i was told it is a sheep shear sharpener??  

how does it work??

Looks like an eccentric moves the upper bar back, and forth.

It's a mill of some type. The crank turns the table at (eyeball estimate) 3:1 and the eccentric moves the holder back and forth at about 1 cycle per turn of the handle.

I can't tell if the tool holder is complete but if it is then it's intended to hold something flat against the wheel. Any honing, cutting, polishing, etc. would have been done with grit and a water drip/trickle/stream. It looks a lot like a lapidary wheel without the rubber surface. If a person were to glue leather to the wheel the polishing compound (grits) would be held and not eat the wheel away. That'd work but . . . ?

Neat tool, I'd clean it up, oil it get it working but NO grinding or "repairing". That'd destroy it's antique value so I'd only brush it and oil it, free it up if possible. I'd mount that puppy in my shop just to make visitors wonder, maybe put a record on it and a nail for a needle.

Is there a maker's name? Serial or model number on it? The maker's name will probably be cast proud while the ser. and mod. #s might be cast in or on a plaque. Heck,maybe even stamped.

Frosty The Lucky.

Good Morning,

There are 33rpm LP Record  players (a friend's son calls them Large DVD), 78rpm Record players and then..............

Would you like the music Fast or S-L-O-W........

Neil

Frosty it is free and spins well.  I also thought the tool holder was missing something.  The two set screws just move up and down.  You would think that they hold or push something else (not used alone) if they were I think it would be hard to keep what ever held when the wheel is spinning and the bar is moving.  The other question is, is it setting the right way on the tailgate or does it need turned 90 degrees and mount on a wall or a post?

My thought would be handle up

A lot of the early grinding systems used loose grit.  Sand in tallow was used to touch up scythes using a wooden "paddle"  The grooves in the face makes me think it was used directly without a covering.

Reminds me of a Viceroy Sharpedge grinder. A woodworking plane blade or chisel etc is held against the face of the circle and rests on the bar as a toolrest. The thing is used as it currently stands. A viceroy replaces the table with a more conventional grinding stone. This one might have had oil and abrasive put on the face for sharpening instead.

First thing I thought of was an engraving machine (the old ones kind of look like that) but I'd guess that the general set up of the piece pictured is a little loose for engraving.  

heavy metal record player?

On 4/15/2015 at 9:32 PM, matto said:

i was told it is a sheep shear sharpener??  

Could it be a plate lathe for cutting a specific depth to an unfired pot / plate?

Without the gears I have a base and plate that looks EXACTLY like that, it's a very old clay / potter's tool, back when I did pottery we used it to center, even out pottery pieces, apply slips, etc.  It brings to mind that wheel, perhaps as Peter suggested used when making plates, to cut quite uniform sizes?

Location of op provides a clue. Sheep? The shear blades I've used had a surface-ground appearance; the flat face of the blade, not the "edge" is ground to sharpen. Perhaps missing the fixture to hold the blade(s)?

Edited February 24, 201610 yr by Randy Bill
agree that it's for sheep shear blades

Peter and Spanky is it missing something that goes under the two thumb set screws?? I have no clue what it was used for.  To neat to let go to the scrap pile.  It will be my next clean up project. 

Randy do you know what the fixture that would hold the blades would look like?

10 minutes ago, matto said:

Peter and Spanky is it missing something that goes under the two thumb set screws?? I have no clue what it was used for.  To neat to let go to the scrap pile.  It will be my next clean up project. 

Randy do you know what the fixture that would hold the blades would look like?

Various planing tools like chisels flat, rounded, bevelled etc I would have thought. Not 100% sure that's what this is, but I've worked as a potter and used something similar.

 

cool thanks

Definitely a lapping plate.  Very similar to the cast iron plates still used on flat laps for stones.  The plate is "charged" with grit in different ways depending on the application.

I'm not convinced that it's designed for sheep shears as those tend to be on a fixed spring and you'd have to hone them by flipping left/right, one blade at a time- this machine doesn't seem to accommodate the needed grind angles well.  

Image is a modern cast iron lapping plate for glass and metallurgical sample lapping.  

 sheep shears also tend to be mounted as replaceable blades on powered handsets for at least the last 100 years---going back to hand cranked versions.

Is there anything I can do to help with what it is and how it was/is used?  Different pics or different angles?

I don't know what a lapping plate is?

 

Have I got this right......Turning the handle rotates the circular table whilst also rocking the arm side to side......why am I thinking lens grinding? Definitely for grinding or lapping something. Presumably held down by the thumb screws.

matto, it's possible the thumbscrews alone hold the blades. If it's what I think it is. Bet some of our buds from across the pond are shaking their heads at my imperfect knowledge. Sheep shearing, if done well, is an art defying description I found far beyond my abilities. A shearers kit will contain dozens if not hundreds of removable blades/combs and they are changed out frequently, depending on how much grit the wool holds. Razor sharpness is a must, in my limited experience they were sent out for "sharpening". Professional shearers may do their own? Neat tool.

Smoggy you are right on turn the handle and it turns the wheel while moving the bar with the thumb screws side to side.

randy makes sense.  Would you grit the wheel like you grit older buffing wheels? 

If I were using it, I would apply adhesive backed sandpaper directly to the plate. It looks flat enough. The paper is easy to change out without contamination, but make sure that you don't have anything under the paper (like that black stuff near the top of the last pic), or that high point will catch whatever you are sharpening. 

The table is a lapidary table so would work with abrasives and a lubricant not paper. Dad had several when he was playing with lapidary stuff. In a rare cases he used rubber pads to cover the steel table but it was a rare occasion.

I don't know what this unit was actually used for but I suppose sharpening blades is a possibility. Are sheep shears straight edged? Unless that device has a cam to rock the blade it's going to cut, grind and polish straight and flat.

Frosty The Lucky.