Burr king bba20 or tw90??

Don Hanson III said:
The BBA20 is just a 20" grinder, nothing else. It does one thing & does it extremely well!
Click to expand...

I got to fire it up at blade show and man is it smooth. Tossed a fine grit belt on it that would normally have a belt bump and was like butter. Right now my grinder lives with a 12” wheel and I could see a dedicated 20” in my shop for what I do now. All I use it for is removing slag from blade blanks.
 
JTknives said:
I got to fire it up at blade show and man is it smooth. Tossed a fine grit belt on it that would normally have a belt bump and was like butter. Right now my grinder lives with a 12” wheel and I could see a dedicated 20” in my shop for what I do now. All I use it for is removing slag from blade blanks.
Click to expand...
I've never been a big fan of Burr King grinders until I got to spend some time running them at Tom McGinnis' shop a few years ago. One small blade on the 20" & I had to have one! It's the smoothest, quietest grinder made.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Another option is a water cooled radius platten. Can mimick a 36, 48 or 72 inch wheel

$170 or so, supply water pump, and go.

Sure beats 2k for a wheel?
Click to expand...
This its what I do... I rarely use my 36" platen though, mostly my 14" or smaller contact wheels will handle what I need. And my grinder (Wilmont TAG) is SUPER versatile the way I have it set up
 
Does anyone know what size tool arms the bba20 uses? That articulating arm tool rest has my eye, looks amazing.
 
Don could you post some pics of your setup? Also any chance you could post a short video of the tracking?

Your the only person I know that had one but man I'm thinking real hard on it
 
Tin.Man said:
Don could you post some pics of your setup? Also any chance you could post a short video of the tracking?

Your the only person I know that had one but man I'm thinking real hard on it
Click to expand...
I'll see, but since photo bucket took a dump & I started taking pictures with a phone I haven't been able to post on foums. I have pictures of it on my IG page though.
 
Don have you used drop box for picture storage? It has and app and with clever code addition you can post pictures here. That’s how I post all pictures on blade forums.
 
JTknives said:
Don have you used drop box for picture storage? It has and app and with clever code addition you can post pictures here. That’s how I post all pictures on blade forums.
Click to expand...
I've only used photo bucket. Been meaning to set up another hosting site. Will look into it.
 
hey mr hanson III, you said you were sick of the flat platen. the 20" has got to pretty close to flat :rolleyes: what is the attraction ? does food stick to it less because it is concave ? does it make grinding easier ? or do you like it because it cuts/performs better than a flat grind? i notice on my smaller wheels when i change belts to a higher grit the entire wheel seems to get smaller because the belt is thinner, and the next belt does not contact the entire concave the last belt had made. does it lessen that effect ? thanks.
 
john april said:
hey mr hanson III, you said you were sick of the flat platen. the 20" has got to pretty close to flat :rolleyes: what is the attraction ? does food stick to it less because it is concave ? does it make grinding easier ? or do you like it because it cuts/performs better than a flat grind? i notice on my smaller wheels when i change belts to a higher grit the entire wheel seems to get smaller because the belt is thinner, and the next belt does not contact the entire concave the last belt had made. does it lessen that effect ? thanks.
Click to expand...
I've flat ground thousands of blades & just tired of it. Would just rather grind on a wheel, it's smoother, easier on the belts & leaves a nicer finish. As far as higher grit belts being thinner, I know what you mean. It helps to get finer belts with a thicker backing, not j flex. But it's not a problem at all with Gator belts, because they are thick.
 
Last edited:
You should get on Facebook and check out Iron Creek Forge. He makes the Iron Creek diy Pro grinder. It's about $2000 and has tilt, ratchet arm, dd work rest and 2hp motor with vfd. My opinion it's is the best grinder for the money right now. It also uses 1 1/2 tool arms so makes it much more versatile.
 
As Don said, the BBA 20 is not designed after another BK grinder, but I think the chassis is from one of their buffers. It's a solid heavy machine. The wheel doesn't seem like it's moving very fast, but it's flying. It also throws off a hell of a breeze. It's a one trick pony for a grinder. I would never use it for profiling or cleaning Damascus billets. The tracking on the TW90 is much better than the BBA 20. I wish BK would have put a ratcheting tension system on the BBA 20. I notice the tracking moves as you change speed. You need to set your speed and then set your tracking. If I could only have one, it would be the TW90. Also the belt drive on BK grinders is not an issue. It's a solid system. If you have any specific questions about either, let me know.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top