This TW-90 has to be a little overpriced right? I don't mind paying for quality, but $3700 for a belt grinder?
It's def on the pricier side of grinders, but there are a handful of other full featured grinders in the same ballpark as well. Couple things to take note of on why your going to see sticker shock on most grinders
1. The higher price ones come with a lot of the tool rests, wheels and accessories those cheaper ones don't come with. Also Variable Frequency drive, all lot of the cheapies don't got it, and trust me, you want it. Just this type of stuff adds $500-1k to your grinders end cost.
2. Knifemaking may be going through a resurgence, but it's still not a huge market. I'd be shocked if any grinder maker is selling more than 1k units a year. e.g. small production runs which always amounts to increased prices to make it profitable to make in the first place. In the TW90's case, i'd wager travis is selling a couple hundred grinders a year at most and that may be overestimating even.
3. Parts, Materials, labor, taxes etc etc. Cost on a quality motor and VFD like on the Tw90 alone account for a lot of the price. just the KBAC 27D is what $360, add in the motor, there's another $400-500. That's like 25% of the price right there. add the frame, tooling arms, all the balanced wheels, bearings, platens, paint job, packaging, and i'd figure the cost for him to make it is somewhere in the $1500-2500 range depending on how many hours of labor are involved on his end. On top of all that, add in advertising/marketing, web hosting, biz license, taxes, cost of the production facility itself, all of the tools and machines needed to make these grinders, and that $1500-$2500 has moved up a lot. I'd put money on Travis making at most $600-900 profit off each grinder when all is said and done.
Full Disclosure i've been a TW90 owner for 5 years, and wouldn't trade it for any other grinder in all honesty. Well ok, maybe the Northridge. I've only used it once but it performed on par with the TW90 i think. And that one costs $3,300 for reference. you really do get what your payin for with these top tier grinders. It may not seem like it, but you notice it quickly after goin to a buddies shop and working on their no weld home made grinder, or their Grizzly 2x72, ebay bought chassis, or, or or.... Now that's not to say you can't make good knives without one either though. I know many a mastersmith who still use their home made grinders, KMG's, etc and do just fine . But i know MANY more who use a TW90 or equivalent grinder and swear by it as it just makes the tasks at hand easier to take on and results in a finer fit and finish in the end.
