For the last few weeks Ive been really interested in the pharos, especially after I found the voodoo catch cup mod. I plan to purchase one in the next month. I like the idea of a portable titan, since I often go on trips or grind elsewhere, but I want the grinder for daily use as well. I decided to take on a project and build a mount that allows it to work as a more stationary grinder, but unlike other mods Ive seen for this purpose, I wont be modding the pharos (aside from voodoo mods). I came up with this very HG one esque stand.




Its based around a machined piece the pharos slides into, and its locked in position using a pin dropped through the holes in the frame for the tommy bar. The edges of the aluminum plates on the pharos will fit into the grooves in the mount to hold it in place vertically. I plan to source a funnel to use in place of a catch cup when its mounted this way. Ultimately my plan is to motorize it with bike gears and a windshield wiper motor, but the first version will still be hand cranked. I was able to source the miter gears, axles, and bearings from amazon for ~$50, but haven't bought them.

I have a few needs, and I hope the good people of HB can help me out.

In my head the frame for the whole thing is made of aluminum bar stock thats welded together. Is this a good idea? How thick should I make it? I marked it as 1/2", but I would rather something thinner, like 1/8" or 1/4".

The axle will be 3/4" steel rod, mostly because the 3/4" bearings are really cheap. I cant seem to figure out how to attach the Pharos to the axle though. When its all built, the axle will not be able to move vertically, and the pharos wont have much play in the mount. I was thinking of some kind of chuck, but I dont know enough to know if that would work.

And my biggest problem remains finding a way to machine the mount for the pharos itself. I certainly can't do it. I will need to find a machinist for that, hopefully it doesn't cost more than the pharos for a single part.

Any suggestions and criticism are welcome. Im not an engineer or designer, so this may not even be plausible. If anyone can recommend a part or machinist (in the US obviously) Im open to it.
Thanks

Price it out on McMaster Carr, you may save 1 or 200$ from a new hg-one, but you will be lacking the dependability and design aesthetic. Not to mention that if it doesn't work you're out ~400$ or so (gears are expensive).

I found the miter gears on amazon for cheap, about $100 for the pair. Ill take a look around and see if I can get some as salvage. Living in the rust belt has that advantage, tons of abandoned/scrapped mechanical things. Ive got enough bike gears for V2 lying around that I wont be buying anything.

http://www.amazon.com/Boston-Gear-L112Y ... miter+gear

The reason Im going this route rather than the HG one is I need a portable grinder as well as a stationary one. Rather than buying two, a pharos+mods and an HG one (which Id still motorize, I know myself) or K10, Im making the mount.

Nice design and many interesting components. Having tried to make a cheap holding dock, I really like the 'holding frame' you imagined--especially using the existing holes as a holding pin! Pretty slick. I do think that sliding the Pharos into something that will hold the 3 plates will keep the grinding setting the same.

The one thing to keep in mind is scale. If you want it to look like the HG1 and have space for your PF and gears on top, the thing will easily tower over 2 feet and probably closer to 3 feet. It would need to be on a chair or lower table, I imagine.

The intent wasn't to make it look like an hg one, it just so happens for this application they did a pretty great job designing a usable frame. I did think about scale, and while my current bar is table height, that won't always be the case (I'm renting). It certainly wouldn't bother me if its massive, but that would elevate cost. Much like the Pharos itself, the game here is off the shelf parts when possible for low cost. I also drew up plans for a mount that only holds the top plate, if the quote is too high when time comes to fabricate it.

Aluminium rectangular bar stock is not very expensive. (Brass is much more.)

You can get a piece of it of the size you like and cut it into three pieces and join them together with long countersunk screws to make the U. You can also make it with very precision dimensions that way. All you need is to find someone near you with a good metal band saw and drill press! Aluminium welds do not look pretty, even when done by an expert. Bolting them together makes it look very professional. (Remember that aluminium, however, requires at least twice as much thread length as bolt diameter.)

Should that be done at 90 degree edges, or should the corners be cut to two 45 degree edges? It would certainly be more economical to do this way than to have a piece machined.

90 Degree edges look very good, and are much easier to do. Another thought is to mill slots in one and fit them together in the slot. You do need to use care when drilling to get everything straight.

What should I use to mill the slots to slide the Pharos into? I'd assume I need to machine that, but if I can use some type of saw to keep costs down, that would be great.