B&S 2B Surface Grinder Restoration Logs

[RetiredRich]

In an effort to give back to this community, the intent of this thread is to provide information on the process of restoring a 2B surface grinder. As I progress, I will be looking forward to getting advice from people on this forum.

This link is where it all started.

Here are some initial photos and specs.

SN:16283
Model: Brown and Sharpe no. 2B With Hands Feed Only

Observations
- Missing the wheel guard
- From the left side photo, I can see a shaft behind the machine coming out the bottom motor housing. On the model #2, this is where the "Weighted arm" would link. That is a mystery.
- Antifriction spindle (as apposed to the play bearing)

This will be a long term project as I will be learning and researching as I go along.

I've already removed the spindle. My next move will be taking it apart. There is a bit of an in and out play when I pull and push on the spindle. I suspect that the bearings will need to be replaces.

 

[Bob Korves]

Mine has all the bells and whistles. Yours should be relatively easy to get running well. It has a spindle bearing, should be straightforward to get in good shape again. It sounds like you are on the right track... It it a stout and solid machine, which really helps the surface finish. I do not know why you have that shaft extension in the back. It might be a replacement from one of the power feed machines like mine replacing the original one, or maybe all the 2B's have them. Perhaps someone else here on H-M knows the answer...

 

[RetiredRich]

I would of loved to have a #2 with all those levers, moving belts and pulleys.

I was just going through one of the booklets I downloaded from here. On page 3 in the section "Specification No. 2B Surface Grinding Machine With Hands Feed Only" there's this paragraph

DRIVE With Motor in Base: Spindle driven by endless fabric belt from 1½ H.P. constant-speed motor
entirely enclosed in base of machine. Ample ventilation
provided for motor. Weighted idler pulley maintains
proper tension in spindle belt regardless of height of
wheel spindle.

So the spindle on this machine was originally driven by the motor in the base. I wonder what happen to all those parts.

Spindle bearing: I took it apart and got numbers off the bearings... Yikes. I just spent the day reading up on precision bearings. There are so many choices and price range. I'll post my finding on the spindle in the next few days.

 

[Technical Ted]

The taper on that spindle shaft does NOT look like a standard type. I don't know what type of wheel hubs that it will take. You might want to look into that before spending a lot of money on new bearings.... You might want to make a new shaft or buy one unless you are able to locate or make wheel hubs for it.

That's not a B&S replacement spindle. Any markings on it as to brand?

Ted

 

[Technical Ted]

If you do some searching in this group you'll find some posts on these grinders. Here's one of mine; I've got a few different ones:

Brown & Sharpe 2B surface grinder - questions

This is the latest addition to my hobby shop. Serial # 11732 which I'm guessing might put it around 1936 or so? Anyways, it needs a lot of TLC, but I'm hoping it will make an adequate addition to my shop for the work I will be doing with it. The ways don't look like they are in too bad of shape...

www.hobby-machinist.com

Ted

 

[RetiredRich]

If you do some searching in this group you'll find some posts on these grinders. Here's one of mine; I've got a few different ones:

Brown & Sharpe 2B surface grinder - questions

This is the latest addition to my hobby shop. Serial # 11732 which I'm guessing might put it around 1936 or so? Anyways, it needs a lot of TLC, but I'm hoping it will make an adequate addition to my shop for the work I will be doing with it. The ways don't look like they are in too bad of shape...

www.hobby-machinist.com

Ted

Hey Ted,
Thanks for joining. I have read that thread and a few others that have to do with B&S surface grinders.

 

[RetiredRich]

Spindle Parts

In order for me to be able to discuss this topic "semi intelligently" (not sure how to say this), here's a picture of the parts of the spindle. I'll use this as a reference when I don't know the names of the parts.

 

[RetiredRich]

The taper on that spindle shaft does NOT look like a standard type. I don't know what type of wheel hubs that it will take. You might want to look into that before spending a lot of money on new bearings.... You might want to make a new shaft or buy one unless you are able to locate or make wheel hubs for it.

That's not a B&S replacement spindle. Any markings on it as to brand?

Ted

Good advice. I will be doing a lot more research before I get any bearings. I did look into Timken bearings just to get a sense of cost. I came across one of their reference manual which has an enormous amount of good information. Timken only because that's what came up when I was searching those numbers at a local web store. Local as a 2hr drive.

The wheel spindle does not look at all like the spindle in the B&S 2B parts book. I don't see any markings on the Spindle Bearing Sleeve. It does look like the original with a threaded hole for the oiler and optional one on the opposite side. I read somewhere that the oiler could be switched side.

 

[RetiredRich]

Ted, I just realized that I did not address the wheel hub.
Is the wheel hub the part where the grinding wheel is supported on the back when the nut is tightened on the front grinding wheel?

 

[Cadillac]

From what I can tell without measurements is the spindle taper is a common size. 3” taper per foot.