# Where to buy a hand bench grinder?



## bodgermatic (3 Jan 2008)

Does anyone know of anywhere selling new or secondhand hand powered bench grinders? They seem to come up on THAT auction site, but only usually from the USA, and I'd rather not pay postage on a wheel shaped lump of rock and metal!

Cheers.


----------



## Gary (3 Jan 2008)

If you're saying they are as rare as rocking horse dung you may have to.


----------



## speed (3 Jan 2008)

make owt from this? Ebay Link

sorry for the long link i dont know how to change it
*But I do. DaveL with his mod hat on.*


----------



## Pete W (3 Jan 2008)

The bay is the only source I've been able to find; UK ones turn up very occasionally - saw one a couple of weeks ago but it was too close to Christmas for my budget  

Finding them on eBay is also tricky - at least, I've never been able to create a good search term; I usually spend ages wading through listings for Arbortech-style hand grinders, powered bench grinders, coffee grinders, sausage grinders, and whoknowswhatelse.

I did buy one last year and at first sight it looked pretty good, but after cleaning it up several problems became apparent, not least the fact that the axle has been whacked out of true at some point, giving the wheel a vicious wobble (which is why I'm looking for another).

But in these environmenally-aware, eco-friendly times, I'd have thought there ought to be a market for these handy devices. I did find references in various US forums to a couple of companies selling new models within the last five years but these sadly appear to have disappeared.


----------



## MIGNAL (3 Jan 2008)

They do occasionally turn up on UK Ebay. I bought one, probably 1950's that still retained it's original box and came without a stone. I don't think it had ever been used. I probably overpaid but it's a nice hand crank.
You could try some of the antique or used tool dealers. Ray Isles might be your man but there are others.
You really should budget for a new stone and one of the modern adjustable tool rests which make them much easier to use.


----------



## Gary (3 Jan 2008)

Out of interest Mignal, can I ask how much you paid for one?


----------



## Digit (3 Jan 2008)

That's strange. Our local recycling centre gave me a beautiful hand operated wet stone stone grinder some time back, nobody else wanted it!
The body is painted blue and it has a soft wet stone of about 8 in dia. I've just been out to the shop to check but unfortunately there is no name on it.
My eyesight being what it is I appreciate the slow speed and control that hand power gives. Good luck with your search.
I thought I was the only Neandertal!  

Roy.


----------



## Con Owen (3 Jan 2008)

Hi
FWIW some years ago Good Woodworking commissioned John Brown (I believe that is his name, he specialised in chairmaking) to actually use and advise on a basic kit of tools to enable people to have the essential basic kit for hand woodworking, IIRC Axminster loaned the hand tools. I remember well that he had the same difficulty in locating a suitable handgrinder, eventually a manufacturer in this country came to his aid and made it available to GW readers. It was described by JB has excellent quality but it came with what I considered an expensive price tag. In other words quality doesn't come cheap! Someone out there may still have the mag with the article and the name of the supplier--this may jog their memory.
Cheers Con


----------



## MIGNAL (4 Jan 2008)

Gary":38dugsxy said:


> Out of interest Mignal, can I ask how much you paid for one?



It's probably a couple of years ago so I'm not absolutely certain but somewhere around £25 to £28 comes to mind - including the postage. It came up as a 'buy it now' and because I really wanted one and because the pics indicated it was in such good condition I didn't hesitate. When I received it the damn thing seemed jammed, I couldn't get the thing to turn at all. Solidified grease was the problem, something like 50 years of never being used.
I now have 2 wheels for it, a ruby red 80G (cuts pretty fast for nicked blades) and a 100G white wheel that I use to creep back to the very tip of the blade to re-establish the primary bevel. That is the real advantage of the hand crank, you shouldn't be removing any metal from the very edge of the blade - you re-grind the blade but leave a mere glint at the edge. I go straight from the 100G to a 8000G Waterstone, nothing in between because anything else is superfluous.


----------



## bodgermatic (4 Jan 2008)

Thanks for the contributions folks, I guess it's back to scouring ebay then :roll:


----------



## Argus (4 Jan 2008)

Con Owen":q2ny3qok said:


> Hi
> FWIW some years ago Good Woodworking commissioned John Brown (I believe that is his name, he specialised in chairmaking) to actually use and advise on a basic kit of tools to enable people to have the essential basic kit for hand woodworking, IIRC Axminster loaned the hand tools.
> 
> Cheers Con



I remember John Brown's articles, in fact I bought his first book on chairs when it came out as a result of a lukewarm review by Jack Hill in the Woodworker. Lovely book about an excellently eccentric chair maker, you don't hear of him these days - anybody know what he's up to?


.


----------



## Philly (4 Jan 2008)

John has given up on being a chairmaker and is now an Art student (I believe!)
Cheers
Philly


----------



## Argus (4 Jan 2008)

.

Well, well. He made some nice-looking chairs.

.


----------



## Gary (6 Jan 2008)

Ebay Link


Maybe this could be the one if your quick!


----------



## Paul Chapman (6 Jan 2008)

Gary":3nxziqof said:


> Maybe this could be the one if your quick!



I have one like that which I bought back in the 1970s. It's very small and therefore only any good for grinding small items - not really suitable for grinding larger items like plane blades in my view.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## paulm (6 Jan 2008)

bodgermatic":2aassq1b said:


> Does anyone know of anywhere selling new or secondhand hand powered bench grinders? They seem to come up on THAT auction site, but only usually from the USA, and I'd rather not pay postage on a wheel shaped lump of rock and metal!
> 
> Cheers.



I sent a pm on Thursday but it's still in my outbox which I think means you haven't opened it yet........ :wink: 

Cheers, Paul.


----------



## bugbear (7 Jan 2008)

bodgermatic":3fdy0hbe said:


> Does anyone know of anywhere selling new or secondhand hand powered bench grinders? They seem to come up on THAT auction site, but only usually from the USA, and I'd rather not pay postage on a wheel shaped lump of rock and metal!
> 
> Cheers.



Boot sales - 5-10 quid. Not very common, but they do turn up, and when they do, "nobody" wants them.

BugBear


----------



## izalarfin (16 Jan 2008)

bodgermatic, are you still looking for a hand crank bench grinder ?
I've got one you can have if you want to collect it, I'm in Norfolk 20 minutes away from Wisbech,
(I don't really have time to sort out postage)
the one I've got is a British made Nigara model no. 2.21 made in Manchester, it bolts down to your
bench or as I've got it fixed to a block of wood with block underneath so I just clamp it in the vice,
its got 1 geared as in not direct crank drive and has 2 little knurled brass screw for oiling the drive shafts,
it needs or could do with a .5mm shim to tighten up the end float and there is a little play in the shaft
at the stone end, the shaft is approx 8mm and it did have a inch or 11/4 inch stone on it but I don't
know where this is ( misplaced in shed swap) its got a 150 x 20mm stone on it now,
I don't use it or need it, its just gathering dust under my bench, 
I think at one time I had a 9" stone on it,
so its free if you want to collect it.


----------

