Sanford miniature surface grinder in the home stretch.

[vectorwarbirds]

Sanford miniature surface grinder in the home stretch. I am building the new motor mount and this is the big question: The grind wheel mounts in two ways as you can see in the pictures, both are right hand thread nuts. Seems most of these (many model/upgrade changes it seems as well) show the wheel turning right hand or clockwise and had left hand threads. For me to have the wheel nut tighten I would have to turn the wheel CCW. Does anyone see any problems with this idea? Nothing else seems like it would be effected by doing this. I am missing anything? Anyway all new double row sealed ball bearings (4) replacing the open oil type and everything else rebuilt. Ready for a new life! Before and after pics:

[danlb]

It looks really nice. Well Done.

Unfortunately, I don't have any answers to your questions.

[Tim Clarke]

I really like the balanced handwheels!!!
Nice work, too

[skipd1]

Very impressive refurbishment. I don't think running the wheels the other direction will make any difference. You just have to be cognizant of the direction your grinding and the dust collection will be on the opposite side. Nice work👍

[mikey553]

Clockwise spindle rotation will try to unscrew the right hand wheel nut during startup. The threads should be left hand in this case. Are you sure the spindle rotates clockwise?
In my 6 x 12 grinder the spindle rotation is clockwise and there are two wheel hubs - one with right hand threads, the other - with left hand. The design is different from yours. You want to guess which hub was used for many years by the previous user? Right hand one. These hubs have a slot and a special tab washer, where the washer tab engages the slot to prevent rotation. This is probably what saved the previous user.

All this becomes important when you have a quick motor start. My motor is 3-phase and with VFD I can start it in 10 seconds if I want to and type of thread is much less relevant.

[vectorwarbirds]

Clockwise spindle rotation will try to unscrew the right hand wheel nut during startup. The threads should be left hand in this case. Are you sure the spindle rotates clockwise?
In my 6 x 12 grinder the spindle rotation is clockwise and there are two wheel hubs - one with right hand threads, the other - with left hand. The design is different from yours. You want to guess which hub was used for many years by the previous user? Right hand one. These hubs have a slot and a special tab washer, where the washer tab engages the slot to prevent rotation. This is probably what saved the previous user.

All this becomes important when you have a quick motor start. My motor is 3-phase and with VFD I can start it in 10 seconds if I want to and type of thread is much less relevant.

Yes I believe it did rotate CW but it is missing the wheel guard (next on the make list) which might have had an arrow on it. See the pic below from a newer model. The spindle mount is pretty complicated with that secondary taper mount piece so I am assuming it is all original and its RHT. I notice that through the many changes Sanford made over the years there is no telling what is correct, this one is from 1952. It came with some bastardized mickey mouse garbage disposal motor (no sh*t) and mount which all went in the trash. I am going to use a 1/3 hp bench grinder motor so I can spin it any way I want. At this point I think CCW is the way to go, no unscrewing then.

[vectorwarbirds]

Thanks for all the kind comments on the restoration, took longer than I estimated with all the mickey mouse stuff and missing parts. Will post finished photos when its done. Cheers!

[mixdenny]

That is not the original mount which is just two simple threaded flanges. Looks like someone has replaced the spindle. Go to my Sanford grinder section on UK Lathes, 10 images down. http://www.lathes.co.uk/sanford/page5.html

[vectorwarbirds]

That is not the original mount which is just two simple threaded flanges. Looks like someone has replaced the spindle. Go to my Sanford grinder section on UK Lathes, 10 images down. http://www.lathes.co.uk/sanford/page5.html

Very possible but your site grinder is twenty years newer than this one. This one is also V belt driven and motor mounted on top of platform more like the SG-48 on your site. Used your site to help with this one, who knows what has transpired in 70 odd years! Seems from my research many many mods and upgrades and changes were made over the years so far I have never seen two that are the same!

[luthor]

Why are you using a Rubberized Abrasive wheel?

[mixdenny]

The grinder on the page I linked to is from 1957. What is your serial number, I'll add it to the database. When I zoom in on your photo of the name tag it looks like a 1952 grinder. As per the owner of the company there were only two spindles. The first one had a drip oiler and the later one has sealed bearings.Many early grinders were converted to the sealed bearing units. I have seen numerous Sanfords with spindles replaced with different parts. There were several different motor mounts.

I notice there are two holes on the front of the grinder base that are not standard.

[portlandRon]

I have a Sanford, like your example showing the wheel cover, and yes the treads on the spindle are right handed.

[JoeLee]

Clockwise spindle rotation will try to unscrew the right hand wheel nut during startup. The threads should be left hand in this case. Are you sure the spindle rotates clockwise?
In my 6 x 12 grinder the spindle rotation is clockwise and there are two wheel hubs - one with right hand threads, the other - with left hand. The design is different from yours. You want to guess which hub was used for many years by the previous user? Right hand one. These hubs have a slot and a special tab washer, where the washer tab engages the slot to prevent rotation. This is probably what saved the previous user.

All this becomes important when you have a quick motor start. My motor is 3-phase and with VFD I can start it in 10 seconds if I want to and type of thread is much less relevant.

My KO Lee spins CW and the nut is right hand. There is a keyed flat washer behind the nut so even with a fast start motor it won't come loose.
After running grinders that turn CW it would be awful tough for me to get used to the opposite direction.
I do run my grinders off a VFD now and it's set up for a soft start and fast stop.

JL......

[mikey553]

The UK site pictures show very different spindle end design - one straight bore flange and one with the left hand thread and left hand thread on the spindle end. It looks like you actually have a hub, which can be separated from the spindle as an assembled unit. This is what I have, but design is different.

You said the wheel can be mounted in two ways, but I cannot see it. Can you provide good pictures so we can see the details?

My grinder came with a V-belt drive and a special motor. The grinder is not operational yet and I did not look carefully at the motor. You have to keep in mind that motor requires much better balancing and possibly special motor bearings than regular motors can provide. You may have a problem with a bench grinder motor. If it is a single phase, it may not help either.
I am planning to remove my motor and partially take it apart to learn how to deal with it. I am also thinking about replacing the V-belt with poly-V one. They may have a different name, but it is an automotive style with multiple little Vs.

[mikey553]

None of the pictures so far showed any spark guard on a table. Even if you don't have one, the table may have provisions for it. That may verify the direction of spindle rotation.