2x72 accessories

Sean Yaw

Sean Yaw

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
402
I am getting close to pulling the trigger on a 2x72 and would like to hear opinions about accessories. I am pretty sure I am going to go with a Reeder grinder. I mostly make small folding knives. Here are my questions:
1 - I was thinking about getting a 12" contact wheel, as well as a platen with a 4" and 2" contact wheel on it. Does this setup seem reasonable?
2 - I was not going to get a small wheel attachment. Does anyone use those a lot for slipjoints?
3 - The surface grinders attachments cost about what a used surface grinder costs! Do they really justify the cost, or is it better to just put the money towards a real surface grinder?
4 - Are there any other attachments I should consider getting right off the bat? Rotary platen, 8" contact wheel, $2,900 cooled carbide platen? ;)
 
Can’t go wrong with a reeder from what I’ve heard! For context, I make mostly fixed blades, but my $.02

1) the platen setup sounds good. I like my 10” wheel the most
2) I use the small wheels a ton. From profiling, to tight concave curves to sheath making. Not sure for slippies though
3) the attachments traditionally can’t match the tolerances of the dedicated machines. Really depends on your shop space and penchant for another large machine
4) I looove my slack platen attachment, mostly for handles though. This one may not be applicable in your example.

Not sure any of that was helpful, but that’s been my experience making small to medium sized fixed blades.
 
I use my flat platen with 1.5in polyurethane on top, 10in wheel, and .75in small wheel. They are all really useful, but I could do without the small wheel attachment, just really handy; the question for a small wheel attachment (imho) is whether you have radii that match what needs to be "carved out". On my backspring folders, I don't often have a need for a small wheel, (the 1.5 is the correct radius), but that would depend on what you are making! Hope something in there helps.
 
I have a 4" and 2" wheel set up, I use it all the time.

I have no SGA, I buy flat ground steel and keep things flat on surface plate.

Small wheel attachment comes in real hand and great for the kick on slippies
 
Sean Yaw said:
I am getting close to pulling the trigger on a 2x72 and would like to hear opinions about accessories. I am pretty sure I am going to go with a Reeder grinder. I mostly make small folding knives. Here are my questions:
1 - I was thinking about getting a 12" contact wheel, as well as a platen with a 4" and 2" contact wheel on it. Does this setup seem reasonable?
2 - I was not going to get a small wheel attachment. Does anyone use those a lot for slipjoints?
3 - The surface grinders attachments cost about what a used surface grinder costs! Do they really justify the cost, or is it better to just put the money towards a real surface grinder?
4 - Are there any other attachments I should consider getting right off the bat? Rotary platen, 8" contact wheel, $2,900 cooled carbide platen? ;)
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1- yes it seems reasonable. I have a 12” and that’s it wish I had an 18” tho
2- I’d do it, good for cleaning up the inside of the springs and little of things
3- kinda up to you. I’m waiting to get a surface grinder. But if you have some issues gets an attachment. There’s seems good
4- as much as you can afford😂
 
1) 12" is a great wheel size. 10" works fine, too.
2) Small wheels come in handy. You don't absolutely have to get one, but you will enjoy it if you do tasks with varying radii.
3) A dedicated surface grinder is far better than an SGA. That said, the shop space is often a factor. The Reeder SGA is a good one.
4) A variety of work rest sizes is good.
An articulated work rest is very nice, but pricey.
Wheels in various sizes from 1" to 6" are nice to have.
A rotary platen is nice, but not a requirement.
A combo-platen with 4" and 2" rubber wheels is very useful.
A water-cooled platen chiller is nice to have, but not a necessity.
A pyro-ceramic glass platen or hardened platen is very important.

5) what gets left off most folks list is one of the most useful and lower cost items for your 2X72 - A water spray-mist system. These are really good at speeding up grinding especially if you do most grinding post-HT. The Kool-Mist is the original. but the low-cost clones are just as good. The Kool-mist concentrate is very good, and I recommend using it.
 
Love my combo platen with 6" and 2" contact wheels. I also modified the hardened platen for doing tang notches. My most used attachment by far.
I've got an 8" and 12" wheel. The 8 was great for learning hollow grinding but I only use the 12 these days.
Just got my small wheel attachment up and running with a 1.5" contact wheel. I plan to use it plenty for tighter ID spring curves
An articulating tool rest is a must!
Rotary platen is an absolute game changer. Worth every penny.
A good SGA is plenty accurate but not as precise as a hard wheel grinder. Neither are perfect. Ask a machinist, perfect flat is impossible. Space is an issue for me so I have an SGA. I have no issue with the tolerances I'm getting out of it.
Tilting feature is also a must unless you plan to buy a dedicated horizontal grinder. This is why an articulating workrest is a must. ;)
 
I have the Ameribrade setup and can't say enough good things about the machine, the accessories, and the customer service. I make framelocks, liner locks, and fixed blades. I use my small wheel on every knife, getting into finger choils, etc... Also use them on my kydex sheaths to get the proper radius. Their surface grinder attachment is a game change on my folders. Getting the blades and scales flat is a must and this thing makes it a breeze.
 
