Belt Grinder under $500

bquinlan

bquinlan

Joined
Jan 5, 2001
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Within the next week or so I will be getting some money to spend on a belt grinder. I can only push it as far as $500, at the most, so the really nice stuff is not an option. Can anyone recommend a good belt grinder for knife making that's down in my price range? I know it's a compromise, but if I can get something that will do most of what I want now I will be happy.

I've been searching out and reading old threads on the subject. So far, the only belt grinder under $500 that's had much of anything good said about it is the Grizzly (G1015) 2"x72" model. Can anyone comment, good or bad, on that particular unit?

What else should I be looking at?

Any guidance would be helpful, since I've only had minimal access to one belt grinder and really don't know much about them yet.

--Bob Q
 
Hi Bob, This isn't exactly the advice you're looking for, but for $150 more you can get the basic KMG set-up. You can find a used motor for a good price if you look around. You then have the base machine that you can expand upon to take care of any knifemaking attachments you could possibly want and never have to upgrade to a better grinder ever again. I mention this because I was in the very same position at one time and opted for the Grizzly grinder...and while it was a good machine, I ended up selling it and investing in a KMG, and really wish that I had waited and just got the KMG from the beginning. Now, if your budget was only $350, then the Grizzly would be the obvious choice....but you're so close to having enough to wait a little longer for the KMG..... :)

-Darren
 
What Darren said is true, but by the time you get set up with a motor and running the bill will be at least $800.
There are quite a few of us around here that use a Grizzly. It is way ahead of anything else you can buy in the price range that comes with everything you need. They are built like a tank and are reliable and well worth the investment.
 
I have a grizzly and enjoy it (I won't kid you though, I would give my left leg for a KMG). With the extra cash you get a 10-inch wheel, a pyroceram, and a buffing wheel for it for a nice set-up. It's a great starter, but it's also a very tough machine that you can keep in your shop once you move onto a better grinder. :p
 
I got a Coote for my first grinder 8 or 9 years ago and still use the heck out of it. I've also bought the original Hardcore a few years after that when I could afford it and still use the Coote mainly for doing my convex grinds. Its a real handy machine. If you go with the Coote get at least a 1 1/2 horse to go with it.
 
OKay!!!!!

I will say My view of your situation....

Yes, I own and love the Grizzly,,,BUT,,,(here is the important part)...

But my cash limit was just $300.00.....if your upper cash limit is actually $500.00 then DONT get a Grizzly,,,go for the GOLD! and get the best out there for that full $500

The big advantage the Grizzly has going for it is,,,,the buffer.

The Grizzly already comes with a very good buffer built-in to it. this saved me yet another $200+ down the road because you are going to need a good buffer very fast once you finish the sanding.

take your time in picking out a good grinder,,,,,but all of them are worth the money....but you will be standing in front of this tool for many hours, so do the study you need to do, so that you can relax and know you got the best for your $500 that is for sale right now.
 
Lots of mixed advice here, Bob, but I'll have to throw in my pitch to get the KMG. Heck, even if you had to put a cheesy old washing-machine motor on it, you'll have the basis of a superb piece of machinery. When you get the money for a good DC motor and drive to put on it, take that washing machine motor and slap an arbor on it to spin a buffing wheel! Yeeha! Naw, I don't really mean a washing-machine motor, but just to prove a point. Any motor with a pulley would work for a while until you get some more cash for the new motor.
 
bquinlan
....

I will pay attention to your posts, please let us know how things go, and what you end up with.

$500.00 bucks is a lot of money to me....for that kind of cash you should really take your time and have a look around at whats on the market.

Watch out for the hidden add-ons,,,,,grinders sold for a set amount of money that looks good, only to then need a pile of extras just to make it work.

A while back I listed a topic where I asked everyone to just flat out confess what type of money they tossed into their grinders.

Im sure the topic is still saved here some place. From the answers I received, I learned that the money jumps up about $200 to $300 at a shot.

The lowest end is my grizzly at $270 - $300,,,,,but the higher ends were right around 1500.....

