Belt grinders

J

James Healy

Joined
Feb 6, 2000
Messages
631
I'm an amateur maker, trying to start off. I'm using a really old bench grinder that stops if i apply any kind of reasonable pressure. It's really bugging me, but from what i can ascertain, belt grinders are really expensive. What i want to know is, are they worth it? If that seems like a stupid question, it probably is. It's just that the cheapest is going to take my entire yearly income for about a year and a half to afford...... If anyone knows of an extremely cheap one, do tell me.... but yeah, in general, are they worth it?

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All knives are created equal, then i get my dirty big hands on them and the real fun begins.
 
You may not NEED to start off with a Bader BIII at all!! For christmas my parents bought me a 2x42" belt grinder with 8" disc sander from Sears. Sears had a sale and I think they paid 250 canadian for it. One day when I'm rich and famous I'll have a Bader with all of the trimmings (by that time there will probably be a Bader B123 out!) but for now, as I am on my 6th blade in my new hobby, my sears grinder does me fine.

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"Come What May..."
 
You have a few low end options that should suffice in the power department. They will not allow you to do everything that some expensive grinders do, but they are an upgrade from the machines built for wood. Some of your options are Coote, Grizzly, and Kalamazoo. Do a search under the above names to find out more information.
I own the Grizzly, and it more than suits my current needs. I made some modifications which are described in previous posts.
 
If you have the talent and the drive, a $1000 belt grinder will pay for itself in the first 2-3 months. Then you can start saving up to buy all the other knife making gear you'll need
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MyWebSite

Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!
 
I use the same 2 x 42 as Crayola does. It is doing the job for me and it was more than worth it. One note though - the platen was not particularly hard or even flat. I'd like to thank whoever started the thread about backing it with glass. The guy at the glass shop cut me 3 pieces of 10mm (3/8) glass and slightly radiused the edges for a grand total of $5 Candian. What a difference!
 
I've been working with a Craftsman 4x36" grinder for a year and a half or so. With a couple of modifications, it works great for flat grinding, if a bit slow. It cost around $130.00 US. Here's an example of what I've done on it.
<img src=http://www.freespeech.org/oz/Bearingblade1.jpg>
I'll be getting a Grizzly any day now, but I'm keeping the Craftsman around, too. It's just too useful.

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Oz

Now, what other news did I have? Oh yes, IT'S A GIRL!!!
See her and my latest blades @
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/

[This message has been edited by Osbourn (edited 03-31-2000).]
 
James, if you want to make flat ground knives a suplus 3/4 motor and an 8in sanding disc faced with rubber will be the cheapest rout.

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If winners never quit and quitters never win. What fool said quit while you're ahead?
 
OZ, is your knife forged from ball bearing,and how did you like working it?

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If winners never quit and quitters never win. What fool said quit while you're ahead?
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/002276.html
The grinder mentioned in the link above sounds very promising. There is a possibility that Texas Knifemaker's Supply "may" try to carry this grinder.

One thing when shopping around for a grinder is that although the grinder you are interested in has quite a bit of bearing on your decision the belts and grit sizes "readily" available should have just as much. For example, althought the Sears 2X42 inch grinder looks like a very good setup, where can you get these belts up to 800 or 1200 grit? If you can't get the belts then get ready for a lot of hand work and buffing. Maybe a couple of the folks that have these can shed some light on some belt sources.
Like a lot of folks, I actually ground my first knife on a 4X36 Sears grinder. I got tired of that in a hurry. As you mentioned above, too much pressure and you can stop the belt. I then got a 2X48 Kalamazoo and it sped things up quite a bit. Just the variety in grit sizes made a difference. I used it for 4 years or so. To change the speed I would change the pulleys. I saved and scrimped and just bought a variable speed Hard-Core grinder with all the bells and whistles this past January. My time for grinding has dropped in half not to mention quality has really improved. Yes, I still have to do some hand finishing but not nearly as much as I previously had to. I have since bought a 6X48 grinder for other shop use and may set it up for strictly flat grinding later on.

C Wilkins



[This message has been edited by C L Wilkins (edited 04-01-2000).]
 
Ok guys, thanks for all the help, however i think you misunderstood the original post. I have what we call a bench grinder, i don't know what you'd call it, maybe a wheel grinder? It looks a bit like like an hourglass laid on it's side, with a small wheel at each end. The wheels i have are 6 inches in diamiter, and you just apply the steel directly to the wheel. It's incredibly slow, but i don't know zip about belt grinders, so i don't know how much faster they are, therefore i don't know whether or not they're worth it......

Thanks again
James

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All knives are created equal, then i get my dirty big hands on them and the real fun begins.
 
James:
A bench or hardwheel grinder does not do a good job in grinding knives. You need a belt grinder to accomplish this task with speed and accuracy. I tried a 8" hard wheel grinder in 1977 and when I told Bob Loveless what I was using, he is the one who told me to stay away from it. The hard wheel builds up too much heat in the blade and just does not do that great a job . Even if you went to the Grizzly everyone's talking about you would notice a substantial increase in both production and quality. Hope this helps a little.

Marcel

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make sure you go with a 2" wide belt, don't go for 1". it's very hard to control how you finish with a 1" wide belt. i will be using a 3"x132" for flat grinding soon, but for hallow grinding i will switch to 2"x132".

[This message has been edited by magnum .44 (edited 04-02-2000).]
 
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