Ever since I got the horizontal bandsaw, the milling machine and the lathe I always wanted to complete the set and get a Surface Grinder. The problem (apart from the ridiculous prices of machinery here in Malta) always was the space (granted I am lucky and have somewhat of a sizeable garage) and also trying to justify me getting it as I am not sure how much I will use it (at the moment I'm rarely using the lathe and milling but I'm convincing myself it's because I'm currently still setting up my garage/workshop).
For a moment I had convinced myself I don't need it and won't be getting one. This lasted maybe a month as soon after I was back on the hunt xD
Long story short(er) a friend of mine told me about a nice 'well kept' surface grinder that is in very good condition - turns out it was a J&S (I bet you already knew that :P) and considering I was following @Smouser's post on his J&S I was hooked.
Went to see it earlier this year (around May). On the photos it was in really good condition but it turned out that the photo was taken from some other listing. The actual SG, was currently being stored in a shipping container and because of the humidity it had quite a bit of surface rust - pics below (apologies for the low quality photos):
Apart from that however, it seemed to be in an OKish condition. To be honest I was a bit bummed as before viewing it I hadn't realised that the photo was not in fact of the actual SG. Moreover, I couldn't turn on the machine to try it out as it wasn't possible where it was.
Similarly to what I had done in the past, I took my friend (who has a proper workshop and was the culprit for getting me hooked on this 'hobby'... ) and got his opinion about the machine. He gave me the thumbs up, agreed on a price with the seller (my haggling skills are leave much to be desired) and agreed on a date to come and pick it up.
Originally the plan was to lift it on my Hilux and carry it home (the location was not far from where I live (around 4km - perks of living on a tiny island) and then get a high-up and palletizer to take it off from my truck and in the garage as I don't have a gantry or a high enough ceiling to take it in the garage with the truck (having a lifted Hilux sure doesn't help either).
Unfortunately on the day that we had agreed, the owner of the container storage couldn't manage to take it out so we had to postpone it, Luckily he was kind enough to offer to bring it to me another day with his truck for free (which meant less headaches and worrying about the leafs/bed of my truck).
The day finally arrived - after quite a bit of waiting (and praying they hadn't forgotten about us because they almost started closing) - the SG was out and on the truck:
Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photos of the actual move as I was a bit too preoccupied about the whole ordeal but luckily it arrived safely:
The SG came with what I believe is the original coolant tank (the wrapped 'box' on the right) as well as a dust extractor (not original and not visible in this photo). Try to ignore the janky setup of wooden blocks and plywood - that was only 'temporary' till I 'machined' some feet:
And it stayed there for a few months till I continued working on building the workbench and cleaning up the rest of the garage.
Will post more updates soon hopefully
For a moment I had convinced myself I don't need it and won't be getting one. This lasted maybe a month as soon after I was back on the hunt xD
Long story short(er) a friend of mine told me about a nice 'well kept' surface grinder that is in very good condition - turns out it was a J&S (I bet you already knew that :P) and considering I was following @Smouser's post on his J&S I was hooked.
Went to see it earlier this year (around May). On the photos it was in really good condition but it turned out that the photo was taken from some other listing. The actual SG, was currently being stored in a shipping container and because of the humidity it had quite a bit of surface rust - pics below (apologies for the low quality photos):
Apart from that however, it seemed to be in an OKish condition. To be honest I was a bit bummed as before viewing it I hadn't realised that the photo was not in fact of the actual SG. Moreover, I couldn't turn on the machine to try it out as it wasn't possible where it was.
Similarly to what I had done in the past, I took my friend (who has a proper workshop and was the culprit for getting me hooked on this 'hobby'... ) and got his opinion about the machine. He gave me the thumbs up, agreed on a price with the seller (my haggling skills are leave much to be desired) and agreed on a date to come and pick it up.
Originally the plan was to lift it on my Hilux and carry it home (the location was not far from where I live (around 4km - perks of living on a tiny island) and then get a high-up and palletizer to take it off from my truck and in the garage as I don't have a gantry or a high enough ceiling to take it in the garage with the truck (having a lifted Hilux sure doesn't help either).
Unfortunately on the day that we had agreed, the owner of the container storage couldn't manage to take it out so we had to postpone it, Luckily he was kind enough to offer to bring it to me another day with his truck for free (which meant less headaches and worrying about the leafs/bed of my truck).
The day finally arrived - after quite a bit of waiting (and praying they hadn't forgotten about us because they almost started closing) - the SG was out and on the truck:
Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photos of the actual move as I was a bit too preoccupied about the whole ordeal but luckily it arrived safely:
The SG came with what I believe is the original coolant tank (the wrapped 'box' on the right) as well as a dust extractor (not original and not visible in this photo). Try to ignore the janky setup of wooden blocks and plywood - that was only 'temporary' till I 'machined' some feet:
And it stayed there for a few months till I continued working on building the workbench and cleaning up the rest of the garage.
Will post more updates soon hopefully