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Another stray machine followed me home.

Susquatch

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I went to Toronto on the weekend to deliver my Bridgeport to its new machinist.

Post in thread 'New to me Bridgeport Mill' https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/new-to-me-bridgeport-mill.3491/post-75439

On the way home this silly little surface grinder jumped up onto my flatbed and followed me home.

20220501_193859.jpg

It's a KO Lee S612 fully manual unit that spent most of it's life teaching shop to young aspiring machinists. So not heaving used but prolly badly abused.

I don't really know much about it yet except that it works. It has the perfect motor on it already - a 1hp 220V 3 phase Doeer. Didn't have to do much to hook it up. Very smooth with no discernable vibration.

All three axis work, but the lift is a bit stiff. Not sure why.

I plan to move it a bit further back in the shop so it's back to back with my mill. That leaves lots of room to clean up and walk around it. More to discover and even more things to learn.

I sure hope it is worth it. She didn't follow me home very willingly........

Barely out on the highway, my truck blew a front wheel bearing. Not good. No tools, Friday night, busy highway, pissed off passengers. It can't get any worse......

Yes it can! CAA will tow me to the nearest repair shop. After a few hours they call again to say a truck is coming. I asked AGAIN about the trailer. They said they don't do trailers and I was on my own for that but they did give me the number of the outfit they were sending for the truck. So I called them. Answering machine...... Call again in 20 minutes. Got the owner. Said truck is on the way but ya, no trailers. After suitable begging, he said he would find another truck that could pull the trailer but it would be $350 plus tax. What do I do? I know no nothing about Toronto. So ya, I'm not leaving it on the side of the highway with a surface grinder on it. 350 it is.

A little while later CAA calls again and says a taxi is on its way. Ya, you guessed it. Towing company won't take passengers. So I told her to hold on while I get raped again. I call the towing guy again and he says no way - only two passengers and only if the driver agrees. I said I'd get a taxi for my wife.

We talk for a while ourselves and decided we CAA d prolly bribe the driver if he didn't agree to take us up front, but my wife would hide behind the back seat in the truck and take a long nap. Ya, she fits back there.... Another hour later the truck arrives and says ok to my son and I but only if we wear masks and only if we agree that he doesn't have to.

So he drags the truck up onto his flatbed and doesn't notice my wife wretching.

Then he takes out a 2-5/8 ball, screws it into the tow bar, backs up to the trailer and lifts the tie bar, connects the wiring and off we go. $350 worth of extra work??? Screwing on a ball???

Oh well.... Off we go to the repair shop where I bribe him with cash to split $200 between himself and a $100 towing fee for a small box trailer. After he unloads the truck and leaves we check on the bride and she is like a cat somebody threw into a bath tub. I folded down the seat and ran like the wuss I am...... She is NOT HAPPY.

OK, so far so good/bad.

Across the street is a hotel! Nope, across the street is a hotel with no rooms. And they say nobody in the area has rooms either.

So off we go looking for a room. My son suggests we sleep in the truck. I'm glad said it not me..... Ok then..... I guess we need to find an 8 star hotel - cuz 4 or 5 ain't gunna cut it after that truck ride.

Sure enough, I find a 1 star place with one room left due to a cancellation. Insert big sigh here.

In the morning I try to find a rental car place that rents trucks with hitches. No way. Apparently, nobody does that. So we rent a car, drive home, jump in my wife's jeep and drive back for the trailer. Didn't get home till really late and got the surface grinder in the shop just as the rain started.

Two full days. I could have driven to Calgary in that time.

She is still mad at me.

I sure hope the Lee Grinder is worth it.

So starts another adventure....
 

Brent H

Ultra Member
@Susquatch : HOLY SMOKES! what a trial and tribulation - you probably barely broke even on selling the mill and delivering it with the cost of the adventure home. YIKES!

Hopefully that surface grinder knows how to help you plant! wow - epic adventure!

Are you and @Dabbler related? That is crazy!
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
@Susquatch : HOLY SMOKES! what a trial and tribulation - you probably barely broke even on selling the mill and delivering it with the cost of the adventure home. YIKES!

Hopefully that surface grinder knows how to help you plant! wow - epic adventure!

Are you and @Dabbler related? That is crazy!

I think @Dabbler is my brother from another mother - in more ways than one! But he got the short end of this stick. His trip was WAY WORSE! So I have no right to complain.