Also people with that high amount of money have more toys they can add to their grinder to make it work better and faster,,,My Grizzly is not really worth getting extras for,,,For the most part I dont hear too much about any of the well known grinders not being worth their money...It seems that we all get what we paied for...

and for the most part, the $1000 belt grinder is a little bit better than the $800 buck one,,,,,perhaps not much,,,but always a little better.. so this would work out that your $500 grinder will in the end, be just a little bit better than mine,,,,,but still they all seem to be working and allowing us all to make knives....

If I had some advice,,,it would be to not dive below my Grizzly and get a cheaper say,,,,$150 little grinder,,,,,such things are great for handles and tight spots, but I have worked with them and for steel they just dont seem to have the speed and the power we need to grind out a knife in a night..
 
When you consider the extras then it sounds like the Griz would best be in your budget...

I just got a KMG and I was looking at $650 + @ $80 shipping ($730) for the basic model... a new leeson 1.5HP motor cost me $140 + $30 s/h ($170) and IMO that was a good price. That's $900 right there and we aren't even wiring the motor (power cord, toggle switch) and don't have belts yet.

Thing is... I had to wait a year and a half to get the KMG (and I'm very glad I did). If I had $500 MAX, I probably would have bought the griz... I just don't have the discipline to save. If you do, I'd absolutely wait and get the KMG. It's awesome.

fwiw...

cheers,
Erik
 
krept....you get what you pay for....a KMG is a darn good grinder,,,,I have seen post after post talking about how much fun it is to work with...

Yes, it is a ton of money,,,,3 times as much as my Grizzly...But I would have to say that , althought I have never used a KMG to be sure, I just bet the KMG will seem 3 times better than my Grizzly too....

You get what you pay for...for $300 I could not beat the Grizzly...for $500 I dont know what you would shoot for,,,

perhaps there are some guys who can say they got a grinder in that money range?

Anyone know of a full set-up grinder, thats all ready to go, just add belts, for $500.00?
 
A few thing you probably need to define is .

Stock removal or forged blades?

I clean up all my scale with a B&D 4-1/2" grinder. It's cheaper than belts.

What kind of blades am I going to grind? Flat, convex,hollow?

Figure that out and buy the correct contact wheel, you always add more later.

How big a blade am I gonna grind?

Mirror polish or satin finish? Hand rubbed or finished on the grinder?

If you hand rub then i see no need to spend money on the finer grit belts.You could probably get by without the variable speed too.

ME I do mostly flat grinds, so my grinder needs are a bit simpler than the hollow grind guys.

Bargain motors are out there, you just hafta scrounge around, I bought my 3 hp for $70.00
 
The KMG looks great, but it would be out of my price range, even if it came with a motor. <sigh>

That Coote looks interesting. I will admit to being intimidated at the thought of trying to acquire, attach, and wire a motor. Most knifemakers are mechanically-inclined to start with. I got into this from the love of design and I'm fighting an serious lack of mechanical aptitude.

Can anyone give me some hints on where I might be able to find a reasonable deal on a motor? Are they available wired and ready to hook-up or will I have to build the whole setup from components? It looks like the Coote would be more versatile than the Grizzly, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to get a functional setup for my $500.

And to answer Sweany's excellent questions...

I expect to be doing only stock removal. I may experiment with flat grinds, but so far my preference is for hollow. Most of my designs are in the 3" to 6" length bracket (clustering heavily just over 3-1/2") with widths of 1" to 1-1/2". My goal is to build practical working blades, so a machine-finished satin polish should be sufficient.

Given those parameters, can anyone suggest what size contact wheel I should be looking at for the hollow grinds? I was thinking about 8", but I'm shooting in the dark.

Thanks to everyone for helping me out with this! Even the information I can't use right away will doubtless come in handy down the road.

--Bob Q
 
When I set up my Grizzly, I made a huge error in the placement of the contact wheel over the work bench...

If I had known the trouble this would bring,,,I would have placed the wheel over the end of the bench so that I could have more room to handle the blade.


I always tell guys that are thinking about setting up a Grizzly that they will need to do two things..
1- bolt it down
2- bolt it down with the wheel free of the bench

I have made a webpage where I show people how I set up my Grizzly.

http://eastof29.tripod.com/daqotahforge2/id7.html

and you can see right where I made the error and bolted down the grizzly with the wheel spinning too close to the workbench. I should have moved it over another 6 inches to the right and it would have been way better...
 
