varriable speed grinder the neander way

[Will Brauneis]

I have been looking for one of these for quite awhile and finally i stumbled onto this on in an antique store for only 10$. It's a little rough on the outside but it should clean up well and most importantly it runs very smoothly. The only thing that is missing is the tool rest but i figure for what i got it for it was worth the effort to make a new one. I was thinking get a 3" or so hex bolt and weld a length of flat steel onto it for the rest and bolt it in the slot where the old one was. What do you guys think? is there a different way i could go about this maybe without welding as i don't own a welder.

Thanks
Will

[Jim Koepke]

If you have buddies in the old cars in the yard crowd, you might be able to rig something from an alternator mount. They usually have a bolt through a slide to tension the belt. This and a few other pieces could be used to make an adjustable angle tool rest.

Why weld when you can just use more bolts?

When you said variable speed the neander way, I thought you just feed the grandkids a few more candy bars so they will crank faster.

jim

[brian c miller]

This maybe over kill but looks like it'd work well:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=45938&cat=1,43072

[jerry nazard]

Will,

You have two good suggestions so far. I'll add a third: make a tool rest out of wood similar to James Krenov's. (Fine Art of Cabinetmaking, p. 111)

-Jerry

[Terry Beadle]

This is a definite gloat..... Great buy!
Definitely a way to go to avoid losing temper and over heating an edge.

[Jon van der Linden]

I'll second the idea of a wooden support like the one shown in Krenov's book. It can provide more support, be made with a groove to hold the side of the blade more easily, and is easily made/modified to an angle of your choice. Besides, scraps are usually free.

[Bob Easton]

Don't make it any harder than it needs to be. Most of the tool rests on hand grinders were simple "L" shaped bent metal. A short stub of angle iron, an bolt washer and nut, are cheap and a lot easier than welding.

[Will Brauneis]

Ok thanks for your input guys I'm going to make a rest out of angle iron and bolt it on. Thats a lot simpler i have a bad habit of thinking up a more complicated solutions than i need lol.

[Will Brauneis]

Here's a pic of the grinder all cleaned up, a new wheel, and its new tool rest. In hindsight i should have made the rest larger i will make another eventually. It gets a little tricky to turn the handle and balance the steel on the rest. but all and all I'm happy with it!