Herbert Junior surface grinder

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Hi,

I’ve just bought a little manually operated Herbert Junior surface grinder, I’m going to need to strip it down somewhat, is the spindle thread a left hand thread?

When dismantling the knee and x y slides is there anything tricky to look out for? It looks a pretty simple little machine but you never know and I’d rather know before hand if possible,  many thanks in advance

 

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

No threads visible?  That is usually a giveaway.  Which way does the spindle rotate – that’ll depend on which end you are looking at, of course.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

If the spindle rotates clockwise it will be a lefthand thread. If it rotates anti clockwise it will be a right hand thread. I believe most surface grinders rotate clockwise with the sparks leaving the work towards the left.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Yes it’s a left hand thread on the spindle.
Fairly simple machine overall, but the part I found hardest was re-scraping the dual prismatic top on the knee.

Lots, probably far too many, photos in this album on Flickr which was intended to show setups for measuring etc.
The Micrometer blue looks heavier than it was due to the flash etc.

Shout up or PM with any queries, though I’m very much a novice.
There’s a good series of videos on Youtube too; I tidied the table first, so I could use it as a portable surface plate for the column.

Bill

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Thanks all, I read somewhere recently might have been here someone mentioning a keyed shaft with a grinding wheel negating the need for a specific direction of thread to stop it coming undone, I’ll be in a rush to get it stripped down so thought it better to know before hand.

Looks like you’ve done a pretty extensive rebuild peak, I’ll take a look at those videos they’ll be a great source of info.

Is yours a mk2 with the heavier knee castings and built in oil pump?

Mines the mk1 so a bit simpler and lighter hopefully .

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Mine’s a Mk1.
The end result seems to work OK and good for a couple of tenths over about 8″, but even the slideway oil viscosity has some bearing on that.
A bit of a problem in that I can’t re-surface the whole of my  mag chuck without moving it part way through, so I bought a fine pole top plate to suit, which is slightly smaller.
There is a keyed washer, but that’s on the wheel holders.
Should be some photos at the end of the album, as I  made a few more.
No easy way to balance them though, so I need some further thought.

Bill

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Crisis averted,  he’s offered to drop it off next week, after watching me load this hydraulic press into my mini because my trucks being worked on he didn’t think it’d be a good idea for surface grinder (I would have done it I’ve had motorbikes hanging out the back with rope holding the bootlid down)

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

I’ve just been looking at these on the lathes.co.uk website, yours seems to be the mk2 as it has the head which is a separate casting bolted on, if you look at mine it’s one casting part of the main body.

It also states the mk2 should have a one shot oiler under the knee casting where I’ve put an arrow, does yours not have this?

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Pete. Certainly no one-shot oiler on mine, nor any provision for one,  neither is there an oil tank cast into the knee, as per the one in the restoration video.
Slideway oiling on mine is via a cross hole with drop down cover on the rear of the table, and oil nipples everywhere else.
Not seen one with an integrated head & column.

2nd B&W photo with caption under it.

The switch cover housed the ammunition store.

Bill

 

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

That’s a bit confusing, the lathes site just mentions the main difference between newer and older models is a heavier knee casting with the one shot oil system, there must have been more than 2, yours sitting after mine but before the heavy knee oiler model, if you look on ebay there’s a few the same as mine with all in one casting.

[Pete.]

On Pete. Said:

That’s a bit confusing, the lathes site just mentions the main difference between newer and older models is a heavier knee casting with the one shot oil system, there must have been more than 2, yours sitting after mine but before the heavy knee oiler model, if you look on ebay there’s a few the same as mine with all in one casting.

Pete, just uploaded a parts manual here; no idea where I found it as my refurb was carried out just after I had Covid in early 2020

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/members/peak4/mediapress/bill-williams-aka-peak4-documents/

Might be some useful stuff here on grinding generally
https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/machining—lathes-mills-etc/my-surface-grinder—2

Double check, but I believe, that unlike some other manufacturers, Eclipse say magnets should be off when regrinding their chucks. There’s links to the manuals on the thread about milling with a mag chuck.
Bill

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