I've been using a $20 Delta 1x30 and 5"disk I can convex and flat grind. But I have to say I am getting my KMG next week I'm going to be trying to get all my wifes sht out of the shed I built to have as a retreat I have a wife and 2 girls so sometimes I need to get away and knife making is it :yawn: sorry. I haven't used a Grizz but if they come with a buffer sounds like allot for your money. The KMG is awsome. I worked with one at my Sensi's house it makes a much nicer blade than my Delta. And I'm getting the KMG as a gift thats the only way I could. I'm a lucky basterd. After you get your grinder lets trade knives we can both have a early addition of a hopefully aknowldged knifemaker :rolleyes: Seriously all the best and send me some pics
Peace
Bob Barnett
 
Bob, setting up a motor is a lot easier than it sounds. I went from knowing virtually nothing about electricity and motors to wiring my motor, installing a switch, building the plug, installing a 220V outlet and breaker (with help from an in-law) in literally a week... my house hasn't burned down yet ;).

The kicker is that to do all that, it cost me an extra $100 or so in equipment.

I don't know if the griz comes with a motor. Either way, make sure that you find out the amps it will draw at 110V and make sure your outlet & breaker are rated for it, other wise you will be in for a $urprise like I was (more money to spend).

I guess what I'm saying is if you can afford the pieces, don't worry about the knowledge to set it up. It's really not that complicated once you have someone explain what the wiring diagram means, what you have to get, etc. Plenty of knowledge on here and the other forums.

My main problem in recommending a grinder is that I went from a 4x36" right to the KMG... I didn't get to try out anything inbetween. The 4x36 was such a POS I wouldn't give it to my worst enemy - the darn thing wouldn't track right, would vibrate all over the place making plunge grinds a nightmare and the belts cost about as much as the good 2x72"s do. What I assume about the Griz and the Coote is that they minimize the vibrations and track better (hopefully a lot better) than the 4x36. If that is the case, they shouldn't be all that bad for a starter machine. If they still vibrate and don't track well, I'd avoid them for sure.

cheers,
Erik
 
BQuinlan,
One thing to consider is that you will be doing a lot of grinding on the flat platen whether it is your bevel grind preference or not. Even if I wasn't doing all flat grinds I would say that most of what I am doing with my grinder is shaping steel and titanium, shortening screws, making tools and fixtures, shaping wood and other materials and a jillion other little jobs. For none of those jobs would a contact wheel be the best thing to have behind the toolrest. So my vote goes to the bare bones basic KMG, you will never regret it. It is truly a tool for life no matter what kind of creative activities you might get into and one that your grandkids will be enjoying too. :)
 
Let me guess.....the guys that are talking about getting a new belt grinder,,,,are thinking ;..."That tax return should just about cover it."



Lucky Dogs.........My wife has been pointing to a new dish washer in the store................"dish washer?".......
 
Well I was in your shoes a couple years ago and after looking at all the alternative went with the Coote. One day I hope to get a KMG, and if I ever do the Coote will still be set up and run, probably with the small wheel set up.

I like the Coote because it came without a motor and I installed a poor man's varible speed, steep pullies from Congress Drives. Not as good as a DC varible but a giant leep from the 2x42 Crapman. Anouther thing about the Coote is the upright is aluminum channel, not round pipe and seems more ridged. Also Coote has a lot of add-ons like the varible wheel that you can add later, and a two wheel works great for slack grinding and sanding. The wheel is probably not the best for hollow grinding but I have hollow ground a couple blades on it with no problem. I told them at Coote that I'd be mounting a ceramic platten and they drilled an extra set of platten mounting holes 1/4" back. The platten also apears to be a high carbon steel, is 3/8" thick, and when you wear ridges in one side flip it over and go again, then go to the ceramic.

The motor set up is no problem, I've got a 1 horse and wish that I'd gone with a horse and a half for real hogging, the 1 horse tends to trip the breaker when I hog it. I think I paid around 125$ for an enclosed motor new, and the step pullies were around 35$

Good luck, and get what you want after doing the research,

Will
 
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