Any experience with SURFACE GRINDERS?

[samwereb]

I have only heard whispered rumours, and veiled references to surface grinders. I have seen some photos at the grizzly and harbor freight sites, but I can't figure them out. Does anyone know how they work? I think I could use one to do about a hundred 7 1/2" fillet knife blades. Anyone know where I can read about these things? Anyone in the Columbus vicinity have one that I can eyeball?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[This message has been edited by samwereb (edited 01-10-2000).]

 

[Lynn Grififth Knives]

Sam,
I ordered one from Harbor Frieght. It took 3 weeks to get here and arrived broken. I did not realize myself, as I did not know what to look for. Yvsa from the forum came over to help me get it all lined out. He is the one that figured out that the counter weight cable had snapped. I would not know now why it was not working well, if it had not been for his help. I have called Harbor Freight. They are supposed to be sending a truck to pick the defective grinder up. They say they will send a new one after he trucking company picks up the old one. You are welcome to e-mail me direct with any questions about the Harbor Freight grinder if you like. There are lots of makers on these forums that have surface grinders. I hope they will jump in with the thoughts on this.

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Lynn Griffith-Knifemaker

griffithknives.com
GriffithKN@aol.com
Available Knives

 

[magnum .44]

i have one. you can take off very small amounts. wide wheels are faster. make sure you keep your grinding wheels flat and clean.
it's nice to have a coolant system to keep things cool.

[This message has been edited by magnum .44 (edited 04-09-2000).]

 

[RJ Martin]

I have a surface grinder-an old K.O.Lee I refurbished. I didn't get much use out of it until I converted it to a belt sander, and now, I couldn't live without it.
When used with hard wheels, you're going to have trouble taking off more than maybe .001 at a time, and, I believe it takes a really good machine to handle the more sophisticated knife steels. I tried lots of wheels-none would remove scale and many produced warpage. I used coolant-I dressed the wheels, all that stuff. I'd go so far as to say that you'll never get your fillet knives ground using a conventional surface grinder, IMHO.
Now that I turned mine into a belt sander, I can go from 50 grit to 400 in seconds, the rubber wheel really cuts down on grind burn, and, I'm getting great finishes while holding tolerances of .0002.

Whatever machine you get (I'd recommend used if you have $1000 or so to spend), you'll need a good chuck-they cost about $500.

Good Luck,

RJ Martin

 

[Yvsa]

:
The littl grinder that Lynn purchased is a fairly nice little grinder for the money.
It's often hard to find a nice surface grinder used that's gonna hold any kind of tolerance.That's usually why the machine shop got rid of it to begin with.Although I have seen exceptions to this occasionally.When I have,the grinders went for a good chunk of money.

The grinder from Harbor Frieght is built very simply with scraped ways on it.Some old machinists actually prefered these.They work real nice IF You Take Care Of Them!!
The problems occur if and when the ways get to worn.
Cleanliness and proper lubrication is the key.
This type of machine was all there were for many years in this country and they helped build the newer fancy ones with all the bells and whistles.
Some of them are still in operation today because they still do the job.Some of them have some awesome material capabilities as to size!!

The only thing I had against the one Lynn bought is the table handle for end to end grinding.The handle setup isn't the easiest to operate.Lynn and me discussed that and what would improve it.
The in and out feed is easy,
because you only move it at the end of each completed pass.The end to end feed determines a lot of how long the wheel lasts and the finish on the part.

Another key to satisfactory surface grinding is the quality and hardness of the wheels a person uses.
A softer wheel will wear quicker,but it can produce some awesome material removal without burning the work.

I spent the last year and a bit of my 35+ year career as a machinist as a tool and die grinder and maker.Our company had the largest amount of automatic screw machimes in the area.That along with the 2nd operation dept.and some punch presses and milling machines
kept me in more than I could do.
I miss the work.Enjoy it while you're young and healthy.

I always Loved My Work,But I didn't always Love my Job.
I bet there are a bunch of you that are the same.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

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