Belt grinder by Kadrmas Kreations???

Just received my unit and I am looking forward to setting it up this weekend! Fit/Finish are very impressive. I ordered the VFD and 115/208 motor wired for 115 and it is super quiet /smooth runnng (fired it up to ensure worked before assembling).

On the concerns of lead time mine took 11 weeks to receive and like everyone I was wishing it came quicker but at a forge session here locally last week I was telling a couple folks mine had shipped and I made the mistake of carping a little on lead time. Well the guys asked how long I waited when I told them they told me to quit complaining as the all waited 3-7 months after order for some of The other name brand makers. Given the quality of machining/craftsmanship combined with cost I am extremely pleased with picking this sander.

I will post more feedback once I have it up and running this weekend
 
Look forward to hearing/seeing it. Im new to the hobby and looking for my first grinder and the srg is at a price point that I can possibly swing. The lead time is unfortunate but it seems like good kit.
 
Branson1369 said:
Just received my unit and I am looking forward to setting it up this weekend! Fit/Finish are very impressive. I ordered the VFD and 115/208 motor wired for 115 and it is super quiet /smooth runnng (fired it up to ensure worked before assembling).

On the concerns of lead time mine took 11 weeks to receive and like everyone I was wishing it came quicker but at a forge session here locally last week I was telling a couple folks mine had shipped and I made the mistake of carping a little on lead time. Well the guys asked how long I waited when I told them they told me to quit complaining as the all waited 3-7 months after order for some of The other name brand makers. Given the quality of machining/craftsmanship combined with cost I am extremely pleased with picking this sander.

I will post more feedback once I have it up and running this weekend
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I was finally able to connect with Kyle and I purchased one a couple of weeks ago. Its hard to beat that price. He told me the lead time was about 4 weeks at the time I ordered it. I hope it's closer to the 4 weeks than the 11 weeks you had to wait.. It's my first 2x72 grinder so I'm super excited to get it up and running. I'm crurious about your thoughts on it.
 
I suspect he has fought past his back log and I think he had delays in getting my motor planning on final minor assembly and test grinds tomorrow
 
Hi all,
Well since I asked for opinions on his grinders I ordered it almost 2 months ago. Over a week ago I asked to cancel my order, tired of waiting. Kyle never bothered to reply. I then wrote to him a second time and still received no reply. So while he may be great at talking to some people on my list he sucks. I wrote to him today and asked if he's to important to answer a reasonably written group of questions. I still have not heard from him. I doubt that you will get your grinder in four weeks since it's been over 7 weeks since I ordered mine. All the man has to do is say "Really busy right now, I'll get back to you when I have more time" and I would be happy. The next letter will be informing him of a fraud claim with my bank since he does not want to respond to any emails. I'm glad for the people that have had good dealings with him, I just would be happier if I was one of them. I know he's a one man shop but that does not absolve him of being a responsible business man. At no time have I been anything other than polite and considerate in my letters to him. He could make the greater grinder on the planet but he's earning a place on my list of people to not do business with which is a shame because they are suck beautiful grinders, you can tell he takes his time and builds a quality product, if I ever see it. My bitch isn't with the build time or the quality, it's with his total lack of response. It's a shame really. I don't like to get into negative issues with people.
Pat
 
jmcmath said:
Look forward to hearing/seeing it. Im new to the hobby and looking for my first grinder and the srg is at a price point that I can possibly swing. The lead time is unfortunate but it seems like good kit.
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Assembled and ran the grinder through its paces with the DVR brand motor with VFD (used in a lot of wood working equipment I.e. shop smith, Rikon and others). The unit is extremely smooth/quiet running now just need to get my flat grinding skills up to par to leverage this machine to it fullest potential
 
Communication is a HUGE deal with any type of business! Lack of communication is a deal breaker in my book. You make and find time for your customers. No one is that busy!!!
 
