LOW budget grinder (version 0.01a)

Well, I had a few hours alone in the shop and a couple of grinding wheels.... SOOO I threw together something I've been wanting to try for some time now.

Total, I probably have 10 bucks into this, and IIRC the stones cost me $8

Here is my first go at hammering out the concept of a treadle powered grinding station.
Attachment 45441

And here should be a video showing it in action
Grinder in action

hope the files worked... I still need to tweak some things, and I'm going to make a few additions, but It looks like it's going to work (and I bet I'll rig something with a motor as soon as I get too tired of pedaling :D )

I bow toward your inventiveness. :bow very cool.

Charlie

That's fun. Why not take a step back in time we all did with shaving. My father still thinks I'm crazy when I'll use the treadle lathe before I'll use one of my many (and much more costly) electric lathes. The conversation last week:
"Why are you using THAT again?"
"I like it"
"But that one cost you nothing and this one cost $8k"
"I know, but this one costs nothing to run"
"That makes sense"
I won!

I don't know...I love the inventiveness, but with the wheels being small it may be harder to maintain momentum. The only treddle grinder I have seen was one that had a 16-18" x 3-4" wheel on it. I'm not being a naysayer, but would like to know how it works ... hopefully I'm wrong.

Don't sweat it shooter, it is light right now for getting the momentum right. But I had the spare minutes and the scrap, so I wanted to work out the concept before casting a heavy flywheel.

You planning on casting a heavy flywheel and using 2x72" belts? Interesting...

Actually, I was planning on casting a heavy flywheel (I think I'm using that right) to keep the momentum up and running the stone wheels in water troughs kind of like the video from the old sheffield factory.

You did just give me an idea though... Once the shaft is running, there is no reason why I couldn't put a belt system in place in addition to the water wheels:hmmm:

Glad to be of service and add to the complications...

Great fun and inventiveness! Who knows, it may do the job? The flywheel idea make good sense. Put it on a jack shaft at the bottom like the early sewing machines. See one at your local antique store. I have a friend who uses his foot powered jig/scroll saw at flea markets.
~Geezer

Nice one!

Would fixing it to a bench (permanently / or having the option to unbolt) help with stability? I'm interested in seeing how your experiments go.

Thanks for the show and tell! Keep us posted with your developments.

All the best,
Michael.

Thats really cool Dave!

Great job! :bow

Hows the job hunt going?

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

Hows the job hunt going?

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It's going ok I suppose... had four interviews this week (two of those were the 2nd interviews BTW :)).. So, we are just doing what we can in the meanwhile. Thanks for asking...

Now to answer some questions on the grinder... I would plan on making a permanent mount with a better shaft/bearing system in order to increase stability. But I really do think that it will be necessary to cast a flywheel to keep this sucker going for a grinding session.

Totally off the wall in keeping with the thread.
Why not use the rear part of a kids' bicycle to hold the wheels. Use the chain, sprockets, and pedals to drive it. Leave enough of the rest of the frame to cast into a concrete base using a ready mix type product?

I actually had designed something like this as an alternative, but I also wanted to test the treadle concept... either way, I really think you'd need to have a heavy flywheel to keep things turning.

The second interviews always made/made me feel like I have a good chance at it. I hope you knocked their socks off!

For a cheap heavy flywheel look into an exercise bike. I have made a lathe for a friend using a frewheel and a spring so the chain passes over the freewheel on the exercise flywheel then the end of the chain is attached to a treadle. The other end of the chain is attached to a door spring to spring the chain back for the next push. If i get to the other side of the state this summer I'll take a pic and send it your way.

Perfect, that would work really well. Thanks for the idea.

Dave

+1
~Richard

As my father always says to me, "Don't reinvent the wheel".

I go along with Geezer's approach to your question. Using parts of bicycle frames, chain drives and freewheels are probably a much better bet than what you now have.

For a bit of inspiration I give you the following links:

12 Knife Bikes

1940s/1950s Knife Sharpener Bicycle (Gundle?) « Museum of Tradesman’s Delivery Bikes

DIY gadgets in Africa: the knife-sharpening bicycle - Boing Boing

bicicletta dell'arrotino - knife-grinder's bicycle | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

KNIFE GRINDER (issue title SEE HOW THEY RUN) - British Pathe

YouTube - Afrigadget: A bicycle powered knife-sharpening machine

YouTube - Bicycle knife sharpening


Cheers,

- Ignatz

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Originally Posted by ignatz

As my father always says to me, "Don't reinvent the wheel".

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Well, treadle powered tools have been around for a while too :D. I really did this to test the concept I had for a treadle powered grinder.

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Originally Posted by ignatz

I go along with Geezer's approach to your question. Using parts of bicycle frames, chain drives and freewheels are probably a much better bet than what you now have.
- Ignatz

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What I actually use now is a modern belt grinder. This whole treadle project was the product of some spare time and some curiosity. Again, I was quickly hammering out the concept. Lots of refinement necessary for sure.

Thanks for the links though, cool stuff for sure. One day I may put together a whole shop full of weird homebuilt tools. But in reality, the real power tools I have will have an edge in the performance category.

I love this. My only question is, why did you buy a lathe for 8K if you don't use it?

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Originally Posted by leadduck

I love this. My only question is, why did you buy a lathe for 8K if you don't use it?

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You may have me confused with someone else :)

I do have a $200 midi wood lathe, but I'd rather not get metal dust, grit and water all over the bed :)

Interesting stuff :)