When it rains it pours! KO Lee Tool & Cutter grinder

[Technical Ted]

This must be my week! After just starting to work on my new Rhodes shaper, today I brought a KO Lee B660 tool and cutter grinder home!

You have to grab these things when they come up... you snooze, you lose! A guy, with his own business, mostly welding, bought a batch of machine tools a while back and this grinder was just sitting in his shop collecting dust and grime. It's dirty and needs cleaning and a coat of paint, but everything works, spindle is nice, and I got some goodies to go with it. The goodies are worth what I paid for the whole thing and include, of all things, a tap sharpening fixture. I have no idea what the one fixture with the aluminum plate on it is for, so if someone does, please speak up. The motor/spindle is multi-speed (9 in all). I don't know yet if I have all the pulleys, but if I'm missing any I need I'm sure they will be easy to make.

Now I won't have to use my surface grinder to sharpen tools anymore!

Ted

 

[Janderso]

That's an old one. How's it look?
Much wear?
Great size!
Did you show us your Rhodes?

 

[Janderso]

Like this?
It's all put back together with the vise and all.
Still working on the Micromaster, haven't had time to grind any shaper bits to try it out.
Isn't it Mikey in Hawaii who is the Shaper expert?

 

[Technical Ted]

That's an old one. How's it look?
Much wear?
Great size!
Did you show us your Rhodes?

Yep on showing the Rhodes shaper: https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/new-machine-in-my-shop-rhodes-shaper.79030/

I would say this grinder is old, but no wheres near as old as my Rhodes!

I'll be able to better assess wear when I tear it down to go through it; like I do with most of my machine purchases. I just brought it home this afternoon. The spindle feels and runs nice. Motor works. Everything works as it should, but will know more as I work through it.

Ted

 

[Technical Ted]

For those that might be interested, here's the catalog for my machine and accessories. It's the second one listed; model B660.

Ted

 

[cjtoombs]

Did you figure out what the attachment with the aluminum plate is? It looks to me like an auxiliary y axis that could be used for production work. It looks like it has stops, so you could dial in the feed you wanted with the y adjustment and then use the handle to grind multiple parts (or flutes) to the same length quickly. That's just based on what I can see of it. Enjoy.

 

[vocatexas]

Ted, if you aren't familiar with him, Steve Summers on You Tube has a K.O. Lee grinder. It may be the same model, I'm not sure. He has several videos showing the tear-down and re-assembly of his. Thought this might be of some help to you.

 

[Technical Ted]

Did you figure out what the attachment with the aluminum plate is? It looks to me like an auxiliary y axis that could be used for production work. It looks like it has stops, so you could dial in the feed you wanted with the y adjustment and then use the handle to grind multiple parts (or flutes) to the same length quickly. That's just based on what I can see of it. Enjoy.

Still wondering what its' specific purpose was for. I haven't really looked it over that close. The seller threw it in and I said I'd take it because it looked interesting and I thought it might be of some use/value.

Ted

 

[Technical Ted]

Ted, if you aren't familiar with him, Steve Summers on You Tube has a K.O. Lee grinder. It may be the same model, I'm not sure. He has several videos showing the tear-down and re-assembly of his. Thought this might be of some help to you.

Yeah, I usually watch Steve's videos when they come out Saturday morning. I believe his is a model B8860 which is new and larger than mine (B660). His has the tapered spindle that uses the standard tapered wheel adapters like a surface grinder. Mine has just a 5/8" shaft unfortunately. I'm sure it will work out all right, but I would prefer the tapered spindle over the straight one.

I wish I had his motorized head! They sell for a pretty penny. I've been thinking about making one. We'll see.

Ted

 

[benmychree]

Did you figure out what the attachment with the aluminum plate is? It looks to me like an auxiliary y axis that could be used for production work. It looks like it has stops, so you could dial in the feed you wanted with the y adjustment and then use the handle to grind multiple parts (or flutes) to the same length quickly. That's just based on what I can see of it. Enjoy.

That thing looks like a tool slide from a hand screw machine.