I bought a Sears 1"x42"/6" belt grinder to do my knife making on and it`s great but I have a few questions. First ,is it worth it paying more for the fancier belts or is it better to just get the cheap ones and replace them more often? Second,the platten on my grinder is bent into a radius parallel with the belt. I`m finding it hard to get up close to the belt itself to make plunge cuts,the platten gets in the way. Should I modify the platten so that it`s not in the way as much or will that effect the performance of the grinder somehow? I`ve already rounded and polished the upper edge so I can use the slack portion above it which works nice,but these plunge cuts are bustin my chops. I`ve been working freehand,do any of you use the guides/tables in any way? Finally are there any other mods that might make my grinder more suitable for knifemaking? Marcus
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Belt grinder questions
- Thread starter Marcus
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 4, 1998
- Messages
- 427
I used the same grinder to grind my knives for almost 3 years, I am familliar with your problems..
What I did was to weld a peice of precision ground steel to the front of the platten that comes with the machine, 1/4 inch thick.
then i radiused the edges of the add on peice to fit the radius that i wanted to grind on the plunge cuts.
I had to make the mounting holes on the platten into slots with a chain saw file to be able to adjust the front to back travel on the modified platten assembly.
after that the platten worked much better..
As far as belts go, I would buy the better belts in your finishing grits, 220,400 ect..
but stick to the cheap belts for the rough shaping and grinding, the cheap belts are usually pretty stifly backed so your fansy belts should contour easier and make cleaning things up a lot less stressful.
Cheap belts i used to bet at ENCO supply
1-800-USE-ENCO... they are 42 cents a peice, use um and trow them out, that way you always have sharp belts.
Hope I could Help.. Alan Folts..
What I did was to weld a peice of precision ground steel to the front of the platten that comes with the machine, 1/4 inch thick.
then i radiused the edges of the add on peice to fit the radius that i wanted to grind on the plunge cuts.
I had to make the mounting holes on the platten into slots with a chain saw file to be able to adjust the front to back travel on the modified platten assembly.
after that the platten worked much better..
As far as belts go, I would buy the better belts in your finishing grits, 220,400 ect..
but stick to the cheap belts for the rough shaping and grinding, the cheap belts are usually pretty stifly backed so your fansy belts should contour easier and make cleaning things up a lot less stressful.
Cheap belts i used to bet at ENCO supply
1-800-USE-ENCO... they are 42 cents a peice, use um and trow them out, that way you always have sharp belts.
Hope I could Help.. Alan Folts..
alan,
good tip there. I used one when I first started making knives, and back then I either did the plunge cuts on the right side of the platen, where I could get up closer to the belt, or ground them up on the slack belt portion. Now I just use it for shaping handle materials, but if I had to use it for blades, putting a facing on the platen would be just the ticket to solve that problem.
First thing I did when I got a bigger grinder was to take the removable platen and narrow it, then radius the corners like you said. Another trick right out of the old Blades & Stuff catalog that is simple, but just plain works.
It is amazing how much work you can get out of one coarse aluminum oxide belt, especially if you remember to use it for wood or metal only, so the grit doesn't get glazed over, or plugged up.
madpoet
good tip there. I used one when I first started making knives, and back then I either did the plunge cuts on the right side of the platen, where I could get up closer to the belt, or ground them up on the slack belt portion. Now I just use it for shaping handle materials, but if I had to use it for blades, putting a facing on the platen would be just the ticket to solve that problem.
First thing I did when I got a bigger grinder was to take the removable platen and narrow it, then radius the corners like you said. Another trick right out of the old Blades & Stuff catalog that is simple, but just plain works.
It is amazing how much work you can get out of one coarse aluminum oxide belt, especially if you remember to use it for wood or metal only, so the grit doesn't get glazed over, or plugged up.
madpoet
I am really new to this, but after struggling with inconsistent grinds, I did come up with a pretty good use for the tilting table that comes with most belt sanders. I attached a strong magnet (I robbed it from the actuator in an old hard drive ... but any strong magnet should do) to a square piece of wood. I use the magnet to support the blade and tilt the table back a few degrees. The oak I used was pretty square and it slid across the table very nicely ... aluminum or steel with some teflon or nylon tape would probably be an improvement though. This modification got me REALLY nice results the very first time. I think I will look for a slightly bigger magnet for the next blade ... I was frustrated and gave the prototype a try. The one caution is to make sure the the blade can't be swallowed by the grinder if it comes un-fixtured.
saands
saands