Photo Index - Foster Supplies Co. - Portable jointer knife grinder

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Foster Supplies Co.
Chicago, IL

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Grinder, Bench
Machine Size:
Submitted By:	Doug Westlind

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Portable jointer knife grinder
Date of Manufacturer:	1963
Serial Number:
Last Updated	11/19/2004 11:25:40 AM

Comments:

I picked this jointer knife grinder up an an auction a while back and I found it to be an amazingly handy little gadget. It is a 2" diameter stone driven by a 110 volt 17,000 rpm Dumore motor mounted in a heavy cast iron base that is ground flat on the bottom so it just slides on the jointer table. The literature that came with the grinder is dated Apr. 30, 1963 and it was purchased from Barbo Machinery in Portland, Oregon. To use the machine an index stop device is made for the jointer knives similar to that shown in the picture below. The outfeed table is lowered until the grinder just touches the knives and it is then worked back and forth along the knife until it grinds no more. Then you proceed to the next knife etc. The grinder does a very good job and all knives end up at the same height so there is no need to loosen gibbs and adjust the height by hand. This makes the whole process of sharpening knives take about 15 minutes unless you have really deep knicks. In Tage Frid's series of woodworking instruction books he describes using a very similar setup with the grinding stone mounted in the collet of a router to accomplish the same task.

Photo 1:

Comments: Foster jointer knife grinder
Source: Doug Westlind

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Photo 2:

Comments: foster grinder base
Source: Doug Westlind

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Photo 3:

Comments: Foster grinder in use
Source: Joe Westlind (my son)

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