repair of handheld grinder

[Bob]

I bought a "railroad" grinder off of ebay to grind my chisels and plane irons. Its super heavy and very well made. I opened it up to check the gears and grease them. I was not prepared for the weight of the outer casing when I pulled it off and dropped it on the concrete floor - you guessed it. It broke off the most critical part of the casting - the part where the shaft for the grinding wheel goes through. Its only one half. The other half is intact.

I was wondering if there is some form of epoxy that could be used to repair the casting. I don't think I'll have much luck chasing down a welding shop for this small job. Since its hand held and there is not much heat generated, I don't think it will take a lot of strength to hold it together.

Bob

[Tyke]

This company claims to repair this type of item

products are readily avaiable at hardware stores.

This site claims to have low heat rod for repairing most types of castings.

Paine

[Jim Behning]

[Bob]

Jim, thanks for the prodding. I live in a city that is blanketed with large industrial shops servicing the chemical and petroleum industry. They won't even look at $15 job. I'll look through the yellow pages to see what I an find.

I would never consider epoxy for a motor driven grinder. I think I was not clear. This is a hand cranked grinder. Its the heaviest hand grinder made and turns the fastest. But I doubt the grinding wheel ever goes above 200 RPM.

Bob

[J T]

Sat, Oct 23, 2004, 5:26pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Bob) says in wonder: I think I was not clear. This is a hand cranked grinder.

Nah, we were confused, not you. After all, your subject line does read: "repair of handheld grinder", and your original post has the line: "Since its hand held...".

JOAT Eagles can soar ... but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

[Bob]

Now where in the world did I get hand HELD??? I was out in space. I do have a motor powered hand held grinder. Its the weekend and no welding shop is open so I decided to give the JB-Weld epoxy a go. It turns out the piece that broke is not load bearing - that's in the other half of the grinder case. This just keeps the shaft from coming loose (cotter pin in the end). Even though this is a simple hand cranked tool, it reminds me of the peek of American craftsmanship. The casting is smooth and even. The gears are extraordinarily beefy. The shafts are precision machined and the flywheel-main gear looks like it came out of an automobile transmission instead of a manual tool. I hope the repair works. I will enjoy using this tool.

Bob

[J T]

Sat, Oct 23, 2004, 11:51pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Bob) says: I decided to give the JB-Weld epoxy a go. I hope the repair works. I will enjoy using this tool.

I patched a hole in a power steering pump with it. Check their website for repairs people have made using it. Awesome stuff. Almost as useful as duct tape - which I used to fix my truck horn today.

JOAT Eagles can soar ... but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.