Harrison Grinder

[Dieselman 63]

Just bit the bullet - vfd ordered! $210, about a hundred quid didn't seem too shabby at all. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing what this magical box can do in terms of motor control

 

[Dieselman 63]

My 3/16 tap broke today - in a hole. Fortunately it wasn't blind so I could knock it out. I'm going to have to buy another though I've just bought a Bosch cobalt drill bit for cast iron and hardened metals - really good buy, it chewed through the iron like no tomorrow. My other bits did not like the iron at all!

The thread had already been cut though, so it's not all doom and gloom. The power box is mounted - higher than before to factor in the new plug. I have some new old stock 3/16 bsw roundhead screws so it was nice to use them on an old machine. I got the other motor tensioner finished and installed too (the motor is slack atm which accounts for why one is right in and the other right out).

 

[Dieselman 63]

Not much grinder progress this past week. I filled and primed the top reservoir body, still got the lid to go though. I was able to put the body into grey - looks and feels really nice, a great confidence booster especially with the green interior!

Then seeing as I had the painting stuff out I decided to paint the inside of this guard it's second coat - looking much more solid now

Lots of work still to go on this piece including a skim with filler, but that's nothing new. Actually on the rear of the machine there is a small access hole covered by a piece of square plate which I thought would be smooth under paint but no! It's not pitted, just a horrible scaled surface which came up okay with a flapdisking but a skim with fine filler wouldn't hurt either. More to come

 

[Dieselman 63]

Well a weird email today. My vfd was intercepted by customs and the seller didn’t contact me until I asked where it was. They’ve offered me another unit, same price, four week wait time. I’d rather get a refund, this is strange.

A few more pieces painted in other news, together they make the final goal seem closer. Of course what I’d really like is to be able to switch the machine on...

 

[Turbo]

What interest have the customs in a vfd? If it's a matter of import duty could you not just pay it & get your grinder running?

 

[Dieselman 63]

What interest have the customs in a vfd? If it's a matter of import duty could you not just pay it & get your grinder running?

That’s the thing, they never contacted me, they just returned to sender.

The unit was half the price of the others here (telco I think) but for eight weeks of faffing I could easily have bought a telco one. It’s just a pain.

 

[Dieselman 63]

More progress! Sandblasted this big lump on the inside.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I also have a different vfd coming, a guy started listing tonnes of them the other day so I grabbed one. It is a Danfoss VLT MicroDrive FC-51 with the potentiometer interface. I’m suitably excited!

 

[Dieselman 63]

Spray galv on the inner bits. A feeble attempt at preventing corrosion but you have to at least try. I’ll layer up some etch primer on top, then put these bits into green.

The guard has been straightened after being quite seriously damaged yesterday in an accident involving an exposed wire wheel which flung it across the room. There’s some welding to do which is annoying, but despite destroying an industrial switch on the wall, it’s held up remarkably well. They don’t build things now like they used to!

 

[Dieselman 63]

A friend is re-making the guard sticker for me on his computer. This is some lovely work imo, and well beyond my own capabilities. This is a work in progress shot.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Green paint inside, one coat to go and she’ll be done

 

[Dieselman 63]

Loads of work to go but hey, it’s looking very good indeed! I’ve had an idea which is to fit an ultra fine wheel on the water trough side, and a leather strop wheel on the other. By doing this I can have the grinder as a dedicated tool sharpening setup for my chisels as I’ll be doing mainly woodwork. Tormek do a good bench mounted sharpening system but the water splashes a lot and the machine is made of tin so it shakes. It’s also $1500 for the 8” model! I expected I’d spend double what I paid ($300) fixing it up, over time, so that’s still considerably less.

Here are some pretty pics to show progress!

 

[Dieselman 63]

No, but you'd know......

Coming back to this, the uni workshop people couldn’t understand why I wanted to paint the trough ‘you’ll never see it’ ‘why bother’ which somewhat sums up the attitude there I feel...

 

[God mode restorations]

Coming back to this, the uni workshop people couldn’t understand why I wanted to paint the trough ‘you’ll never see it’ ‘why bother’ which somewhat sums up the attitude there I feel...

Looking very nice indeed mate. I paint all parts even ones that are not seen. Painting unseen parts is the heart and soul of a build.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Looking very nice indeed mate. I paint all parts even ones that are not seen. Painting unseen parts is the heart and soul of a build.

It’s caring for the machines future too. More often than not the rot starts from inside where you can’t see, same on cars. Preventative measures! But you’d know that already looking forward to seeing your big girl go back together, must be close now?

 

[God mode restorations]

It’s caring for the machines future too. More often than not the rot starts from inside where you can’t see, same on cars. Preventative measures! But you’d know that already looking forward to seeing your big girl go back together, must be close now?

To right mate. Yes am close now. Should start getting it in position this coming weekend.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Some sandblasting done today, this is the last bit and an absolute pig it is too. I chiselled off the drips inside the vent on the left and left them on the right - it’s clear to see it’s worthwhile chipping the caked on paint as the blaster doesn’t really touch them. Loads to go but I’m feeling optimistic now that I have only this to go!

Filler up next for the body, then work out a slow speed motor.

 

[Dieselman 63]

That’s both sides chipped now, but I need to do the middle bits too. I’m using a 1/4” bevel edge chisel to do this, it can get right in and be used to lever entire flakes of paint off.

 

[Dieselman 63]

This paint is so thick, it’s incredibly hard to shift! I think I’ve got one more session left to fully finish it, what an absolute mission! The other one wasn’t as hard as this.

It goes Harrison grey, light green, mid green, light grey then another coat of light grey. The last coats are the worst, it’s as though someone painted it by simply pouring the paint on

 

[slim_boy_fat]

It goes Harrison grey, light green, mid green, light grey then another coat of light grey.

Sounds a bit like dendochronology