And no, I didn't even come close to breaking even. Even if you take the repair costs away (it would have happened sooner or later), the hotel, the trailer towing, the extra two round trips up and down the 401, etc etc cost me more than I sold the Bridgeport for.......:eek:
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
@Susquatch : HOLY SMOKES! what a trial and tribulation - you probably barely broke even on selling the mill and delivering it with the cost of the adventure home. YIKES!

Hopefully that surface grinder knows how to help you plant! wow - epic adventure!

Are you and @Dabbler related? That is crazy!

On the bright side, it's a nice Lee Grinder though. Just did a test grind that looks great. It's smooth and vibration free.

Now begins the learning.

I have a few jobs waiting for it already. Where do I start?

Way too much fun for an old man! LOL!
 

Dusty

(Bill)
Premium Member
I went to Toronto on the weekend to deliver my Bridgeport to its new machinist.

Post in thread 'New to me Bridgeport Mill' https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/new-to-me-bridgeport-mill.3491/post-75439

On the way home this silly little surface grinder jumped up onto my flatbed and followed me home.

View attachment 23624

It's a KO Lee S612 fully manual unit that spent most of it's life teaching shop to young aspiring machinists. So not heaving used but prolly badly abused.

I don't really know much about it yet except that it works. It has the perfect motor on it already - a 1hp 220V 3 phase Doeer. Didn't have to do much to hook it up. Very smooth with no discernable vibration.

All three axis work, but the lift is a bit stiff. Not sure why.

I plan to move it a bit further back in the shop so it's back to back with my mill. That leaves lots of room to clean up and walk around it. More to discover and even more things to learn.

I sure hope it is worth it. She didn't follow me home very willingly........

Barely out on the highway, my truck blew a front wheel bearing. Not good. No tools, Friday night, busy highway, pissed off passengers. It can't get any worse......

Yes it can! CAA will tow me to the nearest repair shop. After a few hours they call again to say a truck is coming. I asked AGAIN about the trailer. They said they don't do trailers and I was on my own for that but they did give me the number of the outfit they were sending for the truck. So I called them. Answering machine...... Call again in 20 minutes. Got the owner. Said truck is on the way but ya, no trailers. After suitable begging, he said he would find another truck that could pull the trailer but it would be $350 plus tax. What do I do? I know no nothing about Toronto. So ya, I'm not leaving it on the side of the highway with a surface grinder on it. 350 it is.

A little while later CAA calls again and says a taxi is on its way. Ya, you guessed it. Towing company won't take passengers. So I told her to hold on while I get raped again. I call the towing guy again and he says no way - only two passengers and only if the driver agrees. I said I'd get a taxi for my wife.

We talk for a while ourselves and decided we CAA d prolly bribe the driver if he didn't agree to take us up front, but my wife would hide behind the back seat in the truck and take a long nap. Ya, she fits back there.... Another hour later the truck arrives and says ok to my son and I but only if we wear masks and only if we agree that he doesn't have to.

So he drags the truck up onto his flatbed and doesn't notice my wife wretching.

Then he takes out a 2-5/8 ball, screws it into the tow bar, backs up to the trailer and lifts the tie bar, connects the wiring and off we go. $350 worth of extra work??? Screwing on a ball???

Oh well.... Off we go to the repair shop where I bribe him with cash to split $200 between himself and a $100 towing fee for a small box trailer. After he unloads the truck and leaves we check on the bride and she is like a cat somebody threw into a bath tub. I folded down the seat and ran like the wuss I am...... She is NOT HAPPY.

OK, so far so good/bad.

Across the street is a hotel! Nope, across the street is a hotel with no rooms. And they say nobody in the area has rooms either.

So off we go looking for a room. My son suggests we sleep in the truck. I'm glad said it not me..... Ok then..... I guess we need to find an 8 star hotel - cuz 4 or 5 ain't gunna cut it after that truck ride.

Sure enough, I find a 1 star place with one room left due to a cancellation. Insert big sigh here.

In the morning I try to find a rental car place that rents trucks with hitches. No way. Apparently, nobody does that. So we rent a car, drive home, jump in my wife's jeep and drive back for the trailer. Didn't get home till really late and got the surface grinder in the shop just as the rain started.

Two full days. I could have driven to Calgary in that time.

She is still mad at me.

I sure hope the Lee Grinder is worth it.

So starts another adventure....

If I were you I would change the name of your garage to something like 'Suckers Paradise' or 'Don't Ask'.

Has she allow you back in the house? Just kidding! LOL
 

Susquatch

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Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
If I were you I would change the name of your garage to something like 'Suckers Paradise' or 'Don't Ask'.

