Stent v Quorn v Kennet v Worden.....Thoughts ??

[Richmond]

HI Folks,

Well, I petitioned for a new category, so I best start off a new thread on something, so here goes..........

I am just finishing off a Quorn, but recently went to the Midlands exhibition where there was an amazing Stent in the tooling competition which won 1st prize.

The Quorn can be used as a toolpost grinder as well as having other more traditional purposes, but the Stent can be pressed into service as a surface grinder..... The Worden comes as a kit, and the Kennet is simpler to build than the Quorn......

What are other proples thoughts on price, buildability, flexibility, and uses ?

Does anyone have any interesting adaptations / tools for these or other tool grinders ?

Rgds
Keith

[alanstepney]

Long ago, before the Kennet was around, I considered building a Quorn, and decided it was far more complicated than I required, and would take too long to make.

I settled on the Stent, and have found it more than adequate for my needs.

It will certainly do anything the average model engineer requires and can, as you said, also be used a a surface grinder.

[Jo]

I started out building a quorn but by good luck an Alexandra (Deckel) tool room grinder turned up at a local second hand tool shop for a song. A new collet holder to fit in the head and it is the answer to cutting the end face on vertical cutters up to 3/4". I think that Chronos now do a copy...

Many years later I acquired a second cutter grinder (Abwood?) which can be used as a surface grinder but I have never actually used it as such. Where the second wins out is that like a Clarkson it is possible to do between centres grinding, which means it is possible to sharpen the edges of the flutes or do cylindrical grinding. Again something that I have never felt the need to do.....

So many of these cutter grinders are so capable and yet if you really come down to it what do you really need?

Jo

[Noddy]

I bought a quorn kit about 4 years ago, but I'm on the move so much that I've never got started on the thing.

This winter, surely....

What attracted me to the quorn was the flexibility to do just about anything on it, the drawback is it's reputation as a sod to build, although saying that, most of us are not interested in things which do not stretch our abilities a little.
Keith

[Shawki Shlemon]

Hi all
What I am about to say is only my personal opinion and not necessary wright for others . It is nice to have special equipment for various jobs , but if one can not afford to buy them and can get by with basic available equipment it is waste of valuable time to make them for very little use .The time is better spent on building models .I don't have any fancy equipment other than the basic lathe ,small drill/mill ,tool grinder ,etc ..and I built 21 engines and have four more on the bench .Let us be honest one can do everything on the lathe .There is no end to what one like to have and I know people who took this line of workshop improvement /upgrading to the extreme and never built one model and therefore they achieved nothing .

[joegib]

I'm in process of building a Stent — it's only 15 years since I got the castings! Since I retired recently there's no excuse for not getting it finished. What I liked about the Stent is that the geometry is easy to understand. That's in complete contrast to the Quorn which (repeating an amusing comment I read on an American site recently) looks like an octopus — you don't know which way to get hold of it!

As regards the Kennet and Worden, while I don't doubt their usefulness, they've always struck me as being glorified tool rests. And it's not as though the kits available for making them up were especially cheap.

[abby]

I agree with that Shawki !

[modeng2000]

Shawki,

When you say you have a tool grinder, what is it like please?
I think something would be better than trying to grind by hand.

As you say, it is better to get on with making models where possible than spend much time making things to make models .

John

[Shawki Shlemon]

Hi John
It is just the normal grinder for free hand sharpening tools and drill bits . It is 27 years old , still does the job , sharpen all my drill bits , lathe tools ,clean my castings etc.. It is not the tools but the state of mind and what one can do with what is available . See my thread for boring cylinders between centres and see the simple tools made from scraps and used to boring cylinders for 21 engines so far .To me it is a hobby, the more one can do with less the greater is the pleasure and sense of achievement .May be others disagree and I respect their opinion .

[modeng2000]

Thanks Shawki, You are an inspiration.
I think I'll go for a simple attachment for my double ended grinder to help me get some of the angles about right. There have been articles (more than one?) in Model Engineer's Workshop describing such a device so I shall have to go through the back numbers on my shelf.

John

[terryd15]

I don't have the need for a complex tool grinder and was taught to grind basic tools such as lathe tools, drills etc by eye. Having said that I would like to construct a simple attacment such as John describes for my double ended grinder.

Has anyone any experience of building one from ME and if so could you suggest one please?

Best regards

Terry

[steam4ian]

G'day all.
I know it may seem crude but an angle grinder with cut-off wheel makes a nice fine cut. I had a blunt masonry drill the other day. I got some sharpness back on the carbide insert using my ordinary grinder. I then noticed that the weld between the insert and the bit was stopping the bit making contact with the drilled material. I grabbed the angle grinder and ground out the offending material and the drill then cut through concrete like butter.

