Well I never thought I would see another one of those machines in my life! Did my apprenticeship with Prince machines 1969 to 1974 at Park Rd Kingston, built countless numbers of them, best days of my life! Cheers from Australia ✌
Watching that crank grinder brought me back to the 70s and 80s and my dad's engineering workshop... I can smell the cooling liquid pouring down on the metal. Thanks so much 🙂🙂
Lee, thanks so much for showing how John does a crank. The expression on his face shows just what a real enginer is capable of. Many thanks, Dave in Guernsey.
When I was grinding, we had a dial indicator fixture that went over the journal to show the size as it is ground. We took it to .002 and checked size, then the last .002 plunge ground and slip the stone across the journal to make a flat surface. Polishing was done with a belt polisher; I have never seen a beast of a polisher like yours. lol I ran a Berco but when I went for my college term for the apprenticeship they had a Van Norman. It could have been a bad situation because the traverse wheel works differently on a Van Norman. On the Berco, if you turn the wheel left, the crank moves left, and right if you turn it to the right. With the Van Norman, you turn the wheel left, the crank moves to the right. lol You had to think of the direction the wheel head would move in relation to the crank on the VN, so left on the wheel would move the wheel left. (crank right) I really had to stop and think before traversing the crank, because, after a year on the Berco, the wrong direction was my first inclination. One student did make that mistake and broke the grinding wheel with the machine running. The whole damn machine was bouncing off the ground with a 3' wheel spinning at high speed with a chunk out of it. The lucky part was that the piece didn't hit anyone as it flew out and across the shop at 40 MPH or so. 😳
As someone else said, the smell of the grinding coolant etc is unreal, my late great Father had three of those "Prince" grinders. Watching him re-stroke bent bus cranks for a Kent based bus company was unbelievable. I dont know if you are interested but I do have his "Hall Toledo valve seat grinder" with around a dozen guides sitting in my garage.
Rarely seen footage is always good to see. Back in the day I would take motorcycle cylinders to a local engine works to get them re-bored. Turnaround for me was less than an hour! I knew they worked hard at getting my job turned around so quickly but this channel puts it all into context. There's no doubt you're providing a great service to folk.
As a fitter/ machinist for 45 years I only ever operated a cylindrical grinder a few times but never on crank shafts. Takes a great deal of skill and that's a very interesting final polishing tool. I also like that your machines have quite a few miles on them.
Yes a bit of a cop out I think! As a time served Engineer I can see that grinding the main journals is fairly straightforward. I too would like to see the set up for grinding the big end journals, how to set the throw etc.
@@keithknowles1700 The grinding stone pulls forward on these machines and then moves back and forth as the crank turns following the big end bearing and its offset. You do not have to reposition the crank in the chuck its the grinding stone that moves and follows the big end bearing .
Nice to see a Prince in action again, started my engineering career on one, back in 1977. I was apprenticed to an engine reconditioners at 16 and learnt my trade on Ford, Vauxhall & BMC engines mainly 👍
I used A machine similar to this about 25 years ago. We had A dial gauge set up while grinding the mains to check for ovality, we also had A centre on the tailstock end instead of A chuck. When grinding the big ends I take it that the wheel follows the the offset of the journal rather than offsetting the crank? Thanks for the video it's bought back many memories like being pi$$ed off if someone near by dropped something heavy while I was on A finishing cut !
At the top of the wheel are the two pads that hook onto the journal making a off set angle so it forms a round pin it is mounted to the grinding wheel so that follows it through the stroke.
This is an even year, so it's an IMTS year. That's the International Manufacturing Technology Show. It happens even years in Chicago and is the biggest machine tool show in the world. This year it's September 12 to 17. Last time I went, there were more than 2500 exhibitors and people attended from 117 countries. To get a good look at the whole show, I'd recommend 3 days, minimum. It's that big. Go to one and you'll learn the answer to "Who needs a CNC?"
This is an even year, so it's an IMTS year. That's the International Manufacturing Technology Show. It happens even years in Chicago and is the biggest machine tool show in the world. This year it's September 12 to 17. Last time I went, there were more than 2500 exhibitors and people attended from 117 countries. To get a good look at the whole show, I'd recommend 3 days, minimum. It's that big. Go to one and you'll learn the answer to "Who needs a CNC?"
One of my most memorable "NOT Warranty" (so many of them) diagnoses when I was in the Diesel business (Deutz USA) was a broken crankshaft out of a BIG engine. Mind you these engines had a one-year warranty, as many hours as you could put on them. This crank had clearly been stick welded up and reground. I mean the weld porosity was horrendous! Whoever did it also used US/Imperial grinding wheels instead of the correct metric ones. They double radiused every journal on that crank (hence the breakage from stress concentration)! Two other notable gotchas were they used standard size bearings where a normal regrind on a good crank would be one undersize. Actually, a third gotcha was the factory would only fit a good crank during assembly with ONE rod or main journal undersized (otherwise the crank would be rejected) and in 8 years I never saw an engine come in done that way. Showed my boss (also a Mechanical Engineer) and we both had a good laugh over it. Man, the crap people would try to pass off as warranty would fill a book! So told the customer no Warranty and he went ballistic! Threatening to sue, etc. (like we didn't get THAT all the time). Finally pointed out to him that the engine had been in service (per the service records) for THREE YEARS! You've heard of the book "How things work"? I could write one called "How stupid idiots FU Diesel engines"! ;)
I prime my engines with the ignition disabled. Or diesel stop position verified or the injector tube nuts loose. With the oil filter off a crank the engine till I get oil fro. The filter mount. The screw the empty oil filter on and crank another 10 seconds. I have used the shop vacuum on the oil filter mount to pull oil from the pan up and thru the pump. Thought I would drop a few tips.
What a craftmanship! I for myself only have very basic skills with the lathe and the milling machine. So I do appreciate the "know how" that must be involved in this task. Question: What tolerances is applicable when grinding cranks? Say for instance that you would be doing a regrind for a +10 bearing.
Reminds me of the old boys in their brown/green workshop coats standing at the machines at our local shop what’s now gone, 50% of the machines went to scrap 😔
Really interesting videos guys, keep it up. Quick random question if you could help, I saw you using some high temp sealer in another video for fitting liners and wondered where you got it? Can’t find it online👍🏻
Interesting for sure. Question: do you and John do all machining tasks or do you divvy it up between you, ie he does all the cranks, you do the heads etc etc? Or is it just as simple as what you each enjoy doing the most at the time?
Sorry to ask a stupid question!! I have a 2007 discovery 3, 2.7 tdV6. I hear the cran bearings are prone to premature wear and spinning. Is there an aftermarket solution (better bearings etc ) and is it a job you do or would be interested in ? Thanks 🙏 I’m considering refreshing the engine before disaster strikes.
Must be an awful lot of detailed communication required to manage different engineers doing these tasks and builds ... and no doubt customers keep changing their minds, or parts supplied also ...
Would have been great to have the the operator talk us through what he was doing and most importantly why. The side angle shot was ok for a couple of minutes, but misses the interest for me.