Has she allow you back in the house? Just kidding! LOL

Quite the opposite. I'm allowed in the house, but not allowed to play with my machines...... And allowed is maybe not the best choice of words.. ..
 

Dabbler

ersatz engineer
OMG What a BP misadventure! I am beginning to think I do have a 'lost twin'...
Thanks for relating the whole story. Now I know why your bride is so p***ed...

That KO Lee was a great acquisition. Nice little grinder, easy to maintain. An all manual grinder is a great way to learn.
 

Chicken lights

Forum Pony Express Driver
I went to Toronto on the weekend to deliver my Bridgeport to its new machinist.

Post in thread 'New to me Bridgeport Mill' https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/new-to-me-bridgeport-mill.3491/post-75439

On the way home this silly little surface grinder jumped up onto my flatbed and followed me home.

View attachment 23624

It's a KO Lee S612 fully manual unit that spent most of it's life teaching shop to young aspiring machinists. So not heaving used but prolly badly abused.

I don't really know much about it yet except that it works. It has the perfect motor on it already - a 1hp 220V 3 phase Doeer. Didn't have to do much to hook it up. Very smooth with no discernable vibration.

All three axis work, but the lift is a bit stiff. Not sure why.

I plan to move it a bit further back in the shop so it's back to back with my mill. That leaves lots of room to clean up and walk around it. More to discover and even more things to learn.

I sure hope it is worth it. She didn't follow me home very willingly........

Barely out on the highway, my truck blew a front wheel bearing. Not good. No tools, Friday night, busy highway, pissed off passengers. It can't get any worse......

Yes it can! CAA will tow me to the nearest repair shop. After a few hours they call again to say a truck is coming. I asked AGAIN about the trailer. They said they don't do trailers and I was on my own for that but they did give me the number of the outfit they were sending for the truck. So I called them. Answering machine...... Call again in 20 minutes. Got the owner. Said truck is on the way but ya, no trailers. After suitable begging, he said he would find another truck that could pull the trailer but it would be $350 plus tax. What do I do? I know no nothing about Toronto. So ya, I'm not leaving it on the side of the highway with a surface grinder on it. 350 it is.

A little while later CAA calls again and says a taxi is on its way. Ya, you guessed it. Towing company won't take passengers. So I told her to hold on while I get raped again. I call the towing guy again and he says no way - only two passengers and only if the driver agrees. I said I'd get a taxi for my wife.

We talk for a while ourselves and decided we CAA d prolly bribe the driver if he didn't agree to take us up front, but my wife would hide behind the back seat in the truck and take a long nap. Ya, she fits back there.... Another hour later the truck arrives and says ok to my son and I but only if we wear masks and only if we agree that he doesn't have to.

So he drags the truck up onto his flatbed and doesn't notice my wife wretching.

Then he takes out a 2-5/8 ball, screws it into the tow bar, backs up to the trailer and lifts the tie bar, connects the wiring and off we go. $350 worth of extra work??? Screwing on a ball???

Oh well.... Off we go to the repair shop where I bribe him with cash to split $200 between himself and a $100 towing fee for a small box trailer. After he unloads the truck and leaves we check on the bride and she is like a cat somebody threw into a bath tub. I folded down the seat and ran like the wuss I am...... She is NOT HAPPY.

OK, so far so good/bad.

Across the street is a hotel! Nope, across the street is a hotel with no rooms. And they say nobody in the area has rooms either.

So off we go looking for a room. My son suggests we sleep in the truck. I'm glad said it not me..... Ok then..... I guess we need to find an 8 star hotel - cuz 4 or 5 ain't gunna cut it after that truck ride.

Sure enough, I find a 1 star place with one room left due to a cancellation. Insert big sigh here.

In the morning I try to find a rental car place that rents trucks with hitches. No way. Apparently, nobody does that. So we rent a car, drive home, jump in my wife's jeep and drive back for the trailer. Didn't get home till really late and got the surface grinder in the shop just as the rain started.

Two full days. I could have driven to Calgary in that time.

She is still mad at me.

I sure hope the Lee Grinder is worth it.

So starts another adventure....
CAA used to have an RV package (I think that’s the wording) for these situations. Long story short I was asked to move a ‘67 Camaro with my F350 and gooseneck years ago. Loaded it up in Oshawa, only to break down 5 miles away. Spent hours on the road waiting on two tow trucks, with the customer and his wife. 10 o’clock that Saturday night I’m at a mechanics shop tucking a Camaro inside while trying to shoo two tow trucks away, because I don’t need them doing any midnight shopping. It was a very long day

I feel your pain except I don’t have a PO’d half pint that I married :D

Hopefully the surface grinder works out well for you!
 

