It's time I got back to working on my project!

Other things in life had kind of put the restoration project on hold. Now that life is settling down, I am clearing the area around the grinder in preparation to continue the work. at some point the rack gear for the table got cracked, so it will need repair. Other than the reciprocating drive needing the belt and the workhead needing a full on claening an rebuild, there isn't actually that much keeping this from being a workable machine again after 60 years.

It's been quiet, though busy

It has been quiet on the project front since the last post here.
I got married and life has changed a bit especially with regards to finding hobby time to work on the grinder. Suffice it to say the project is temporarily in limbo, but still very much a going concern.

Time flies, and still not much done

Well, it's about time I updated the blog even though I haven't done a lick of work on my 104 Grinder. Yes, I do still have hopes of finishing (and using) this grinder someday.

Still slowly working on the project

I finally replaced the bushings for the tenths dial. The dial had a tendency to rattle when the infeed whel was turned rapidly. Now it turns wuite smoothly. Next I will fashion a new table angl;e setting screw to replace the original which ahd rusted and broken..

Are there any other Rivett grinder owners out there?

I'm curious if I am the only crazy enough to attempt restoring one of these machines.

Email to spetach@yahoo.com

Progress has slowed down for a stretch...

While I look for new employment. Read here for more. Rather than having ample time to focus on the machine, I am focusing on bringing some cash flow. I have been clearing out more space around it to facilitate the repairs needed.

first photo of the project

Pardon the mess. This is the restoration up to date. The workhead is removed for repairs to the collet closer mechanism. The table has been removed to repair the taper adjusting screw which had frozen to the nut! Also I am having to make the slider bar for the repiprocating table feed which is mounted underneath the table. I haven't done much work this past year, but hope to make significant progress this year.

Fortunately, I was able to find a manual for a slightly earlier model 104 on Ebay, which should help considerably with restoration efforts.

The Rivett 104 Universal Grinder rebuild project

Slowly, I am rebuilding a 1950 Rivett 104 Unviersal OD grinder. It's missing some parts so I am having to recreate them as best I can from the manual I have.

It seems that the 104 wasn't produced in large numbers given that my machine is serial # 1177, Dec 1950, was the last of only 10 units made in 1950. Production ended a just few years later. Around 1100 were produced in the entire run. See the Rivett serial numbers page for a complete list of the serial numbers and production years. I haven't seen any other 104's since I purchased mine almost 10 years ago.

As time goes on, I will post some pictures of the progress.