I asked the deer processor if he would do me right on the next deer since I had no meat to show for that harvest and he hum hawed around with little or no response to my question, therefore I purchased a used refrigerator to age the quartered up deer until I de-boned, sliced and ground it, packaged and later vacuum sealed all the wild game that I freeze along with other things as well.

With said introduction, I will get to the meat and potatoes of this short story and what prompted it.

The last two or three deer that I processed, I noticed my LEM-10 meat grinder which was made in Poland and sold by the Sausage Maker, Inc. in Buffalo, NY that I purchased on 04-21-1998 had an unusual sound to the motor and internal gear box and decided to get a back up grinder going before it bit the dust. Murphy's Law never sleeps.

Above is pix of the antiquated meat grinder that is no longer available from the Sausage Maker, Inc, and doubt you can find parts for it either, other than the standard grinding plates and cutter knife.

I looked at the prices of the current meat grinders and needed one that would adequately do the job for (home usage) and prices ranged anywhere from 100 bucks to nearly a thousand dollars or more and did not want to spend that amount of money.  I guess frugal comes to mind being a nice word for stingy, grin if you must!  However, after getting the Frankenstein meat grinder operational, I don't think I was being too frugal in the long run!

Fellow Wadesboro Church of God member Bruce High of Marshville, NC said he had a grinder that someone had given him and that person used it to grind up cabbage, etc. and he decided to sell it to me for 75 dollars.  However, when he went to test it out, the shaft to grinder feed auger broke off where the chain drive sprocket was attached.  I told him I would still purchase it and locate a feed auger for the Chop-Rite # 22 meat grinder.

FRANKENSTEIN MEAT GRINDER

The meat grinder is not too pretty to look at, therefore I named it Frankenstein.  I will later do some sanding on the unit and apply a coat of stain.  Normally, hand cranked meat grinders such as the Chop-Rite style that have been converted to motorized drive will have a very large pulley on the grinder feed auger and a small pulley on the motor to reduce the RPMs to the feed auger, but it wasn't necessary with this gear box drive, but the other way to increase the RPM of the feed auger, therefore the large pulley on the motor/gear box drive.  Many have used direct drive motors coupled to the feed auger which have a slow enough RPM.

My only concern is the side torque and friction applied to the auger since there is no bushing or bearing in the grinder housing, but simply metal on metal which will require a good application of food grade lubricant on the auger shaft with each usage.  There is a fiber washer that goes between the auger shaft and the housing to reduce friction and wear when you tighten the large threaded ring which pushes the feed auger to the rear and keeps the knife blade tight against the grinder plate.

The Dayton motor with the gear box must weight fifty (50) pounds or so it seems.

Above pix of the motor which has a reduction of around 58:1 ratio with the shaft turning at a very slow 30 RPM.  That speed is way too slow to grind meat and my current LEM-10 meat grinder runs at around 211 RPM on the high speed setting which does an excellent job. 

I needed to add a 9 inch diameter sprocket for the 3/4 inch diameter shaft for a # 40 chain which had 60 teeth and located one.  It was a little pricy around 59 bucks, but needed it to increase the RPM on the Chop-Rite # 22 meat auger to at least 135 RPM. 

I ordered a Chop-Rite # 22 meat auger and had a friend Rodney Caudle of Polkton, NC have shaft end turned down to 3/4 inch diameter for a 2 inch diameter # 40 sprocket which has 13 teeth.

I did a test fit with a piece of 1/4 inch plywood to get an idea of what elevation I needed on the wood base of the grinder.  I also wanted to know if there was enough existing chain, of which it was.  I used scrap aka unallocated birch plywood for the base and treated pine blocks to elevated the Chop-Rite # 22 grinder.  I wanted the grinder head to be high enough off the table to allow a deep plastic freezer lug to catch the ground meat.  I used brass threaded inserts EZ Loc under the grinder feet for 1/4 x 20 tpi stainless steel Allen socket head bolts.

I used 3/8 x 4 inch carriage bolts, washers and nuts to secure the motor/gear box to the Birch plywood base. 

Another view of the Frankenstein Meat Grinder.  With the exposed sprocket teeth, this definitely will not be OSHA compliant!

As evidenced by the above pix, you have a wide opening (throat) and can put large cuts of meat into the grinder.

I wired an on/off switch to the motor and secured the switch box to the base in front of the mounting blocks for the grinder.

I will give the grinder a field test with the next deer that I harvest and decide to grind.  To clean the grinder feed auger, I will remove the two set screws on the grinder sprocket, pull the meat auger from the grinder and if necessary remove the four (4) hold down bolts to the grinder body and clean the entire grinder.  It is not as convenient as turning one knob or lever to detach a grinder head from the grinder motor, but this will work, nevertheless.  I believe the grinder body can be adequately cleaned without removing it from the base unit.

This was a fun project and used what materials I had on hand and parts purchased was approximately $ 267.92.  I could have easily purchased a decent/low-mid grade grinder for that amount, but this grinder should have all the power needed (800 inch pounds) of torque with the 1/2 HP motor and the throat on the grinder body is large enough not to worry about having to cut small chunks of meat to feed into it.

I will add a review of this Frankenstein Meat Grinder when I get a chance to use it, hopefully in the very near future.

TABLE BELOW - COST OF GRINDER

Web page uploaded by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-19-2024.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be attained.   

Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Open this link about faith in the King James Bible.