Angle Grinder vs. Bench Grinder

B

bzzhewt

Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
127
Which would be more efficient for a 1st time knife maker, angle or bench grinders? I will be grinding a saber grind, not a flat, v-grind.
Thanx
 
I don't think an angle grinder would be useful much at all to a knife maker, maybe except to cut lengths of bar stock or something.

I'm a beginner, but I find a bench grinder is quite helpful, plus you can make attachments which allow a belt to be used as well.
 
forget the angle grinder unless u plan on buying a linishing attatchment for it and about 30000 belts...lol... go the benchgrinder preferably an 8" with a multitool sanding attatchment. angle grinders do way too rough a job.
 
I myself find the angle grinder being used alot more than a bench grinder. With any tool its more a matter of learning how to use it to get the most benifit from it. When I first started doing knives an angle grinder was my work horse used for both profiles and starting bevels. Its used even more these days.
 
I am not sure i could survive without my angle grinder anymore. my bench grinder crapped out about 6 months ago and i don't even miss it anymore. I read an old article on D.E. Henry awhile ago and he used an angle grinder allot for profileing and setting up the bevels. I figure if it worked for him it oughta work for me.
 
tacmedic45 said:
I am not sure i could survive without my angle grinder anymore. my bench grinder crapped out about 6 months ago and i don't even miss it anymore. I read an old article on D.E. Henry awhile ago and he used an angle grinder allot for profileing and setting up the bevels. I figure if it worked for him it oughta work for me.
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I used an angle grinder quite a bit back in my stock removal days and got the idea from DE Henry.
 
Right now I use an angle grinder for all my rough profiling. I use a zip disc to cut most of the excess off then a grinding disc to smooth it out. Depending on the profile ...I also have a spindle sander to get the finger grooves etc. nice and smooth. I find it works quite well. Maybe not for a full time maker as this is a little more time consuming than most other methods. I also would find it a bit crude to use for the bevels but I guess you could start them off with itif you hav eno other way. I have some pics of profiling... if you'd like to see them send me your e-mail. They are too "big" to fit on the alotted space per picture that I can use here. I could also show you my disc sander which I use for the bevels (home made).

Mike
 
OK, I need professional help. I put angle grinding heads on my bench grinder for initial profiling. Kind of like boxer/briefs, can't make up my mind.
 
mikxx1 said:
Right now I use an angle grinder for all my rough profiling. I use a zip disc to cut most of the excess off then a grinding disc to smooth it out. Depending on the profile ...I also have a spindle sander to get the finger grooves etc. nice and smooth. I find it works quite well. Maybe not for a full time maker as this is a little more time consuming than most other methods. I also would find it a bit crude to use for the bevels but I guess you could start them off with itif you hav eno other way. I have some pics of profiling... if you'd like to see them send me your e-mail. They are too "big" to fit on the alotted space per picture that I can use here. I could also show you my disc sander which I use for the bevels (home made).

Mike
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Yes, Mike, I would like to see whatever you can show me. The more i learn, the better. What grits (at minimum) should i be using for sanding?
Also, where to get decent files?
 
I almost exclusively use my angle grinder. It's far more versatile than my bench grinder will ever be (your mileage may vary). My bench grinder mostly sits at the end of my bench, kind of in the way. I started to use it the other day but picked up the angle grinder instead.
Depending on the project I'll use just a wire cup or wire disk to remove scale and then attack with files, or if the knife is already hardened, I'll use hard disks on scale and flap disks to get a better shape. They're VERY fast in my experience and I can see everything that's going on. The main downside is that I don't quench often enough, so that's why I stopped using it after the hardening- I didn't want to start an uncontrolled tempering. The other downside with the grinding/sanding disks are the marks left behind. another reason, in my book, to stick with wire wheels for scale removal and then go to files.

I have my flame suit on, so here goes. I buy my files at Lowes. They're Nicholson files and they last quite a while for the $9 a piece I spend on them. I use soapstone to lubricate them and a brass brush to clean them. When a file won't cut to my satisfaction anymore, it becomes another tool.

