I got hooked on the Woodwright's Shop and bought an old bench grinder. It's actually in pretty good shape.
Ended up tossing out the stone that came with it since it was anything but round.
A little bit of simple green to get the crud off, some lithium grease on the gear and bearings and it hums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RF2hNOthHA
I got a cheap stone from Lowe's and it actually works pretty well. I've never used a grinder of any kind before and using my left hand to do everything felt weird. I didn't know how to get a video of it operating so I rigged up my gopro. I couldn't get a low enough angle but it puts out a pretty good shower of sparks. On this workbench they do shoot out at about crotch level for me so you can't really see them in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caNNjpwoVmg
It's not the cleanest grind in the world, but I feel I did at least an OK job.
I managed to get more or less the shape I wanted.
After some time polishing the bevel and running along a couple of oilstones and a strop it'll strip the hairs off the back of my arm pretty readily. I can do better I think, but since I've never used a grinder or a hand plane before I'm thrilled with how the blade is performing.
Ended up tossing out the stone that came with it since it was anything but round.
A little bit of simple green to get the crud off, some lithium grease on the gear and bearings and it hums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RF2hNOthHA
I got a cheap stone from Lowe's and it actually works pretty well. I've never used a grinder of any kind before and using my left hand to do everything felt weird. I didn't know how to get a video of it operating so I rigged up my gopro. I couldn't get a low enough angle but it puts out a pretty good shower of sparks. On this workbench they do shoot out at about crotch level for me so you can't really see them in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caNNjpwoVmg
It's not the cleanest grind in the world, but I feel I did at least an OK job.
I managed to get more or less the shape I wanted.
After some time polishing the bevel and running along a couple of oilstones and a strop it'll strip the hairs off the back of my arm pretty readily. I can do better I think, but since I've never used a grinder or a hand plane before I'm thrilled with how the blade is performing.