Grinding

“ It's just as though we were to grind corn badly—as if we ground up the thin outer husk and threw the rest away, just as we throw away ashes. When the grinding is perfect, there's nothing or next to nothing left of the grain, is there? ”

“ Grinding, all men know to be performed by two hard bodies, the one immovable, on which the Grinding is made, the other movable; which by strong compression against the former, and by its motion, makes the grinding. The upper and the nether millstone, as the scripture calls them, the firm stander, and the strong mover. Now, similar unto these in a mill, there are for that grinding which is performed in the mouth, two jaw-bones, the upper and lower; the upper admits no movement at all, the lower is movable, and so both perform that act called mastication, or chewing. ”

“ One of the wonders of Sheffield is its Grinding Establishments. To aid [pg 414] the grinders, companies have erected very spacious buildings divided into small rooms, and provided the whole with steam engines. The rooms are then let out by the month to master grinders; and at properly adjusted grindstones in each room I saw every variety of grinding, sharpening, and polishing. The finest work is polished by hand, and in this slavery I saw the delicate hands of the superior sex solely employed. ”

“ And the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the streets,
When the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low ”

“ On the wall of the grinding-shop a tablet, set up at the cost of the men, preserves the name of a grinder, who by excellence of workmanship and long and faithful service, achieved merit for himself and the trade. At their work the men sit astride on a low seat in rows of four, one behind the other, leaning over their stones and wheels. For razors, the grindstones are small, so as to produce the hollow surface which favours fineness of edge. ”

“ Hans stopped to look at him, and at last he spoke to him and said, ‘You must be doing a good trade to be so merry over your grinding.’
‘Yes,’ answered the grinder. ‘The work of one’s hands is the foundation of a golden fortune. A good grinder finds money whenever he puts his hand into his pocket. ”

“ Carelessness in Holding Tools.—The boy must learn that such a habit actually prevents the proper grinding, not only of the tool he has on the stone, but also of the one which follows. While it is true that all artificially made grinders will wear unevenly, even when used with the utmost care, due to uneven texture of the materials in the stone, still,p. 37 the careless use of the tool, while in the act of grinding, only aggravates the trouble. ”

“ It is an easy matter to test your grinding by occasionally placing the blade of a try square on the bevel. If it is not straight, your grinding needs more care. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of this subject of grinding. It is the key-note of success. If you are careless in this particular, your work at the bench cannot be a success. "A good workman is known by his tools."
Fig. 114. The oilstone
A teacher of drawing once said, "I don't care to see your drawing; all I want is to see your pencil. ”

“ The process of grinding is, in fact, regarded as indispensable wherever truth is required, yet that of scraping is calculated to produce a higher degree of truth than has ever been attained by grinding. In reference to both processes a great degree of misconception prevails, the effect of which is materially to retard the progress of improvement, and which it is of great importance to remove. While grinding is universally regarded as indispensable to a finished surface, it is, in fact, positively detrimental. ”

“ The face of a grindstone should be rounded slightly, and it should be kept so by grinding the tools first on one side of edge of the stone, then on the other, with the cutting edge of the tool crosswise to the face of the stone. ”

“ Grinding.—The main feature of the grinding process is the attrition of the wood when held against the surface of a rapidly revolving grindstone, the fibres as they are rubbed off being instantly carried away from the stone by a current of water. ”

“ Five minutes in a dry-grinding room is quite sufficient to satisfy you of its nature and effects. We have seen Ebenezer Elliott's character of the grinder:—
"There draws the grinder his laborious breath,
There coughing, at his deadly trade he bends;
Born to die young, he fears nor man nor death;
Scorning the future, what he earns he spends;
Debauch and riot are his bosom friends."
The Commissioners state, on the authority of Dr. Knight of Sheffield, that a dozen years ago the number of grinders was two thousand five hundred; the life of a wet-grinder seldom reached forty-five years ”