I bought my angle grinder at Haror Freight. I use my grinder a LOT. I've had this one for over 18 months and it still runs strong. The last one broke when I pressed the locking button while the disk was still spinning. So its only problem was that it wouldn't lock the spindle so I could change the disk; the motor still worked. Should this one go out, it's cheap to replace and the motor brushes are the same brushes you'd find for most other tools its size. The cost: $17.

I hope that helps some.
 
bzzhewt said:
Yes, Mike, I would like to see whatever you can show me. The more i learn, the better. What grits (at minimum) should i be using for sanding?
Also, where to get decent files?
Click to expand...

Just so you know I use a hitachi 5" angle grinder for pre-heat treat removal only. Also, I only use it for perimeter profiling and a little on the bolsters if I make them too oversized. This angle grinder has balls man. I wouldn't substitute with any other.

The grits I use are 40x to start, then 120, 220, 400 and depending on how fine a finish I want I generally go one more step to 600x. I find each step I take seems to be sufficient in removing the previous scratches (use a very bright light to look for those and it helps to go across the previous grit so you can see them removed easier.) It's hard with power tools to do this so after sanding with say 120 on the disc sander...do a little accross the grain by hand until it looks like you've changed the direction of the 120x scratches. then go to 220 and you'll be able to see what needs to be removed a lot easier. Sometimes I stay at 400x If I want a real satin look. Also, if you're thinking of using a disc sanderish idea stay away from the pre-made discs. Buy disc cement and use sandpaper...it's much cheaper and they come off a lot easier. :D

Mike Coughlin
 
I'm thinking of throwing in the towel on the entirely-with-hand files knifemaking plan, and buying a power tool. I definitely don't have room in the budget for a decent belt grinder, so I had been thinking a bench grinder would be the next best thing. But now this thread pops up, and the guys with "Knifemaker" under their names are all saying that an angle grinder is better. How come this is such a secret? I don't miss a lot of threads on the forums here (not the titles anyway ;)), but I've never heard anyone mention grinding anything with an angle grinder!

So I just want to make absolutely sure I understand before I give away my hard-earned dollars... buying an angle grinder is a cost-effective timesaver for a beginning knifemaker and a Good Idea?

Thanks, guys.

Edit: Forgot to ask: where can I find the D. E. Henry tutorials/articles mentioned above?
 
MSCantrell dont forget that you can get a cheap angle grinder at Harbor Freight, usually on sale for around $20. You can get different blades for it, including sanding, grinding, and metal cutting (real thin ones) really cheap there. :D
 
Wow.... I just made the conection of what yall were talking about. I read this whole fourm and acidently thaught yall were talking about belt sanders instead of angle grinders.

I never thaught of useing an angle grinder. Thanks....
 
Would one use the angle grinder freehand with the knife clamped down, or somehow secure the grinder and freehand the knife?
 
raymond, ditto.
i cant use a bench grinder to form bevels because i can never get them even, and one side always looks really bad. with a angle grinder i clamp the blade down to a tabletop, and start to form the bevels, then i cool it and flip it, i might flip it 10 times on a given blade, but the come out even, then i clean up the grind marks with a belt sander.
 
I just got my angle grinder a few months ago and I used it today to clean off the scale from a forged knife.

I am hollow grinding this knife but I did start the bevels and profile the knife with the angle grinder. The angle grinder was much quicker than using my 4"x36" belt grinder for profiling.

I wish I had discovered the angle grinder earlier when I started stock removal. I could have gotten more knives done in the same amount of time.

My bench grinder is still being used... as a buffing machine! The original 6" stones have never been used. It was a $10.00 1/3 hp special from one of those travelling tool sales and I had never intended on using it as a stone grinder.
 
So I went to Harbor Freight Saturday and grabbed a Chicago Electric 4 1/2" agle grinder. $19.some out the door. Fired her up... and laid some bevels on a hunter at about ten times the speed I was going with files. At least!

And that was going pretty slow cause I didn't know how to handle the durn thing. This afternoon, in about three hours minus a dinner break, I almost finished a little skinner (I'm trying to get a couple different knives ready and heat treat them all at once.) What a great tool. Glad this thread came up. Will try to figure out a way to get some pictures up after they're finished. :D

Mike
 
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