Old tool galoots gloat when they get a good tool at a very good price. Lesson of this one: Be patient. Wait for the good one.
My shop has been without a grinder, until very recently. The chisels have been sharpened enough to lose their original concave grind. It was time.
Did you know that you can set up a “Saved search” on eBay, and have it run once a day for months and months? That’s what I did when looking for a hand cranked grinder. eBay has plenty of these, and most are in pitiful shape. So, I waited and watched the daily search results, and waited and watched, and waited and watched.
A few weeks of daily searches yielded this “B&C Universal” grinder. It looked to be complete (most aren’y) and in decent shaped. It’s amazing how many grinders are missing their tool rests, and how many sellers don’t know to take pictures of that part of the grinder. Know what you are looking for because many of the sellers don’t know what they’re selling.
The sweetest part of this deal is that I ended up being the only one to bid and got it at the seller’s minimum bid, $9.99. It arrived a few days later and proved to be in very good shape. This grinder must have set idle on someone’s bench for decades. It shows virtually no wear. I know it sat idle from seeing an oil streak that ran down the side of the flange holding one side of the stone. A well used tool would have had that oil more evenly spread. There is some paint pitting, and there was some rust. The stone was like new, the edge still square, no chips no ruts, and it passed the ring test. The gears are angle (spiral?) cut, not straight, making for very smooth running.
Cleanup was easy. This is the first time I’ve used vinegar for rust removal, and was very pleased with how well it worked. Mineral spirits did the rest. I decided not to strip and repaint, but to put this tool immediately to use.
Now, can anyone tell me more about it? The metal dish used as a guide for sharpening knives and scissors had a decal saying “B&C Universal” and “No Skill Required.” On the side of the gear case is part of a logo. It is a diamond shape with a “B” fitted into the left point, and a “C” nested in between the “B” and the right point. Most of the word “Bridgeport” appears under the right side of the diamond. Yes, that probably suggests Bridgeport Connecticut. Bridgeport has long been famous for tool making. So, who in Bridgeport made “B&C” tools? Thanks for any information.
As always, click any picture to see a larger version.
Lastly, note a very interesting feature (see first picture). The grinder has a tool rest support arm that allows attaching the rest on either side of the wheel. The rest can be easily moved from one end to the other, making it the only ambidextrous grinder I saw during my time waiting for a good one.
How does it work? Very well. Better than I expected. Of course, getting used to cranking with one hand and tool holding with the other was a bit like learning to dance the Cha-Cha using only one leg. My chisels are sharp again, but you still don’t want to see me dance.
Nice. I like the fact that it can be a lefty grinder (as I am a lefty)!
Great find. Im in the process of restoring an old bench grinder and cant find any info on what kind of oil/lube to use on the gears. Any ideas or info would be greatly appriciated.
Erik, Lefties will want to hold the tool with their left hand and crank with their right. I don’t know how often these reversibles come along, but a saved search (hand crank grinder) on eBay will look for you every day.
Jonathan, hold the lube. Don’t put anything on the gears. They run just fine when dry and you’ll never wear them out. Any lube on them will just slow things down. There are probably oil holes for the shafts. Use light oil, such as 3-in-1, for those. Enjoy your find.
Hello, Mr. Easton;
Don’t want to grind one-handed?
Make a wheel from wood (your bench suggests you can).
Choose the diameter based on whether most of your grinding is low or hi-speed.
Make a treadle link & a foot board to pump it with.
‘Foot-feed’ the grinder & use both hands on your work.
Nice idea Jon! Thanks.
In fact, I can make my grinder an accessory to my foot-powered treadle lathe. 🙂
Thanks Bob! Im thrilled to have stumbled onto your site. Good stuff !!
Bob, I ran across an Eclipse hand cranked grinder (stone is not good, but everything else runs like butter) and was going to sell it on ebay – would you recommend cleaning it up first or let the prospective buyer do that part…there are mixed reviews on that, but just wanted to get your opinion…
My ebay name for future reference is e77toe77 and is also my email @hotmail.com if you wish to reply. Nice pickup by the way.
Eric
Hi Eric,
Generally, I think restoration should be left to the buyer. I have a couple of reasons for that. One, as a buyer I would rather do it myself and learn about the tool in the process. Two, as Stephen Shepherd, a 19th century woodworking specialist says, “Why take a $30 chisel and put $300 worth of labor in it to turn it into a $25 chisel?” From what I see, the cleaned and restored stuff on eBay does not command a premium for the seller.
All the best with your eBay enterprise.
Hi Eric,
Glad you found a special grinder with spiral teeth gears! Mine not so lucky, with straight gear teeth, China-made, bought new in the 80s. Spent some money to have it bored and fitted with bearings on the grind-wheel side.
I use a grey stone wheel (Poland made) and since then not change anything. It serves me well till today, use for micro-sharpening for my small drills and lathe tool bits. For heavy grinding, I use the normal electrical bench grinder.
All my wood working blades are sharpened by oil-stone, manually. It takes hours to sharpen. Guess one needs plenty of patience to be a good craftman!
Steve-Singapore
Hi Bob; Hope you don’t mind a couple questions about my (I assume old) hand bench grinder. No name, but J 22 on outside plate and BK 21 on inside of gear case. Looks like tool rest will fit either side. My grinding wheel is loose but am having tough time locking shaft in order to tighten/loosen nut. Hate to say but did put pipe wrench on end of shaft. That end did not turn but nut and shaft(next to wheel) did. Why would pipe wrench end not turn but on wheel end both nut and shaft turned?? Any thoughts/ideas greatly appreciated. Thanks, Doug
Hi Doug,
Sorry, but I don’t have a clue about your grinder problem. This is probably the only tool that I have that I did not completely disassemble and refurbish. It was in good enough shape that I just started using it. I’ve never even looked at how it was assembled. …and… there are so many more manufacturers of grinders than of drills and planes, that I would not be surprised to learn of a variety of assembly details.
Now, one place that may be more helpful is the “neanderthal” forum at Saw Mill Creek. That’s a place frequented by hand tool users who often have a lot of good answers. Try them at: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forum.php
I think I just got the same grinder ( a little more worse for wear), but I cannot figure out how to remove the wheel. When I try to undo the nut holding it on, the crank just turns and I’m afraid to torque the crank off.
Is there a secret I’m missing?
stu
Yes Stu, there’s a simple “secret.”
Wrap a cloth around the wheel. Grip the cloth and loosen the nut. You have a lot more leverage holding the wheel than trying to work through the backlash of the gears. Reverse to tighten a new wheel.
Keep havin’ fun.
I am lucky enough to have inherited a nice hand crank grinder from my grandfather but for those that are looking for one, they are still being manufactured. I cannot personnaly speak for their quality but will be looking into one this summer to modify for a small forge blower. Here’s a link to a new one.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069EKVGE/ref=asc_df_B0069EKVGE1887031?smid=A2CNTP99E9BECM&tag=dealtmp225836-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0069EKVGE
Scott –
I’m also adapting a hand grinder to make a blower for a small pipe organ. I’m linking it to an ametek centrifugal blower and, if my math is right, it should do the job nicely. Please, drop a link to check out your progress.
The company was Brink & Cotton – made a lot of clamps and vices as well. (I was able to rescue a duplicate of your grinder from the dumpster … amazing what people throw away!).
Congrats Curtis! Hope you get some good use from it.