Treadle Wheel Grinder

[flyingtractors1]

Hi, This is a 1/10 scale replica treadle wheel grinder like one my grandpa had (as close as I can remember) when I was a kid. This little machine was built with equipment no more sophisticated than a cordless drill and a soldering iron. The finger peddles were added just for fun and ease of use as a desktop model (pencil sharpener - finger nail filer, etc.). It will run forward or in reverse - depending on the operator's dexterity and coordination. Ralph

 

[flyingtractors1]

I will try to post an action video version when / if I figure out how to do it. Ralph

 

[dsquire]

Ralph

Now that is something different. I like it. Very nicely done. That's what I need to sharpen my pencils. I like your axes as well. :bow:

Did you use them to split the scale logs? :big: :big:

Cheers

Don

 

[hobby]

clever model engineering work.

You did a very nice job with the backgriund scene, (diorama),
When a mechanical device is built into a theme setting, it turns it from a mechanical model to a work of art, as well.

Great workmanship.

 

[flyingtractors1]

Thanks. Yea, they are for my scale stove.

Ralph

 

[flyingtractors1]

Thanks Hobby. Building this model took me back to the olden days and let me share some time again with my Good ole Grandpa like I used to. Ralph

 

[hitandmissman]

Very nice model of the grinder. That reminds me of a project my son and I made when he was just a little lad. We made just a chopping block with split wood beside it. Being in the dead of winter I needed some small twigs to use for the wood. So we gathered the twigs and than cut them up into small pieces. Turns out our twigs was poison oak. The next day we had to make a trip to the doc. Nice model I will have to try to make something like that. Good job on it.

 

[flyingtractors1]

Thanks Hitandmissman. I do believe that a primary reason we build models is that it vicariously carrys us back to times we loved. It regenerates and preserves those moments and ensures tangible future memory. This hobby is for pleasure and posterity. Our models go back AND forward in time. My grandson will always remember helping his grandpa build this model, and he became better acquainted with my grandpa as we talked and tinkered. Ralph

 

[moanaman]

Thanks Ralph.
I well remember (now) we had one as well. Ours was a water wheel very soft white stone with a trough under it that was filled with water. The frame was made out of wood, no seat ( must have been poverty model) . Love the axes as well. my skills at wood working will not allow me to make axes like that.

One of future products will me a chaff cutter. Unfortunately that was practically all wood also, but I will give it a go after I finish my current project.

Cheers Barry

 

[flyingtractors1]

Thanks Barry. Early on I built "simple" one-piece tools, and that lead to more complex, multi-piece stuff. I specialized in the "Lost wax process" and mastered mold making and centrifugal casting as I progressed. I am now concentrating on building machines with multiple components and moving parts. Building an old timey chaff cutter would be a fun project. Working with metal and wood is very gratifying. Ralph