Rog,
That grinder unit reminds me of my early years in the 50's. We used to have a chap come around about every three months on a bicycle, and he had one of those rigged on the back of his bike.
He had a frame that lifted the back wheel off the ground, and sitting on a back to front seat on the cross bar, then he used to pedal backwards. The drive for the grinder came from a v-grooved ring mounted on the side of the back wheel rim. He used to pedal away and sharpen all the knives, scissors, hedgecutters etc, that the housewives used to bring out to him.
I can easily envision the sharpener on a bicycle. That was one of the things that surprised me when I first started staying in Scotland. The number of door to door tradesmen Is unheard of here in the states. In the small town I grew up in there was a "gentleman" that sharpened handsaws and anything else you needed to put an edge on but you had to take it over to his shed and leave it with him. One learned quickly that it wasn't too wise to go over before mid morning or after 4:00 in the afternoon as he was either hung over or tippling the bottle before and after those hours. His house was on my newspaper route and he liked me cause I always waved to him. One Saturday morning when I was collecting for the paper he took me in his little shed and showed me how to sharpen and reset a handsaw. He taught me to sharpen scissors when my mother sent me over with a pair of her dress making shears and how to put a decent edge on a "hunting knife".
We called your Craftsman adjustable files a 'Surform' adjustable file in the UK and when I worked for Rolls Royce making their custom cars, those Surforms were standard issue to the white metal line for dressing down the lead body filling to get nice sharp edges on the body pressings and subsequent build up of lead. About 100lbs of lead was used on each main steel body to enable nice sharp edges on everything. They could be adjusted to the curved form of the body panels. The doors, bonnets and boot (trunk) lids were made of ali, and were dressed down out of the thick raw material they were pressed out of, to match the sharp edges of the bodies.
I still have all my panel beating hammers somewhere, from my R-R days, all the sharp corners were rounded off and polished all over to a chrome like finish, so any slight 'slips' didn't cause any further damage.
Another example of the US and UK being "Two world powers, separated by a common language." A "surform" here is a wood rasp device used to knock down plastic body filler just prior to it kicking to full hard. Actually, if you asked for a "Surform Tool" you would probably get blank stares in most shops, but if you asked if anyone had a "cheese grater", there would be acknowledgment from all present. Generically, we refer to those as Vixen files or sheet metal files.
That particular file handle is set up with a flexible metal file, which varies from a lead file in that the metal files have a shallow gullet as compared to the deeper gullet in a lead file. A metal file will cut lead but loads up rather quickly and cleaning them is a pain, a lead file will work for metal but dulls quickly, hence the color coding on the file handles in my shop. Oh yeah, better mention the distinguishing difference between a flexible file and a rigid file, The rigid file is shorter and the the screw holes are approximately 10.25" center to center.
One of my little sideline businesses is resharpening metal and lead files. I have a couple of sheet metal tool suppliers that refer request to me and it has been a profitable little venture over the years.
AHH, yes the fine art of laying lead! I learned as a young man in the body shop. Lead was expensive and only used as a last resort to level a surface and on the occasional body seam. I was taught to "hammer, dolly, shrink, and file" which I still do to this day. I do sheet metal work primarily, as it is rapidly becoming a lost trade, though it is making somewhat of a comeback with the recent increase in interest in "custom" cars and motorcycles. Todays "metal morons" flood everything with "bondo". Real body lead is kind of hard to find and getting more expensive everyday. "Sheep Tallow" is impossible to find over here and you about have to make you own paddles as the imported ones sold by the "expert supply" stores are made from some sort of weird Asian wood that doesn't take tallow (or ATF) well at all. I'm sure I am on every government "bomb builders watch list" for sourcing acid and zinc to make my own tinning fluid and flux.
Want to find yourself ventilated with buckshot? Just try using one of my metal hammers to drive a nail or beat on something.
If I emptied out all the drawers and ratholes around my place I probably have 150 sheet metal hammers of various profile, weight, and manufacture. There is probably another 200 dollies, spoons and slappers around as well. There are many duplications in the collection but I never pass up a chance to snag a hammer regardless of condition. I have even become kind of "the go to guy" when it comes to resanding and refacing badly abused hammers and dollies.
I keep a buffer set up just for the express purpose of keeping those surfaces polished to mirror finish.
The mirror finish does more than just preventing unwanted indentations on you work piece. If you work both ferrous and non ferrous metals with the same tool the smooth surface minimizes any cross contamination of the surfaces. You haven't had a head ache until the paint lifts off one of your panels and the cause is traced to a bit of steel hammered into the aluminum
or your fine polished copper sculpture develops a rust streak instead of the green copper patina you told the client to expect. KEEP your hammers and dollies polished!
Does anyone else find SHUR-ON Wash Tub Legs faintly ludicrous in the Luther cataloque? 
Actually, no I see nothing unusual about that. Many companies manufactured and sold products similar to those leg brackets as a sideline business. Frequently, such products were a collaboration with an employee that came up with the idea and turned over to the business for a consideration of the profits. I am sure that since the grinders and other tools were sold to hardware stores which would be the same outlet for the wash stand legs that the sales force was already in place.
While I'm here do any other Aussies think that 
looks like Little Johny? 
BR
"Someone, splain that to me."
Interesting catalog. 
Can you imagine making kid's today us a foot powered charger so they can use their cell phone.
I saw one grinder in there where you cranked with one hand and held the blade in the other two. 
Bernd
I saw something on TV a while back where a guy had rigged a television to a stationery bicycle powered generator and made his kids peddle to watch their favorite shows. At least they were developing strong bodies while rotting their brains
And one should always remember that these were popular when kids used to look forward to spending time helping Dad.
