[SEL] O.T. Quality over the years

[Jerry Evans]

Hi Guys and Gals,
         I've just finished restoring 3 Bentall No.3 corn grinders. These 
are the small hand operated kind like the one on the left (just not so old) 
in this pic on Peter's site:
<http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/Bentall/Bentall20.htm>

         Of the 3 that I have just worked on I would imagine that the first 
2 date back to about the 1940's and the other is quite modern (probably 
1960's).

         I say this because the older 2 have the "ornate" Bentall name in 
the casting. The newer one has the Bentall name in a modern block type 
letter cast into the hopper.

         I picked up the modern one at a local "scrappie" - it was already 
in the "skip" bound for the smelters (possibly in China). I had to climb 
into the skip and dig it out - what we idiots won't do for a piece of old 
rust !!

         This one had the original Bentall flywheel missing and an 
aluminium pulley in it's place - the previous owner had probably had it 
running off a small electric motor (probably a washing machine motor). It 
was in the best condition of the three - the grinding parts were still in 
very good condition and I decided to restore it as a working example 
(complete with "non original" aluminium pulley) I managed to find another 
flywheel (unfortunately not Bentall) and plan to mount this "outboard" of 
the aluminium pulley. It is my intention to mount this grinder on a stand 
with a flat belt pulley on a counter shaft driving the grinder (small 
pulley/big pulley) to slow it down to working speed (probably 50 or 60 
R.P.M) and drive it off one of my engines at shows.

         Of the other 2 I kept the oldest one but it's grinder cone and 
plate were worn out and broken - I just (cast iron) welded them together 
again and assembled it. This one is going into my house as an ornament. It 
will probably still be able to grind corn but the intention is just to keep 
it as a display.

         The other one I restored and gave it to my friend, Justin, who 
does not have a grinder.

         Anyway, this post is about quality over the years ( at least 
that's what it says in the subject line)  :-)

         I found that the 2 older grinders (probably from the 1940's and 
one possibly older) were very well made whereas the later model was "just 
not up to standard". The castings on the newer one just do not fit together 
as well as those of the older ones - there are gaps between the 2 main 
castings and the castings are VERY rough. Almost as if the tradesmen making 
them had a "couldn't care less" attitude. The older castings lined up very 
nicely and the quality of the castings themselves was of a much higher 
standard.

         Something else that I found strange was that the new castings had 
"ridges" on  the mating face of one casting and "grooves" on the mating 
face of the other to aid in alignment but they still did not align 
correctly. The older castings did not have these ridges and grooves and yet 
they aligned correctly when bolting them together.

         My Mother (who is now 89 years old) use to be a representative 
(travelling salesman/woman) for a big wholesaler selling to the rural areas 
in the 1960's & early 1970's and remembers selling "hundreds" of Bentall 
hand grinders for ZAR 16.00 each - in those days ZAR 1.00 was equal to US$ 
1.00 or 2.00 Pounds Sterling.  (P.S. She often tells me to thank the guys 
on the list for all the good wishes she received from list members after 
she was attacked a year or so ago.)

         So we are not talking about a "megabucks" item but the fact 
remains that the older models were of a much higher standard (workmanship 
wise) than the later models.

         Now, with respect to my British friends on the list (I have many 
and respect them all) - this timespan seems to tie up with the time that 
the British Trade Unions were at their strongest and British industry was 
at it's lowest ebb (ie. before Maggie Thatcher sorted them out). I'm of 
British descent (Welsh actually - what do you expect with a name like 
Evans) and have always held a high regard for British workmanship - which 
may explain my preference for British engines - "Ruston & Hornsby" rules !!.

         Anyway, to end an extremely long winded post - what are other list 
members's thoughts on the subject?

P.S. In later years Bentall grinders were also produced (under licence) in 
South Africa but these all had the words "Made in South Africa" included in 
the casting (part of our local content programme). The grinder mentioned 
above was not made in South Africa

Keep the revs up (or down)
Jerry Evans
Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
Etched Brass Engine Plates made to order:
www.oldengine.org/members/evans/plates/index.htm