My set’s incomplete and the box is in bad shape. Hey, if you want to do some mods and restoration, I’ll swap ya.

Anyway, the ribbed doodad in #4 screws to the tapered grinding stones seen in #6. You then put the guide rods from #5 into the valve guide in the cylinder head, and spin the stone and ribbed bit using the motor. The two red bits seen inside in #2 and on the top in #7, are the dresser. They bolt together and using a diamond bit, let you dress the stones down to the correct angle.

I got this set along with a Van Dorn No.6 “Universal Valve and Tool Grinder”, shown here partly refurbished:
http://www.docsmachine.com/machineshop/vandorn12.jpg

I have a 1941 Van Dorn catalog that doesn’t list the No.6 grinder, and a 1951 catalog that does, but doesn’t say anything like “New!” or “Latest model!”, etc. So I’m guessing the machine dates to roughly 1945 to 1948 or so, give or take a year.

The seat grinder was sold separately: both catalogs show essentially the same kit and wooden box, but the 1941 catalog shows the two round “pinch” pulls, while the 1951 catalog shows the drawers with small, rectangular drawer pulls. Neither shows the box with the lid closed, so I can’t tell if there’s any difference in the nameplate.

(I was mistaken on mine- it has a “Van Dorn” nametag the same size and placement as yours. I’d had the box sitting facing the wall so long, I’d forgotten.

Oh, and just for the sake of the argument, here’s a closeup of the ID plate of the No.6 Grinder:
http://www.docsmachine.com/machineshop/vandorn2.jpg

Note at the very bottom, where it says Van Dorn is a division of the Black & Decker Company. If you can find out just when Van Dorn stopped being VD and everything started having the B&D name, you’d have a better idea of the age of the box. Although, as i said, my ‘51 catalog shows different drawer pulls, and it’s still in a Van Dorn catalog…

Feel free to drop me an E-mail if you have any other questions, or need more pix. (These are reduced for upload, I have the hi-rez originals too.) And let me know if you learn anything more on the history.

Doc.

Van Dorn was a division of, or owned by, Black and Decker.

Doc.