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.

The deer plack on the upper left is the 9 point buck.  That is a pile of buck antlers in my deer horn stew pot harvested over the decades with the venison ending up in our freezers!  I have used a few of the antlers for knife handles.

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 which cost $ 395.00 not counting shipping, 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.

One thing is for certain; I have definitely got my money's worth out of this grinder since 1998!

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 have learned over the many decades, "Most of the time, you get what you pay for."

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.

FINISHED FRANKENSTEIN MEAT GRINDER

The above is the finished meat grinder SN 498 and below is a narrative with pictures from start to finish on this project!

FRANKENSTEIN MEAT GRINDER SAGA

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.

I mounted the sprockets inward to give easy access to the set screws and it was necessary on the large sprocket because of the location of the woodruff key located on the motor/gear box shaft.

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 am hoping the RPMs will be enough to not take too long a time to grind 20 to 40 pounds of venison;  will have to wait and see when I grind the next deer harvested!  Anyway, will have to live with it since to get above 200 RPM on the feed auger would require a much larger diameter motor/gearbox sprocket and of course get a longer # 40 chain.

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/gearbox to the Birch plywood base. 

Another view of the Frankenstein Meat Grinder.  With the exposed sprocket teeth, this definitely will not be OSHA compliant!  I might make some type of wood guard for the chain and sprockets that can be easily detached, if this unit works as expected! 

As evidenced by the above pix, you have a wide opening (throat) aka hopper and can put large cuts of meat into the grinder.  When I grind my next deer, I will get an idea of what size of meat the grinder will accommodate.  The exposed feed auger is definitely a safety hazard in my humble opinion since it is motorized.

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 $ 327.71.  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.  As stated earlier, there definitely is some safety issues with this unit.

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.

FRANKENSTEIN MEAT GRINDER REVIEW

I had a chance to use the Frankenstein meat grinder today (12-02-2024) and for the most part well pleased.  I ground 16.4 pounds of venison in 6.12 minutes and believe the speed of the feed auger is adequate. 

I need to make a heavier platform (base) to mount the grinder base and the motor/gearbox where the base will not flex during operation when the motor gets under a load which causes some slack in the # 40 chain, enough to were it makes a racket.

CLEANING THE MEAT GRINDER

Cleaning the meat grinder was not a problem either.  I loosened the two set screws on the sprocket to the feed auger and simply pulled the auger from the grinder housing.  The meat grinder housing is large enough diameter to easily clean it with removing it from the mounting base.

Above pix of the first version, of which the base had too much flex in it due to the high torque of the motor/gear box.

I took the meat grinder parts topside and washed them in the kitchen sink and air drying them on paper towels.  Before installing the parts back into the meat grinder housing, I will lubricate them with food safe lubricant.

NOTE:  I had a piece of Birch 3/4 inch plywood that was wedged between the feet of the gearbox/motor housing mounting bracket and the base of the meat grinder, but it did not stay in place and will replaced it with a piece of hardwood and screw it down, therefore it should not move any.  I did have some very large chunks of venison that I was feeding into the Chop-Rite # 22 grinder auger/throat/hopper and the meat was partly frozen and sure that helped attribute to the base of the motor/gearbox moving forward some causing the slack in the chain.

With this batch of ground venison, I flattened out each package which makes it easier to store taking up less room in the freezer.  Another big plus, when you thaw a package out, it takes far less time to thaw.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-02-2024.

REMADE THE BASE SECTION

I used a couple lengths of pine 2 x 8 x 24 inches in length, which is actually 1.5 x 7 x 24 inches and glued and screwed the two pieces together.  After allowing to dry a while, I cut the base that holds the meat grinder down to 3 inches in height and cut about 1/2 inch +- from the side of the base opposite the sprocket of the feed auger to match the width of the pine board(s) base.

The block base that holds the meat grinder was drilled to accept 3/8 x 5 inch hex head lag screws and used a total of four and mounted the block grinder base to the base boards.  Holes were drilled the appropriate size for the body of the lag screws into the mounting block and for the screw portion of the lag screws that go into the base of the unit.

