I have been doing some thinking about getting a permanent space set up for working on razors and had a bit of a thought.

Some friends are into model steam engines, and I know from experience that the shoebox sized stationary engines are plenty powerful.

I also read about how people are having issues with electrical engines having too many rpms.

Why not set up a steam stationary engine to power belt grinders/polishers, grinding wheels and drills?
- Hooking up a belt sander, buffer or grinding wheel to a steam engine would be child's play.
- For a drill press I'd set up a hand drill on a pedestal mount, just replace the hand crank with a flywheel hub, and set up a lever to life a plate up to the drill. Ye olde steam powered drill presses used to lift what was to be drilled up to the drill unlike the modern electrical ones where you push the drill down to what is to be drilled. Also you can use a flexible extension from a dremel for other work needing fine rotary tools.
- The RPMs are in the hundred to low thousands which is kinder the materials we work with.

The only real problem I see is that you don't have the instant on/off that you get with electrickery.