See also ../../ Abrasives and their Use
General Literature, Cutting-Tool Forms
[NOT DONE] Biliography on and reprints of general literature on the forms of cutting tools and the theory of cutting tool action.
General Literature, Cutting-Tool Making
[NOT DONE] Biliography on and reprints of general literature on the making and (especially) the (re)sharpening of already made cutting tools; i.e., cutter grinding.
But for literature on specific grinding machines, see Tool and Cutter Grinding Machines, below (many of which, of course, have sections on cutter grinding).
Studies Of and Notes On Cutting Tools
My own observations on cutting tools, their forms, their making, and their sharpening.
So far, the only thing here is a bit on the importance of Benton's insight into the importance of removable spindles for not only the high precision but also the high accuracy required for matrix engraving tools.
(I love these machines - especially the excessively complicated ones which look as if they could make four-dimensional parts for alien spacecraft.)
Information on specific cutting tool grinding machines, including procedures for using them to grind specific tools. The most extensive information here is on the Gorton, because that's what I have. It's probably a bit strange to collect information on cutter grinders I don't have, but I find that (a) sometimes the grinding procedures I need to understand are better described in manuals for other machines, and (b) I find it interesting to understand how various cutter grinders work; some are very different from mine.
Ball
Not a machine for making balls, but a shop-made cutter grinder designed by Doug Ball. It is basically a "poor man's Gorton 265," and as such is well adapted not only for sharpening the D-bit / single-lip cutters it is shown making, but also the pyramidal cutters more commonly used in typographical matrix engraving.
Bonelle
A shop-build cutter grinder designed by Don Willis. It seems to be a sort of an updated Quorn with free plans and with no castings required. See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.b.d.willis/bonelle_tcg.htm
Brooks ("Brooks-Stent")
GadgetBuilder says of this machine "Conceptually, the Brooks-Stent is a surface grinder with a very small work envelope and table X-Y controls appropriate for cutter grinding."
Burr
[NOT DONE] Right now all I have is an old note to myself to the effect that a cutter grinder by this name was used in matrix making. I may be in error.
Cincinnati
Some documents regarding the Cincinnati No. 2 Cutter and Tool Grinder. This was derived from the original Norton tool grinder, and represents the high point of this line of development.
Gorton
Cutter Grinders by the George Gorton Machine Company and its successors. Note that optional equipment on the 265 and 375 Gorton cutter grinders allowed the grinding of cutters in place in their spindles (for those Gorton pantograph engraving machines which had removable spindles). This makes them eminently suited for matrix engraving work.
See also the Notebook on the Gorton 375 Cutter Grinder at CircuitousRoot .
New Hermes
The earlier New Hermes cutter grinders greatly resemble the Gorton 265. (Just bibliography and links to material elsewhere.)
Stent
[NOT DONE] This is a cutter grinder you build, not one available commercially. See the Brooks (Brooks-Stent) for a derivative.
Tip-Lap (Boremasters of Kenilworth)
A Gorton 265 derivative which was substantially constructed but which is not well known. (Just links to bibliography.)
Quorn
(Just bibliography and links to material elsewhere.) This is a cutter grinder you build, not one available commercially. The Quorn is either legendary or infamous in the model engineering community, depending on whether or not you've actually finished buiding one. I haven't even started :-)
See also the Bonelle Tool and Cutter Grinder by Don Willis for what is in many respects an updated Quorn with free plans and no castings required.
David Haythornthwaite has done something rather remarkable: he took a stock Tip-Lap Cutter Grinder (q.v.) and converted it into something approximating a Quorn.
Union
(Just bibliography and links to material elsewhere, including a transcription of the manual with nice grinding instructions.)
Attachments for existing grinding machines to allow the grinding of at least some kinds of tools and cutters. Note that there have been very many of these over the years in the popular literature. I'm citing only a very few here.
Warde, Simple 3-Axis (1947)
Warde, Walter T. "Grinding Jig for Tool Bits." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 87, No. 5 (May, 1947): 215. A very simple 3-axis fixture for grinding lathe and similar tool bits with an ordinary bench grinder. Not intended for more complex cutters. It's about as simple as you can get while still having three axes.
This article is in copyright and not reproduced here. It is freely viewable online via Google Books, though.
All portions of this document not noted otherwise are Copyright © 2011 by David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
Circuitous Root is a Registered Trademark of David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons "Attribution - ShareAlike" license. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for its terms.
Presented originally by Circuitous Root®
Select Resolution: 0 [other resolutions temporarily disabled due to lack of disk space]