After securing the grinder base block, the motor/gearbox was positioned and clamped in place to mark the holes for the 3/8 x 4 inch carriage bolts with the chain in place and proper tension applied to the chain from the motor/gearbox sprocket to the feed auger sprocket.  After marking with pencil and black paint, the holes were drilled.  A hardwood block the appropriate length was fitted between the motor/gearbox base and the block base of the grinder to keep everything secured in place and the carriage bolts were tightened down.  I screwed the small hardwood block between the grinder base and the base of the motor/gearbox to prevent the motor/gearbox from trying to move toward the grinder base under load.  The four carriage bolts tightened down should have been enough, but wanted a little extra margin of stability.  The rotation of the grinder feed auger is clockwise when looking at the shaft end of the feed auger.

I did a test run and everything was properly aligned and the carriage bolt nuts were pulled down tight.  I used a piece of 3/16 inch Birch plywood glued at each end of the base board since the carriage bolt heads were not countersinked.  I could have countersinked the heads of the carriage bolts, but would have to shorten the length of a couple of them and took the easier route.

This base should not flex any under load from the high torque of the motor/gear box.

I obtained a matching cover plate for the switch box and had to move it forward about half an inch for clearance.

There was no any flex that I could detect in the grinder and will test it out on the next deer harvest.  As stated earlier, I will probably add a safety guard for the exposed sprockets and chain with a wood frame that is easily detachable since I need access to the grinder feed auger sprocket to remove it for cleaning.  I  might need a small crane to move this Frankenstein meat grinder around; grin if you must!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-04-2024 and 12-05-2024.

INSTALLED SAFETY GUARD AND PAINTING

I fabricated a simple rectangular wood frame safety guard using ripped down 2x8 strips, mitered the ends and installed 3/8 inch diameter wood dowels hidden in each corner.  Since the sprockets and chain were proud of the base, I had to drill a recess for said chain and sprockets using a Forstner drill bit and drill press.  I then painted the frame of the safety guard yellow and also painted the wood portion of the meat grinder base with black enamel paint.  Clear acrylic material was then fitted to the outside of the safety guard which was completed before the safety guard was painted yellow.  The Chop-Rite hopper is the major safety hazard present since it is possible to get your fingers into the feed auger, therefore extreme caution must be observed at all times when placing meat into the hopper and best to use a push stick when needed.

You can see the recess excavated out of the frame for the chain and sprockets.  I will put my thinking cap on and see about enclosing the entire chain and sprockets with the clear acrylic, however it will have to be able to detach from the safety guard frame since the entire frame has to move away from the base when it is time to remove the meat feed auger from the grinder housing for cleaning.

To remove the safety guard, unscrew the threaded 1/4 x 20 TPI rods which have a Tee knob glued to the end and it easily detaches from the grinder base.

Hopefully, will get to use Frankenstein with this modification before our 2024 big game hunting season ends.

This will be the position of the meat grinder when in operation and the guard does a good job of keeping your hands away from the chain and sprockets, although not foul proof!

I am looking forward to using Frankenstein meat grinder in the near future with the next deer harvested.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-12-2024.

INSTALLED ADDITIONAL SAFETY GUARD

I installed a safety guard on the inside of the safety guard frame using the same acrylic sheet material and had enough left over to finish this project.  Your fingers and hands are totally isolated from the sprockets and chain.  I have a couple Tee knobs with a 1/4 x 20 TPI threaded rod securing the acrylic panel to the safety guard frame, however I have a screw attached through the acrylic sheet and into the grinder base block that keeps the acrylic in position once I remove the two Tee knobs.

When removing and cleaning the feed auger, I will first remove the two Tee knobs located on the top of the safety guard frame and then remove the two Tee knobs on the lower outside of the safety guard frame and pull the guard frame away from the grinder and base.  I will then loosen the two set screws on the feed auger sprocket and pull the auger from the grinder housing for cleaning as stated earlier.

This is not as convenient as a regular self contained meat grinder where you simply loosen one knob or move a lever upward to disengage the grinder head mechanism from the meat grinder motor/gear box, but this is doable and I have a powerful grinding machine.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-14-2024.  

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.