Pedal powered grindstone

[schoolmaster]

Is there any one any where still making them or are they all just antiques? I found one on ebay for $400 dollars and I would have had to drive to Pa. to pick it up in person. That just wasn't in the budget.

[Rex in OTZ]

Thers a few hand crank ones on e-bay
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=hand+crank+bench+grinder&_frs=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m359

[Rex in OTZ]

I'd suggest looking at one the Amish tool sights, as a kid growing up I'd seen a few, most the stones were cracked on them
 
I suppose you could make one of your own useing sand and concrete to make the wheel, the frames were just simple angle iron one could  make one from salvaging a old bed frame, dress the wheel useing a 4" electric hand grinder to get it pround.
 
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-7035.html

[schoolmaster]

Yeah making a home made one is an option. I'll check the sites. Thanks for the tip.

[keith44]

I will readily concede the point that these can be useful in "SKILLED" hands.  There is a great potential to ruin a good blade on one of these, by allowing the heat to build up in the tools edge, thus ruining the temper.  Over grinding will shorten the life of a tool, and grinding the wrong angle will end the useful life of a tool.
 
Be sure you know what you are doing before you destroy an otherwise perfectly useful tool.
 

[hillbill]

could a guy take a ordinary 2 arbor electric bench grinder and put a sprocket on one end and a grinding wheel on the other and run it off a stationary bicycle?it would be a 2 man outfit but mite work.

[hillbill]

I will readily concede the point that these can be useful in "SKILLED" hands.  There is a great potential to ruin a good blade on one of these, by allowing the heat to build up in the tools edge, thus ruining the temper.  Over grinding will shorten the life of a tool, and grinding the wrong angle will end the useful life of a tool.
 
Be sure you know what you are doing before you destroy an otherwise perfectly useful tool.

some of the ones ive seen had a tray for water to cool the wheel and also a adjustable rest to get your angle correct.usually the trays froze and busted and the rests were taken off tho.a really good file will work wonders on a axe or other tools also.

[spooked]

My old pedal powered with a seat has a little piece of steel bar that rises above the wheel. This was for hanging a tin can with a nail hole punched in it over the wheel to dribble water and prevent the heat build up.. You could sharpen a dull axe a lot faster that a way by bearing down and still not over heating the metal..My Grandad had the only grindstone in the neighborhood during the depression and people would pay .25 to use it when they had a severely dulled axe..Dad at age 7 was given the job of turning it and collecting the money, as he was usually around the house or garden during the day.. It was a hand crank job and one of dads most vivid memories of the depression was this one old geezer who bould bear down as almost hard as he could while he was grinding, dad said was a real work out this from a person who loaded his first hand hewn crosstie (7"x9") on a horse drawn wagon at age 10..