lurking in the background as a guest for a few months, I am in Somerset fairly near to Taunton.

[Darren]

Hi Frisky,

Firstly welcome to the forum, maybe a post in the introduction section, we just try to keep things on a more friendly level here and it helps if you let us into your "doings" a little ... 

Yes this is an Eagle Mk1 Hand Surface Grinder, mine is missing the centre wheel and some protective bellows is you just by some chance have any spare .... Ok it's a long shot ....

If you post the same in this area you may get more hits  http://madmodder.net/index.php?board=25.0
Good luck .... and do tell us a bit about yourself 

[Rob.Wilson]

Nice one Darren 

That will be a very handy addition to your shop , love the colour 

Cheers Rob

[Brass_Machine]

Nice find there Darren. Wish I had the room/dosh for a grinder myself. The restore is looking good!

Eric

[JimM]

Great job Darren, that's going to be very smart when it's all done.

The finish looks great, I vaguely remember you mentioning that it's floor paint on another thread are you just brushing it on ? Also is it mid or light grey - the colour really suits machinery. (I'm sounding worryingly like Laurence Llewelyn Bowen !!)

Cheers

Jim

[Darren]

Hi Laurence 

Thanks for the comments, I'd have to check but I think it's a light grey. I brush the difficult areas and run a small roller over the whole lot.

After noticing how much abuse floor paint can take on floors got me thinking, so I tried it 
I start by sanding down the old paint until it's smooth paying particular attention to old paint, chips, rust etc. Fill the worst with car filler and smooth. Wipe over the area to be painted with white spirit on kitchen towel to remove dust etc. The floor paint goes on thick and dries quick, but don't do it if it's cold or it can take days to dry on cast iron. If the temp is above 8deg or so it dries fine in a couple of hours. Second coat sometimes goes on straight away or 2-3hrs later if it's not so warm. I like to give my machines three coats but that's up to your preference of course.

One 2.5lt tin has done 3 machines so far and it still half full. Cost is about £3 per machine in paint. The finish is textured slightly due to the roller, but far better than brushing. It's cast iron being painted here so the texture goes a long way to hiding casting marks.

I've almost finished the grinder, will post some pictures soon. 

[John Hill]

Dont bother messing with the brush and roller Darren, just mask it off a bit then give her a good dousing down with the spray attachment on SWMBO's vacuum cleaner.  It wont matter if any overspray gets on the floor!

[Darren]

The grinder has two sheaves on the motor pulley giving two speeds. To change you need access to the rear of the base cabinet. This would be a pain as you'd need to move the grinder away from the wall.

So taking that into consideration and that grinders can be messy covering the workshop in dust I decided that I wanted to be able to move it easily to the garage door or even outside when using it.

This is what I came up with, wheels from an old Quik Save pallet (supermarket) and some box section that I had knocking about. The grinder base has a small footprint that would make it unstable while moving. So I made the trolley larger for this reason.

Quickly knocked this up



So glad I got that engine hoist



After giving it a wash with the obligatory paint



The three angle plates cut from an old bed frame have nuts welded underneath the holes for the fixing bolts. Just need to let it dry now and then the final fit 

[Stilldrillin]

Surface grinding al fresco! 

Now, that`s a great idea Darren! 

Love your way of thinking....... And neat`n tidy workmanship. 

David D

[John Stevenson]

Yes Eagle, Herbert, Elliott, these were a generic hand grinder made and badged by may different makers.
I have the identical machine, i was given it because the bed raising nut had stripped, screwcut a new nut and it's as good as new.

It used to get a lot of work at one time but i have since bought a swing grinder that can remove material in a 10th of the time, doesn't look as pretty with the swirl marks but it works well.

The Eagle / Herbert is now confined to grinding slotting tools and such like.

John S.

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Darren 


Loooking great    nice idea  being able to move it S/G around the shop 


Cheers Rob

[John Stevenson]

Makes a lot of sense given the shïte these things chuck out. My swing grinder is outside under a sheet so all the crap goes down the yard and not into the shop.

John S.