One of my Hand Tool School members, Andrew Detloff, had some questions about getting a hand cranked grinder. Considering the number of questions I get about this topic, it seemed that some more information was in order. Since Andrew is also a podcaster, why not take advantage of it.
So what follows is our conversation about what to look for when buying and hand cranked grinder and how to get it up and running smoothly.
Thanks for the chat Andrew!
yes, please. Thanks!
A+ Shannon on the Hand Cranked Grinders audio informational. Like Andrew, I was clueless as to what to look for and what questions to ask. Now I know. So, instead of buying 3 grinders to finally get a good one, I now have a much better chance of get a working one the first go around, all thanks to you.
Aww shucks Dean, happy to help
I saw your note asking if we want to see a video of how you actually use the grinder to sharpen.
Answering for myself: Absolutely!
Shannon,
Excellent information. Been thinking about getting one of these, partially to work hollow grinds vs flat grinds and partially for the lower noise/hassle of the hand cranking. One question, you mentioned that Norton wheels (from Tools for Working Wood for example) come with 3/8″ hole adapters, but I can’t find such a beast. The Tools for Working Wood site says that the 6″ Norton 3x Super Cool wheels have a 1″ hole with adapters to fit 1/2″, 5/8″,3/4″,7/8″, or 1″ arbors. Same info at Rockler. How did you get a 1/2″ hole to fit a 3/8″ arbor?
Andy
Andy, I’ll have to check my grinder again to double check dimensions. I have 2 of them with 2 different sized arbors. I know one was 1/2″ and the spacers provided were fine to attach a Norton wheel. The other one required me to make a spacer myself from Hard Maple. Not that that spacer didn’t perform well, but I eventually replaced it with a vinyl material sold to pen makers for making your own bushings.