Steel finally came in so I can start building the stand for my 32" grindstone.  Have a feeling that the arm I made for it could be quite a bit shorter.  Guess the shorter it is the faster the stone goes but less torque. 

 

For reference the squared end of the shaft is 7/8" sq.

 

The other thing I have been hemming and hawing on is small gussets in the corners.  I know it won't make a lot of difference strength and racking wise with the 2" tubing, but it does give it a little more finished look.  What are your thought on it.

 

Guess that's about it for now.

 

Don't spin it too fast if that thing comes apart it will kill you. It has happened I am not making this up.

I'm guessing from the look of the crank, that he's doing a traditional treadle to spin the wheel.

 

I like the idea, but personally I'd do something a bit more "ornate" myself to show off a nice wheel like that and say a bit more "traditional".

 

I lost out on the opportunity to get a nice pedal powered grindstone like that from a buddy of mine grandfathers farm. We'd been working to dig it out from under a partially collapsed barn roof when we were over there cleaning up the place prior to the family selling the house. Came back the next Saturday to find the other side of the family called in a scrap guy who hauled off everything that was and wasn't nailed down. They torched the  really nice forged frame to get it out from under the roof we'd been working on jacking up ( took my new lally columns as well ) and then broke the stone to get the shaft out of the wheel. They also pried out or torched off all the antique hand forged hinges and barn hardware, both on the damaged doors as well as the good ones. I was just as xxxxxx at that since I'd been told I couldn't take any of the hardware until they decided whether they were going to save or demo the whole barn.

I know you didn't ask about this, but it looks like your stone isnt true. I had good luck getting mine to runs smooth by making a little flat tool rest and using an old carbide circular saw blade on its side, running it side to side as I pedaled. I just kept using different teeth as they got worn down. It took about an hour since I had to remove a quarter inch of stone to make it concentric. There may be better ways, but it worked!

It was out of round by about 3/4".   Angle grinder and diamond wheel brought it back concentric.  It is out of balance by a fair amount, but if I took all the chips out right now I'd have very little stone left.  I do agree a  far more ornate stand would be nice.  but at the moment I'd like to get the old girl back in service.  The stone is the beautiful part to me though.  Never seen one quite this size. 

darnit.  sent to soon...

 

 

anyways these are the 2 pics of similar grinders I found that I am loosely copying.  Both stands are pretty pretty simple. 

Mine is a metal tube frame with an integrated seat, and two pedals. I haven't tried one standing and only using one foot, but the seat thing might be worth thinking about.

Needs a few finishing touches.  Sharpened all of the neighbours knives in about 10 minutes.  Had thought about a seat,  really don't need one.  Gr. Grandpas grinder is over in Dads shop.  Its a 2 pedal affair, strapping frame and a old steel seat.  Actually have to work a little to keep that one going round.  The stones heavy enough on my grinder to need very little effort to keep it moving.  wil try to get some picks up soon

The frame's certainly stout!  I would add gussets to the top corners, but leave the bottom corners as-is.  My thinking is that the rectangular bottom frame is going to be crazy hard to get to sit flat and stable on any floor (hence why you don't see those originals using that design) and you might want to replace it.

 

Can't wait to see it finished and running.  I've always wanted a pedal stone like that....

works been stupid busy,  barely keep the logging trucks on the road right now...  maybe if I have a weekend I can finish it up and get some pics up