I'll just add (and I'd guess it doesn't matter much for someone making slip joints) that a surface grinding attachment for a belt grinder will be able to hog off material much, much faster than a proper surface grinder. A good, well tuned surface grinder is designed for taking off a few tenths to a few thou extremely precisely, but not for hogging off 20 thou when you want your stock thinner. A surface grinding attachment for a belt grinder excels at hogging off material but runs into the limits of precision around the one-two thou level largely due to the inhomogeneity and inconsistency of belts. You can do better if you're being very careful and find a good belt, but it's not easy. They are two tools of similar name and function but at different ends of the speed-precision spectrum. In an ideal world, I'd have both!
 
CallumRD1 said:
a surface grinding attachment for a belt grinder will be able to hog off material much, much faster than a proper surface grinder. A good, well tuned surface grinder is designed for taking off a few tenths to a few thou extremely precisely, but not for hogging off 20 thou when you want your stock thinner.
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This is something that's not mentioned very often about the SGA attachments - the ability to hog off material. While a true surface grinder excels at removing a tenth or even up to a thou, it doesn't remove LOTS of metal very good at all. I can pop a 36 grit ceramic belt on the SGA and really hog material. I can also move to a 400 grit belt and normally get <.001 over the length of a slipjoint without too much problem.
 
Ken H> said:
I can pop a 36 grit ceramic belt on the SGA and really hog material.
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Out of curiosity, how much do you take off each pass? I started playing with this lately and with my motor, I can get about 0.004"-0.005"...
 
Not really sure, not measured it closely, but .004 to .005" sounds about right with a really heavy cut running about 5,000 SFPM belt speed. The billet sure gets hot, and will scorch the epoxy on the magnetic table.
 
weo said:
Out of curiosity, how much do you take off each pass? I started playing with this lately and with my motor, I can get about 0.004"-0.005"...
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My 3 hp motor will take as much as a 20 thou pass with a 36 grit belt at 7,000 SFM but it gets a bit scary pushing it that hard. My SGA isn't rigid enough to make that feel comfortable. I usually take more like 5 thou on a 60 grit belt when I'm hogging off steel. I'd rather take many light passes than worry about throwing a hunk of steel across the shop at 80 mph!
 
At 7,000 SFPM speed that would throw some sparks! Scary for sure. I max'd at 4,000 SFPM for a long time, then finally changed to a 5" drive wheel to get 5,000 SFPM. Sometimes that scares me a tad- just enough to be careful. A new 36 grit belt at 5,000 SFPM will take some hide off if not careful, and 7,000 SFPM would take meat off down to the bone. Scary just to think about. I've started using gloves more often now when grinding at high speed.
 
1. Glass backer for the flat platen is awesome. Easy to make another backer with leather for soft backer options as well.
2. Large and small wheels are a no brainer IMO.
3. Love my spray misting setup for grinding very thin kitchen knives post HT. Super cheap on Amazon.
4. As far as surface grinder attachments go here are my thoughts, after owning a traditional surface grinder and switching to a SGA: The SGA attachment is less precise, but WAY faster and stores in a fraction of the amount of space, although it cost a bit more. Biggest downside is not having a release on the magnetic chuck, but apparently Northridge Tool sells one that you can put on your SGA. In an ideal world I would convert a traditional surface grinder to running a belt, because it would give you the best of both worlds.
5. Disc grinder is handy but I could go without it easier than my other attachments.
6. I don't have an articulating workrest but it's very high on my list to get.

None of the attachments are really necessary, but they can really make your life easier and make the whole process more fun.
 
Signalprick said:
An articulating tool rest is a must!
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Yep I couldn't agree more on this point! Having a good work rest from the get go is something many overlook but it can save a ton of time in the long run if it's efficient. I did a review of a new on that's the best out there imho (ref. here) if the OP wants to check it out (even if you don't get it now, maybe later would be a nice upgrade)

Also I want to make a few points about the SGA... I've got a Reeder SGA and it's incredible, definitely top of the game as far as SGA's go. But I am doing 2 mods to get the most out of it...
1. I'm using a metal wheel. This gets the most flatness out of the parts and the best finish (for me anyway). Rubber wheels tend to leave some run out near the edges.
2. It was mentioned above... but I purchased an on/off magnetic chuck from Northridge Tool (I still have to install it). The problem w/ normal chucks (and Reeder is above average because you can remove the magnets at least) is that every time you swap sides of the blade or put a new blade on, you have to remove the magnets, clean the chuck, stone the chuck and then you can FINALLY put the blade on. Having an on/off chuck w/ a smooth surface will be a game changer I think.

Here's a pic of where I used my actual stone surface grinder on some blades after using the SGA w/ a metal wheel... it's less than a thou I believe but you can see what I mean about flatness (dark spots are where the stone wheel has removed the peaks on the blade left from the SGA)

i-Ns2mVgn-X4.jpg
 
The ameribrade sga has on/off magnets and is a great tool to have.
But it still would be towards the bottom of must have equipment for me. You can buy a lot of precision ground steel with that money.
Just depends how far you are on your journey. James
 
JamesBro said:
The ameribrade sga has on/off magnets and is a great tool to have.
But it still would be towards the bottom of must have equipment for me. You can buy a lot of precision ground steel with that money.
Just depends how far you are on your journey. James
Click to expand...
I don't have an SGA and I'm not in a huge hurry to get one, but I do think about it when I'm doing poor man's distal taper.
 
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