Watch Tool Co. Chicago

Hit Miss Engine · May 4, 2020

I wanted to share a new purchase... This little grinder was an eBay find. I am a sucker for anything cast Iron with a fluted column so when I saw this neat little grinder pop up I knew I had to have it. I personally never heard of this company ... apparently they were big into treadle power machines. I’m not sure how many machines they made or how many are still out there but Ironically two of these exact same grinder showed up on eBay in the same week!! I decided to purchase both of them for their uniqueness... I received one in the mail and the other is due to arrive this week. In the attached pictures you will see what looks like a dirty rusty little grinder.. to my surprise I began to wash it with warm water and dish soap and it cleaned up. A reddish coating began to wash off with a rag revealing a lot of original japanning and pin striping. I believe the coating was years worth of buffing compound coating the grinder preserving its original finish. I still have a little more cleaning to do but wanted to share this interesting little tool. I also included a pic of the second grinder... I’m still amazed how two of these showed up on eBay within the same week. I will be testing out my ability to post large pictures in an upright fashion... this has been problematic for me in the past so please bear with me.

Hit Miss Engine · May 4, 2020

Here is the pic of the second grinder... sorry I’m trying with these pictures!

L Vanice · May 4, 2020

There was a Chicago Watch Tool Co. in Chicago circa 1900.

You have a polishing lathe. Jewelers and dental labs still call these things lathes, and Baldor still makes them, with motors, of course.

Polishing Lathes - Baldor.com

Here are some pages from a Purdy (Chicago) catalog, circa 1900 to show you how they were mounted. No fluted columns, but I think I see the name Chicago cast on a couple of the lathes. Foot power was more common than small electric motors for a long time. I visited an old dentist's office around 1955 and he still had a foot powered belt driven handpiece for drilling cavities and cleaning teeth. The slightly younger dentist I used had an electric motor on his belt driven handpiece.

Larry

Hit Miss Engine · May 5, 2020

Rick A54 said:
Your post got my curiosity going and I googled a couple of Chicago Watch Tool Co links. The google pictures link looks like it has your grinder in one of the pics.One of the others is a great jewelers tool catalog.

Benj. Allen & Co. : Catalogue No. 22 of Watch Materials, Tools and Jewelers' Supplies : Benjamin Allen & Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Check out page 224, 232-234

https://ia800200.us.archive.org/Boo...chmakerslathe00good_0277.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0

chicago watch tool co. - Google Search

https://ia600409.us.archive.org/Boo...rscircular00unse_14_0034.jp2&scale=4&rotate=0

In the one link you posted it noted that this little machine will grind, buff, polish, drill and saw! ... I would like to see how it drilled..

L Vanice · May 5, 2020

Hit Miss Engine said:
In the one link you posted it noted that this little machine will grind, buff, polish, drill and saw! ... I would like to see how it drilled..

Some of the polishing lathes came with a drill chuck on one side. They could hold drill bits or straight shank burs, saw arbors or mounted grinding points.

I had a beautifully made S.S. White Dental Mfg. Co.polishing lathe that took WW 8 mm watch lathe collets. WW collets and accessories came in many variations, allowing a lot of versatility. The picture shows a tapered screw arbor for buffs, laps and grinding wheels plus a WW collet.

Larry

kustomizer · May 5, 2020

Hit Miss Engine said:
I wanted to share a new purchase... This little grinder was an eBay find. I am a sucker for anything cast Iron with a fluted column so when I saw this neat little grinder pop up I knew I had to have it. I personally never heard of this company ... apparently they were big into treadle power machines. I’m not sure how many machines they made or how many are still out there but Ironically two of these exact same grinder showed up on eBay in the same week!! I decided to purchase both of them for their uniqueness... I received one in the mail and the other is due to arrive this week. In the attached pictures you will see what looks like a dirty rusty little grinder.. to my surprise I began to wash it with warm water and dish soap and it cleaned up. A reddish coating began to wash off with a rag revealing a lot of original japanning and pin striping. I believe the coating was years worth of buffing compound coating the grinder preserving its original finish. I still have a little more cleaning to do but wanted to share this interesting little tool. I also included a pic of the second grinder... I’m still amazed how two of these showed up on eBay within the same week. I will be testing out my ability to post large pictures in an upright fashion... this has been problematic for me in the past so please bear with me.

If you need it I have the foot powered wheel in the mid pic in post #3

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