Thread: Genko Hand Crank Bench Grinder

I bought one of these for myself recently at a market. The guy said it was German, a good one, early 1930's? but no more info than that.

I've used it a couple of times, very handy for little things., The wheel is still good on it, just needs levelling though.

cheers
Wendy

G'day Wendy,

From the 1930's...SWEET. Thanks for that bit of info.

I have to admit, I was kinda apprehensive when I was taking the crank and tool rest apart. The screws won't budge but a little bit of Inox left overnight did the trick. I was worried about the internal mechanism too, but behind the cover was so much grease, the gears were kept in perfect shape, not sign of rust.

I was very excited as I don't have an electrical grinder and have some old chisels I would like to restore for use. This grinder should come in handy. It'll take some practice to grind with one hand but worth a go.

I figure I can put a new 6 inch Norton White wheel for it. With a decent tool rest and grinding jig, it should be an adequate occasional grinding system. I did consider an 8 inch wheel but I don't want to risk bending the axle.

Anyway, I am glad to hear a fellow member owning and using the same grinder. That's very cool.

Cheers,

GUNN

I use a hand grinder too. I don't know what brand it is, but I'll have a look on the weekend. I've put a white wheel on mine and its great for a quick touch up. Still have to make a proper tool rest for it.

Vaguely off topic, I was talking to a guy who runs a junk shop and he reckoned he'd got a pedal powered grinder - I tried to get him to sell it to me, but no joy. I think that'd be really cool - I'm not a fan of using electricity if it can be avoided, but sometimes having two hands free would be useful.

I remember one in my grandads workshop. Guess who got to crank it.
A good item if you have 3 hands.

Mine's a Speede brand. It needs a good clean up, but apart from the cr*p on the white wheel, it does a great job. Since you only need a light touch, only two hands are necessary. I do need to put together a tool stand one of these days, just to make sure I get a consistent angle every time.

I had another one, which I think was older, and lighter, but I gave it to my brother with the old grey wheel that came off this one. I think I've got another one somewhere, but its a couple of layers down in the mess...

Don't know about your Genko grinder being vintage. Lee Valley sold a Genko grinder that was listed on page 14 of their 1981/82 tools catalogue. I saw one yesterday that was in really good shape and I know a local chair maker who uses one regularly.

Hi everybody.

Try this http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hers...enkinger.phtml
I've found this website a while ago. It's really good. I use whenever i come home from fleamarkets with german tools. Unfortunately it's mostly in german, so in case that is not your language of choise, then here is a quick translation.

The company was founded i 1897 in Nürtingen. It produced braces, handdrills and grinders. It was run by two brothers August and Theodor Genkinger until 1904 were it was taken over by Theodor alone, and sold to Metabo in the seventies. And that's it.

If you want to look for other german brands: http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hers.../deutsch.phtml
I hope this helps you.

Thomas

Thanks for the info. I actually now have another smaller Genko grinder which I hope I can turn into a sander for shaping small work. I find them very good for what I needed them to do.

Any chance you can scan the page?

Cheers

GUNN