Ok, here's the scoop with Kyle at Kadrmas Creations. I asked for a refund and he gave it to me no questions asked. We spoke for quite a while on the phone. He gets about 400 emails a day and most are questions. For a one man shop 400 emails a day and trying to get his product out he's gotta choose, sit in front of his computer all day answering emails or work like mad to get orders out. He chooses to work like mad to get his orders out. He has one guy helping him in the shop now part time and he told me he's finally starting to get caught up a little. Talking to him over the phone he strikes me as a straight shooter, no bs kind of guy. Like I said we spoke for 1/2 hour during his lunch time. If I didn't need the money (had a car accident) I would have kept my order with him. He's constantly working to improve his grinders. He listens to the feed back from people who have bought them and have suggestions but he said he gets very little negative feed back. He's also in the process of switching servers so his email issues should clear up eventually, at least he hopes so. There were other things we talked about but I think those were private issue and not for discussion here in my opinion. If anyone has doubts about his product look for reviews. Everyone I have seen has been positive about his product. No I'm not shilling for him, just telling you my experience when I actually talked to the man instead of trying to do the email thing.
Thanks
Pat
 
Glad you spoke with him and went extra mile to post above.

I am new to knife making but a long time precision rifle shooter. In that sport lots of orders can take 4 to 24 months to fill and most have way less follow than Kyle. I found these craftsman usually come to the same conclusion as described above when faced with to much demand. It is way easier to adjust to a small amount of business than too much.

I have used my grinder all weekend and could not be more pleased and will be watching as he develops more option for the SRG 1.5 i.e. horizontal tilt and small wheel
 
Did he happen to say if he had his 6” drive and 5” tracking wheels in stock?
I am one of the 400 that emailed him.
 
If he's getting that many emails a day he needs to get some office help. If he don't, 400 will be 100 and 100 will be 10 and 10 will be none and he'll be wondering why he can build his grinders faster than he can sell them instead of the other way around.
 
Horsewright said:
If he's getting that many emails a day he needs to get some office help. If he don't, 400 will be 100 and 100 will be 10 and 10 will be none and he'll be wondering why he can build his grinders faster than he can sell them instead of the other way around.
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Exactly!!
 
8 weeks since I've ordered (placed May 26). I have called a few times as well as sent multiple emails, no response at all. Wanted to work some this summer before I go back to college. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen.
 
Skiller1nc said:
8 weeks since I've ordered (placed May 26). I have called a few times as well as sent multiple emails, no response at all. Wanted to work some this summer before I go back to college. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen.
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Sorry to hear that. Definitely time to move on. At least, I would, 4 weeks ago.
 
Since communications with the grinder maker are a topic in this thread, I will share my recent experience.

I had started out with a budget grinder and even though with the help in this forum I solved my belt tracking problems, my dream was getting a Claryx belt grinder. I liked how well it is made, how flexible it is (it turns to the side, up and down and the table can also be moved around freely) and that it can run a 20" contact wheel which I want to do and that they have a rotary platen.

When a job worked out and I came into a bit of money, I decided to make the upgrade.

This was the beginning of a long email exchange with Claryx and the level of communications and effort they made to satisfy the customer was remarkable to me. The entire email exchange is 96 emails (yeah, I'm probably the worst possible customer) and they often replied multiple times a day. Since I already had a VFD and a motor I wanted a custom package and it took quite some time to figure out what I exactly needed, including the add ons. I also asked for some customizations, for example a reverse switch in their control panel in the grinder base. Their responsiveness and attention to detail did not change at all, even after I had already made the purchase and paid the bill. They offered me to deliver within in ten days but since I went on holiday right after ordering, I will be getting it next week.

Here are two photos of the grinder (I got mine in gunstock grey which I prefer to the blue):

500mm_blue1.jpg


500mm_blue.jpg


A small video of the grinder in action: youtu.be/naKhWg5NOOk

And an unboxing video I found on youtube: youtu.be/1C4dLALiC0I

Being from Germany, I was happy that they are from inside the EU (Bulgaria) although if you order from outside the EU you will probably not have to pay the 20% European Sales Tax which is probably more than international shipping.

Very excited to be trying it out next week.
 
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