Mcgyver

Ultra Member
Good for you, a great little grinder. I hope you took the table for the ride - its (afaik) a roller style (edit, nope, I take that back....probably not a roller....was thinking Norton). From a high school? probably barely used.
 

trlvn

Ultra Member
It's a KO Lee S612 fully manual unit that spent most of it's life teaching shop to young aspiring machinists. So not heaving used but prolly badly abused.
Hey! That's the surface grinder from the Breslau auction a couple of months ago:


Weren't you in the hunt for it at that time? I seem to recall that there were several grinding wheels in a separate lot. Did you get them?

Craig
 

Susquatch

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Premium Member
Good for you, a great little grinder. I hope you took the table for the ride - its (afaik) a roller style (edit, nope, I take that back....probably not a roller....was thinking Norton). From a high school? probably barely used.

No time to take anything apart. So I worried myself sick over that same thought the whole time it was on the road. I could just imagine bearings pounding on the races the whole way home.

Anyway, turns out it's on a Vway & Flat Combo same as a lathe. No idea how that survives all that grinding dust, but they "look" ok. There is what looks like a deliberate upside-down lip over the ways and they are completely shrouded end to end. Lots to learn and lots to check.

I'll be looking for advice and info as the experience unfolds. I have no history at all with surface grinders. I'm a total newbie. It's like exploring another planet.

It's also interesting to be completing a tool post grinder at the same time......
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
CAA used to have an RV package (I think that’s the wording) for these situations. Long story short I was asked to move a ‘67 Camaro with my F350 and gooseneck years ago. Loaded it up in Oshawa, only to break down 5 miles away. Spent hours on the road waiting on two tow trucks, with the customer and his wife. 10 o’clock that Saturday night I’m at a mechanics shop tucking a Camaro inside while trying to shoo two tow trucks away, because I don’t need them doing any midnight shopping. It was a very long day

I feel your pain except I don’t have a PO’d half pint that I married :D

Hopefully the surface grinder works out well for you!

Yup, sounds VERY SIMILAR! Leaving my truck in an open parking lot in Toronto was VERY VERY VERY Stressful! I love your "midnight shopping" analogy!

The room we got was a block away but it just happened to have a view of the parking lot.... I fell asleep with my face plastered to the glass.
 

Susquatch

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CAA used to have an RV package (I think that’s the wording) for these situations.

Hmmmmmm......

I need to check into that. All in all breaking down away from home is a BAD experience. Every little thing that can help with that is good.

Thank you for the suggestion!
 

DavidR8

Scrap maker
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
@Susquatch I had a Parker Majestic 6x18 surface grinder from 1968 (if I recall correctly) that had lived most of its life in a tool and die company. Similar design, V-way and a flat way. The ways still had all the flaking marks which was a testament to a) good lubrication; basically a set of rollers that rode in an oil bath and constantly covered the ways in oil, and b) a design that had the ways so well protected that there was very little chance of dust, grit etc getting any where it shouldn't be.
 

Susquatch

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Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Don't forget that Mother's Day is coming up else there will be a sequel.
Sorry for ya Man.

I'm gunna take a big risk here and just say it out loud to put it out there.

I HATE all these stupid "special days". Mother's day, Father's day, Valentine's day, Thanksgiving Day, Sectetary"s day, Boss's day, blah blah blah blah..... All designed to make money selling cards gifts and junk and forget something and get killed.

My mother used to say, "If you are only gunna do something special for me on special days, then don't bother."
 

Chicken lights

Forum Pony Express Driver
Hmmmmmm......

I need to check into that. All in all breaking down away from home is a BAD experience. Every little thing that can help with that is good.

Thank you for the suggestion!
The app TruckerPath is helpful, it lists gas stations, truck stops, walmarts, rest areas etc. It also shows where you are on the map + direction of travel. I like Expedia for hotels, but there’s a bunch of sites now that help. In the USA I’ll use Lyft instead of cabs. It doesn’t need a physical address to be able to send a car to you, which 95% of the time I have no idea where I am or where I’m going. Drives me bonkers being parked at a weigh scale or welcome centre and trying to order a pizza, a lot of those places don’t HAVE an actual address.

I guess after the 50th or 60th time of being broke down I take it in stride a little more. That and I only have to worry about one persons safety.

You picked the best time of year to break down, in my opinion. Middle of the summer is almost as bad as middle of the winter. I’m not sure if that’s a great thing to point out to the sawed off better half? :D
 
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