I've got an original Deckel S0 and it's usefulness is very narrowly focused. Yes you could grind the end lips of slot drills etc on it and yes it can be used for shrpening twist bits (with the drill sharpening attachment) but predominently it's used for grinding single lip/engraving cutters. Mine I got for grinding broken 6mm carbide end mills into form tools for use on my lathe.

I also have a Mk1 Clarkson which is far more versatile but the accessories are expensive. They are not difficult to make though.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 12/09/2023 21:45:30

In a practical world I doubt if there is any significant difference in stiffness between the older and later style universal heads. The older version does have greater inherent overhang which to my eyes suggests setting up the side and face cutters used on horizontal miles might be easier.

Mine is an early(ish) MK1 with the typical inadequate guarding and appropriate heads. They all seem well up to the job.

If making your own I imagine producing something along the lines of the later holder bracket and attaching a 5C collet block to do the actual holding would be a quick way of going about things and not silly expensive. It may be even be possible to find a cheap angle bracket of suitable size to need little modification to make a functional holder bracket. More expensive but faster.

The Clarkson drill sharpener is a superb device, about a minute take a drill from blunt to super sharp, but regrettably not that common.

Perfectly adequate import 6 jaw chucks can be found at affordable prices so it's a pity that no one has reverse engineered the geometry for home build. Several years back I bought a larger 6 jaw intending to make a scaled up version of my standard one going from 5/8" to 1 1/2" to do my bigger MT drills. Another job stuck in the round-to-it file.

Clive

Greetings Jason, I think you would be pleased with a Quorn, it will do all I asked it to do. Remember it was designed for Model Engineers.

Regards

Brian B

Brian

Excellent though a well made and completed Quorn is making one is known to be a major project in itself.

Personally I'm a bit unconvinced by the overall Quorn machine concept in itself. It's always seemed to be a bit too clever by half for most folks needs. Being able to do the clever and sophisticated stuff that many may well never need somewhat compromises doing more routine things. It is really compact tho' which is considerable virtue for folk with smaller workshops.

Effective though Howard Halls accessories for a bench grinder are they are ultimately rather limiting in what can be done. The amount of work needed to make everything does rather add up too.

Now that adequate import XY tables can be gotten at affordable prices I do wonder if a home build Clarkson clone using the same seesaw on a column layout, thick wall tube should be fine, is a practical proposition. Obviously all the Clarkson accessories could simply be copied with appropriate modifications to suit affordable commercially available components.

That Cuttermaster is interesting but what do you do to set-up for drill sharpening. Drills are mostly what my Clarkson gets used for so quick and easy is important to me.

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 13/09/2023 09:57:04

The 1st question, what do I intend to make or resharpen?

2nd, Which machine is the easiest to use for what I want to make?

For myself, the Deckel type will make the form cutters etc for what I need, like internal or external special threading tools, or single point D bit type cutters of many geometries etc.

The little Clarkson's are a very capable machine and there is a huge range of accessories .It then becomes a learning curve all be it a very satisfying one, learning to make various cutters or regrinding them etc. Diamond or cbn wheels allows many things to be done as well in carbide or HSS or stellite etc

If you have the room etc for the Clarkson, I would recommend the Clarkson, but that's because I have used one years ago and enjoyed making things on it that were not available at the time.

If space is a problem, and you only need single point cutters or basic geometry single lip cutters, etc then I would recommend going the Deckel clone route. I do like the D bit grinders alot, and it is really nice if you can have both machines.

The only thing I would advise when buying a Clarkson is look it over carful for wear as the main slide has scant protection from grinding grit and the iron it's cast from is soft. If its been used in unsympathetic hands then the wear can be significant.