“ The grinding angle.
The Grinder.—The first mistake the novice will make, is to use the tool on the grinder as though it were necessary to grind it down with a few turns of the wheel. Haste is not conducive to proper sharpening. As the wheel is of emery, corundum or other quickly cutting material, and is always run at a high rate of speed, a great heat is evolved, which is materially increased by pressure. ”

“ Hand grinding is a difficult thing, for the reason that through carelessness, or inability, both sides of the drill are not ground at the same angle and pitch. As a result the cutting edge of one side will do more work than the other. If the heel angles differ, one side will draw into the work, and the other resist.
Wrong Grinding.—When such is the case the hole becomes untrue. The sides of the bit will grind into the walls, or the bit will have a tendency to run to one side, and particularly if boring through metal which is uneven in its texture or grain. ”

“ Grindstones, Emery and Grinding Wheels.—A good workman is always reflected by his grinding apparatus. This is true whether it has reference to a grindstone, emery, corundum wheel, or a plain oil stone. Nothing is more destructive of good tools than a grooved, uneven, or wabbly stone. It is only little less than a crime for a workman to hold a tool on a revolving stone at one spot. ”

“ H., an importer and manufacturer of cornelian and other fancy goods, told me that grinding precious stones is very hard work. Men lie across wooden benches to apply the agate, cornelian, or whatever it may be, to the grindstone. There are eight grindstones, weighing twenty tons each, on one axle. The polishing is done by boys, who sit at small wooden wheels, some of which are covered with leather. ”

“ Grinding was then the employment of the women, particularly of female slaves, as at present in those countries which are uncivilised: the portion of strength required for the operation, therefore, could not have been great; but afterwards the mills were driven by bondsmen, whose necks were placed in a circular machine of wood, so that they could not put their hands to their mouths or eat of the meal. ”

“ In wet grinding, which is employed in the manufacture of saws, files, sickles, table-knives, and edge-tools, comparatively little dust is made, and in these employments the grinders enjoy comparatively longer life; their average age ranging from thirty-five to forty years. In addition to the destructive effects of these particles of metal and stone upon the delicate membrane of the lungs, the dry-grinder is subjected to serious injury of the eyes from the red-hot particles of steel thrown off in the shape of sparks. ”

“ Be sure you understand the process of sharpening tools before you undertake to use the oil-and grind-stones.
All tools are not sharpened alike, and you will need to know the different ways in order to get their cutting edges the right shape to serve their different purposes.
Grinding is the most difficult part of the work, and most boys have trouble with it. One fault lies in using the grind-stone too frequently, grinding the edge of a tool when it requires only a little rubbing upon the oil-stone to put it in shape, and thus wearing down the tool unnecessarily. ”

“ The clearance is, however, reduced and the lip angle changed.
There is great danger when grinding a tool of burning it or drawing the temper from the fine cutting edge, and, aside from the actual shape of the cutting end, this is the most important point in connection with tool grinding. If a tool is pressed hard against an emery or other abrasive wheel, even though the latter has a copious supply of water, the temper will sometimes be drawn. ”

“ No person who has read Elliott's description of the reckless race of grinders, or the account of them in the Report of the Commissioners to inquire, in 1841, into the condition of the people in mines and factories, can see these places without a lively interest. At this deadly trade, the workmen sit at work astride of rounded blocks of wood, which they call grinding-horses, in front of their grindstones, which are fixed on axles or spindles turned by the steam or water ”

“ In other words, a grinding plant, purposely designed to carry out its work in exactly the opposite way to that which has been described as the system aimed at in ordinary crushing machinery, has its place in the future of metallurgy. ”

“ It is this process of fork grinding which has so often been made a subject for comment; the fork is ground dry upon a stone wheel, and the particles of steel and grit are constantly entering the lungs of the workmen, thereby ruining the health and shortening the duration of life. ”

