Grinding machine identification

[Mark BParticipant @markb43031]

I made an impulse purchase today of a machine which looks like a very useful addition to my workshop. It's a little home made, but I suspect is based on a commercial machine.

I've posted some photographs of it in the hope that someone can identify it.

 

 

Edited By Mark B on 20/11/2021 21:04:50

Edited By Mark B on 20/11/2021 21:06:27

[Mark BParticipant @markb43031]

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Yes – that is almost certainly a custom-modified version of the "Stent" – I don't know its designer but the castings and drawings are or at least were stocked by Blackgates.

It is quite heavily modified from original but certainly looks very well made.

One modification I know was published quite some years back in MEW arranged the wheel to be much more central to the table. On the original the wheel shaft runs for-and-aft rather than athwartships as you have here, with it to port and the motor to starboard of the main column – a somewhat unbalanced arrangement putting the table well to the end of its travel in normal use. The MEW-shown version swaps the motor and wheel to bring the operating area of wheel much closer over the centre of the table in mid-travel.

This one is arranged to give better balance but somewhat loses that by a very long overhang on the spindle. The spinlde and its bearing-block are not as original; and appears to have features I can't make out.

The bracket with a drill-chuck is also its builder's accessory. Perhaps for 4-facet drill-sharpening? If so you could enhance that by making angle-stops for spindle.

I do wonder if this was built with sharpening very particular cutters in mind, as well the end-mills, slot-drills and horizontal milling-cutters originally envisaged.

The original held the milling-cutters to have their cross-edges sharpened, in simple cylindrical collets held in that assembly on the left-hand end of the table. The two centres are for holding end-mills by their own centres, for sharpening the flute edges. A simple spring blade secured to a block on the back of the base, acts as the necessary helix guide as the table is traversed past the wheel.

'

I reckon you've had a very lucky impulse!

 

 

Edited By Nigel Graham 2 on 20/11/2021 21:59:01

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