The cut off wheel is 2mm thick but I also have a 1mm wheel. All need for a tool grinder is a holder for the angle grinder and a tool post. Any thoughts?

Yours crudely
Ian.

[gunboatbay]

There's an "import junk" vendor in the US (Harbour Freight) that quite frequently sells a trim-router, on-sale, for $19.95US and a router speed control for $9.95US. Mount an angle plate on your compound slide, fabricate a sturdy bracket to hold the round body of the trim router, and you have a dandy DIY toolpost grinder for $30US. If anybody's interested, I can email them a photo>

[Richmond]

I recently saw something similar...... a Dremel type grinder mounted via it's spindle collar in a bracket mounted in the toolpost....... also it is easy to fabricate. I wouldnt think it would be that strong or resistant to vibration though ?

The Quorn can also be mounted ( bolted to cross slide ) and used as a toolpost grinder.

[Nigel Bennett]

You can buy an awful lot of cutters for the price of the castings for a DIY grinder. Especially if you use carbide inserts! Having said that, I've just acquired a Quorn almost complete from a sadly deceased friend. Even the little amount that needs doing to complete it (not to exhibition standards) eats into the time I could be spending building locos!

The Quorn is an icon of model engineering. I've thought about building one for over twenty years but never found the time - so suddenly owning one was a bit of a surprise.

If you want to spend your time making tools, then enjoy yourself - I've built a few in my time (such as a 1/2" Cowell bench drill) and enjoyed making them. However I only make tools to make models and so they are never as flash as they could be, but they do the job.

It's always good to see the real toolmakers gems at shows though, with all those hours spent lovingly finishing castings and polishing all the other shiny bits. Exhibits such as these, surely, are merely 12" to the foot scale models?

[Shawki Shlemon]

I sharpen my large end mills free hand using the technique in the site mentioned above and am very happy with the results .I haven't bought an end mill for a while . It is easier than it sound .

[steam4ian]

G'day all.

Just placed an order with one of my children for a small bench grinder; a response to "Dad, what would you like for Christmas?"
A local auto parts store has 5' bench grinders for AUD29.95. I already have a larger grinder for roughing and linishing

Having looked at pictures and postings about Quorns, Stents, etc I realised that much of the work is just getting the grinding wheel to go round.

As I see it my elcheapo grinder mounted on a base with a tool rest having predictable adjustment is a good substitute. If the bearings are no good they can be upgraded.

All I have to do is find where to get a cup type wheel from.

Regards,
Ian

[circlip]

Only thing to watch on these bench grinders is the amount of end float on the spindle. Can't remember what mine was, but by measuring the float with a vernier and turning a suitable spacer to fit inside the motor casing, it was reduced to a sensible amount and now runs without rattles and float. only takes about half an hour and allows you to clean the sand out of the castings.

[ravensworth2674]

I have a quorn, I have apart built stent, I have a kennet and I have had the reasons to chuck a early worden into a infill site!

Again, I have written far more than I ought and really want to find more time for my clarkson Mk1.

Countless times, I have written to suggest that a rough Clarkson can be bought in the UK for less than any of the kits mentioned.

I have no reason to change my opinion now.However, we don't all live in the UK and all that. With all the rising costs in kits and transport, I would suggest that the Brooks which appeared in MEW- ?Issues 16 and 17 might be a solution as it doesn't need castings. The suggested power unit was a redundant wood router but there is no reason why a cheap Chinese 6" DE grinder be used albeit with better abrasive wheels.

One member here has suggested an even simpler tool. At the risk of offending certain members, why not use wood?
I was talking the matter over with a Stent builder- a short base one( he is) and one who fitted a quorn spindle and a quorn workholder to his machine- moons ago. Suffice to mention that my Clarkson ran successfully on toolholders made from best 2"x2" PAR softwood and high quality(?) metric nuts and bolts out of well known UK supplier from ---Sherwood Forest.

[ravensworth2674]

A few more words! I have been fiddling about with a undrilled faceplate from a Vertex Dividing Head and doing mechanised(?) honing with Chinese diamond pastes. It all saves on time and temper and creates a nice result.

Advert came for a Stent made by a diseased worker and space was wanted. I haven't been right into the gunge but most of it suggests that it is a fabricated one. No end castings but I have a pair to do and the motor- 2825 rpm- made it something to acquire- at 3 fills of petrol.

It also brought in a web page by Graham Howe called Workshop Projects 1 and 2. He also has a modified Stent and other nice tooling.
Enjoy!