Anyone have an Ameribrade variable speed?

L

Leon Husock

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Jul 17, 2019
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319
I'm looking to upgrade my grinder, and I noticed that the Ameribrade ones are about $1000 cheaper than most of the other comparable ones (particularly Brodbeck Ironworks which is the other one I was seriously considering). Anyone have any experience with these? $1000 cheaper is a lot, but it also makes me a little bit suspicious.
 
You couldnt ask for better guys than ameribrade. Seriously call them and they will answer any of your questions. I bought just a chassis from them when they were first getting started but already had a motor and vfd. my motor however did not have a foot on it. So I had to make a bracket to mount the motor to, then mount bracket to chassis of ameribrade. I tinkered with it for weeks. Couldnt afford to get a new motor at the time. I asked them if they could do a refund almost 2 months later and grinder had been used. They said no problem and even paid for shipping back to them.

The grinder ran amazing, and I liked the way you can hold the tracking wheel down to change belts. The welds on it were gorgeous. Powder coat was great. Work rest was super intuitive. Their new fast back is even better by my standards as welds can lead to some warping as heat does that sometimes.

I have a northridge now, however if I needed a second Ameribrade would be my choice. Jump on instagram and just scroll through their page. They keep upgrading machines(to make more grinders) and expanding fixtures and accessories for their grinder.

If I were to rank grinders, and Ive used about them all at this point.


Northridge
Ameribrade
Kadrmas
BurrKing/tw90
Bader/esteem/reeder
brodbeck( I have no first hand experience, however I dont like how they gave away a BUNCH of grinders) and now the makers who got them for free are saying how great they are.





wayyyyy down here

Kmg(used to be great, then quality dropped drastically. I think they are trying to rebuild, new owner but I had a real bad taste from my dealings)
oregon blade maker(like to steal other grinders designs while those grinders are in process of patent. Garbage ethics)
 
Well that's exactly what I needed to know, thanks so much Tin! I feel much better about it now. And hey, you forgot to put Grizzly on the list lol.
 
I have the ameribrade with vfd. Have had it for a year now, and have absolutely no complaints. Agreed also that they are great to work with
 
I've got the Fastback on the tilt bracket and running the 120V 1.5hp Leeson and VFD. I have nothing to compare it to but I have zero regrets buying it and can't imagine any other machine similarly setup like mine would be anything better for more cost. As already mentioned Kevin and Eric are the absolute best for customer support and service. I will say that if you go Ameribrade go Fastback over the Classic. It comes wired for reverse operation and the chassis has a reverse tracking adjustment as well.
 
I have a fastback with a vfd and it’s awesome. I have only used a Grizzly besides my Ameribrade and it honestly doesn’t even feel like the same tool, it outclasses the Grizzly so much. I emailed them while waiting for it and they got back to me within a few hours and were friendly. You can tell they love what they do.

I thought about one of the OBM ones because I lived in Oregon but honestly the guy wasn’t very helpful. Or polite.

KMG is only a few miles from where I live now and they never even responded.

I waited eight weeks for the Ameribrade to arrive and it was worth every second.
 
Leon Husock said:
I'm looking to upgrade my grinder, and I noticed that the Ameribrade ones are about $1000 cheaper than most of the other comparable ones (particularly Brodbeck Ironworks which is the other one I was seriously considering). Anyone have any experience with these? $1000 cheaper is a lot, but it also makes me a little bit suspicious.
Click to expand...
Tin.Man said:
You couldnt ask for better guys than ameribrade. Seriously call them and they will answer any of your questions. I bought just a chassis from them when they were first getting started but already had a motor and vfd. my motor however did not have a foot on it. So I had to make a bracket to mount the motor to, then mount bracket to chassis of ameribrade. I tinkered with it for weeks. Couldnt afford to get a new motor at the time. I asked them if they could do a refund almost 2 months later and grinder had been used. They said no problem and even paid for shipping back to them.

The grinder ran amazing, and I liked the way you can hold the tracking wheel down to change belts. The welds on it were gorgeous. Powder coat was great. Work rest was super intuitive. Their new fast back is even better by my standards as welds can lead to some warping as heat does that sometimes.

I have a northridge now, however if I needed a second Ameribrade would be my choice. Jump on instagram and just scroll through their page. They keep upgrading machines(to make more grinders) and expanding fixtures and accessories for their grinder.

If I were to rank grinders, and Ive used about them all at this point.


Northridge
Ameribrade
Kadrmas
BurrKing/tw90
Bader/esteem/reeder
brodbeck( I have no first hand experience, however I dont like how they gave away a BUNCH of grinders) and now the makers who got them for free are saying how great they are.





wayyyyy down here

Kmg(used to be great, then quality dropped drastically. I think they are trying to rebuild, new owner but I had a real bad taste from my dealings)
oregon blade maker(like to steal other grinders designs while those grinders are in process of patent. Garbage ethics)
Click to expand...

Brodbeck, Priced like the TW90 $3,520 Flips like it, but the same tension spring shock and droopy head tracking mechanism it fails to rip off the tracking and tension mechanisms that made the TW such a winner.
make a Sayber for half price and more rigidity.

Bader
It's the origional, great tracking, just one toolbar, great business support with made in usa wheels and parts.


OBM I like the colour, made to a price point, chock full of tension and tracking nightmares.

KMG - What makes you think it's a new owner ? It's still Beaumont Metal Works and they still mention "Rob" on the page.
He has a lot of bad press/ customer service that was outright ignorant and I don't think a new product can fix that history or underlying doubt if you have problems.

Reeder
I don't like aluminum, it galls, it has less mass, but it ships cheaper. I think it has two tracking adjusters and there's no need for two, if you just use the one that works.
 
I have their standard one with 2hp motor and VFD. Bought around March of this year. It was around 1500 then. I would get it with the horizontal tilting stand for sure. It’s a good machine. Mine DOES NOT reverse. Not sure if that’s something they have added lately.
 
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Just upgraded my workshop with an Ameribrade and the installation was pretty easy and straight forward. However, I am running into an issue with my VFD.

I have a workshop attached to the house that runs on a 15 amp circuit breaker, I have ran a single phase 1.5 motor without a vfd no problem in the past.

I selected the VFD wired to 110 V and the 1.5 motor and when I plug it in to my outlet the vid turns on and the status led is solid red, did some research and found that it says there is an overload status. I don't really know a whole lot about these vfds but does anyone know a why this might be happening/a solution?

Tried calling them to troubleshoot but were closed for the new year and will try again later this week.

Thanks!
 
If you have a gfci that covers the plug you are using the vfd will not work. I had to remove mine from my garage. Probably against code.
 
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I walked out into the shop to take a look and I have normal outlets in there, only gfci outlets are in the garage.
 
I was under the impression that Brodbeck didn't give away any grinders, but sold them at cost, but I could be wrong.

I have one and I'm happy with it, but I've heard great things about Ameribrade too.
 
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