“ The workman turns the barrel continually, during the process of grinding, by means of the handle, as seen in the drawing, and as the stone itself is revolving all the time with prodigious velocity, the work is very rapidly, and at the same time very smoothly and correctly performed. ”

“ The Grindstone.—As most of the tools require a grindstone for sharpening purposes, an illustration is given as a guide, with a diagram to show the proper grinding angle. In Fig. 16 the upright [Pg 23] (A) of the frame serves as a line for the eye, so that if the point of the tool is brought to the sight line, and the tool (C) held level, you will always be able to maintain the correct angle. ”

“ After hardening grind carefully on a wet emery wheel, and be sure that the wheel is sharp with a plentiful supply of water. Do not force the grinding, otherwise the cold water striking the steel heated up by friction, will crack the nose. Be sure that the grinding wheel is sharp. In grinding all tools should be ground as lightly as possible on a soft wet Page 183 sandstone or on a wet emery wheel, and care should be taken not to create any surface cracks, which are invariably the result of grinding too forcibly. ”

“ After the surface has been ground with the last grade of emery, and commences to become translucent even when dry, the grinding may be considered to be accomplished, and the next step is the polishing. ”

“ The grinders furnish their grindstones and all their tools for making the knives; there is no dry grinding, such as used to fill the lungs of the grinders with deadly particles of steel and stone, and bring them to an early death; but sometimes a stone, which ordinarily lasts six months, will burst and drive the grinder through the roof. The blade-makers do their own forging and hammering, and it is from first to last apparently all hand-work. ”

“ The grinding material must be frequently changed to produce smooth work, because if the grinding cuttings accumulate in it, they will scratch and score the work. Indeed, it is a good plan when convenient, to hold the cock and plug under water while grinding them, and to occasionally lift the plug out, so as to wash out the cuttings. ”

“ For the wet-grinders they might supply fires in every wheel, abolish mud floors, and pave with a proper fall and drain.
“To prevent the breaking of heavy grinding-stones, fit them with the large strong circular steel plate—of which I subjoin a drawing—instead of with wedges or insufficient plates. They might have an eye to life, as well as capital, in buying heavy grindstones. I have traced the death of one grinder to the master's avarice: he went to the quarry and bought a stone for thirty-five shillings the quarry-master had set aside as imperfect ”

“ A grinder, shown in Fig. 87, is used for grinding off rough parts of iron or brass castings and for smoothing up rough surfaces. It is formed of a mandrel which turns freely in a pair of bearings set in a headstock. A pulley is fixed to the middle of the mandrel and the latter is threaded on the ends; an emery, or a carborundum wheel is slipped over each end and these are held in place by washers and nuts. A swivel hand rest makes it easy to hold the work against the wheel.
Fig. 87. A GRINDER AND POLISHER
A plain lathe, see Fig. ”

“ The positions in which to hold cutting tools while grinding them are as follows: The bottom faces of lathe tools and the end faces of tools such as scrapers should be ground with the tool laid upon the grindstone rest as in Fig. 2064, the stone running in the direction of the arrow. The best position for thin work as blades is at f providing the stone runs true, for otherwise the tool edge will be liable to catch in the stone. ”

“ The grinder sits on the ground close to the stones, and grasping the handle causes the upper stone to revolve vigorously. The larger stones have two handles, and then two women work together. They often go on grinding for some hours, generally beginning in the early morning while it is still cool. By preference they only grind what is required for the day's use, because the freshly-ground flour is thought to make the best bread. ”

“ Grinding and Stuffing Room. —This should be a well lighted and well ventilated room. Here the grinding equipment and stuffing tables are located. The principal equipment needed are “Enterprise” type grinders, silent cutters, mixer and back fat choppers, with a spice mill.
FIG. 159.—DEVICE FOR RUNNING SAUSAGE INTO SMOKE HOUSE.
Mechanical cutters are expected to be an aid to teeth and therefore they should be made to perform their part by being fitted with sharp knives to do the cutting. ”