Buying the best knife grinder for the money.

I started with an old homemade 2 wheel grinder I was given by a brother. I kept reading about the KMG and sprung for the basic one with a flat platen. It was so nice that I tore the 2 wheel apart and made a semi clone with the parts. I make a lot of my stuff because I have been a metal fabricator all my life. I will never regret the money I spent on the KMG though. The clone isn't quite as nice as the real deal. Rob has built thousands and has it down to a science. At the time I worked at a refinery and could get steel drop for free. Even mild steel has become expensive and the cost of buying the pieces to make a good grinder add up fast. Add the wheels and stuff and adds up to. If you want to save money the thing to do IMHO is buy the basic grinder with flat platen, then shop for your motor, VFD etc. Get a piece of 1 1/2" sq stock for arms and do stuff like get a 10" wheel from Grizzly and redo it for bearings, buy a small wheel attachment and some small wheels and mount it on a piece of your arm. Save money on things like that. I have a 10" wheel, a 8" a slack belt with the wheels closer together than the stock attachment with the platen removed and two arms with Nathan the Machinist platens (a 36" radius and a flat plunge platen) both with his coolers. I built stuff because that is what I do and how I am. But, it is hard to beat the deal of a basic KMG
 
machinistbutler said:
I built my own , and enjoyed doing so. It is very satisfying to use it knowing I made it myself, much like using a knife I made myself. I am a machinist with access to a machine shop, and it still took a bit of time.

If I count my time I didnt save any money, but had fun with the build.
Click to expand...

Since I'm approaching this whole thing as something to enjoy playing with in my down time, I kinda look at it like this. I'll probably burn a weekend doing my rough build and then a few more scattered hours refining the problem areas. All I need to drop coin on is mild steel, bolts, bearings, springs and wheels. Since I have all the tooling to do the welding and machining, I don't see the project costing more that $150 including the motor.

For the drive, I'm using a old model but lightly used craftsman 12" wood lathe that I got off craigslist for $50 (slightly low for my area). I'll be retaining the belt assembly so I'll be able to run at different speeds as the task requires.

No, I don't expect it to be as pretty or run as quietly as a $2000 grinder, but I'm pretty sure it will do what I need it to. I'll take pictures as I go and post them when I've finished. Maybe it will help with design ideas for other DIY projects. Maybe it will serve as a warning to others. We shall see.

I'm actually pretty surprised that the majority of people here didn't just build their own. After all, as a group, we are intrinsically do it yourselfers and belt grinders seem extremely expensive given the relative simplicity of what they do. Is it the lack of tooling needed to making tools that stopped more people?

Sandow
 
The 1st page is filled with reasons why most guys don't just build their own. ;)

If you just WANT to build one for the satisfaction of saying you built your own, then I get that. :)

But not from an economical standpoint.

Your DIY grinder pricing vs the cost of a KMG is definitely comparing apples to cheese whiz. A KMG is going to come with an 8" or 10" contact wheel, which is immediately adding $260-$310 to the build cost. It's also going to come with a 1-1/2 hp up to 3hp Leeson motor with VFD. Your lathe probably has a 1/2 hp motor?

The actual fabrication required to build many of the grinder designs is not anything extreme. BUT... they are built by folks that have built thousands of them and have all the bugs worked out. The only home built grinders I've seen that were super duper right out of the gate, were built by guys that not only had fab experience, but even more importantly, HAD EXPERIENCE USING KNIFE GRINDERS and making knives.

I'm not trying to say not to build your own. I'm also one of those guys that looks at damn near everything and thinks, "I could build that!" :)

Shoot, I have a full manual machine/fab shop out in the back yard... but I bought all 3 of my 2X72 grinders. ;) :)

I'm just trying to give you some more things to think about with this.

I've never met anyone that was unhappy after buying a KMG, Bader III, TW-90, etc. There are some other very serious options on the market like the Wilmont and Brett Matthews grinder as well. :thumbup: :cool:
 
Last edited:
flatblackcapo said:
Check out Brett Mathews on here. He makes one heck of a nice grinder for a good price and is a good dude.
Click to expand...
I second the recommendation for Brett's grinders.
At the OKCA show he shared a table with us.
People were commenting on how nice and how inexpensive it was.
Not meaning cheap, but what you were getting for your money.
 
I built my first grinder from a kit (Grinder in a Box), and while I may have saved a few bucks initially (arguable since I probably bought $100 more of the wrong hardware than I needed), when any amount of time was factored in, it was a loss.

I used a surplus motor that eventually burned out and had to be replaced, I had to make several mods to get it to where I was happy with the performance, and it took a couple years of learning and pondering about grinders to realize what needed to be tweaked and how.

Most of the issues that cause things like bad tracking, aren't intuitive, so unless you're ready to really delve deep into the mechanics of these machines (don't think they're as simple as they look), or you're a masochist, consider buying one.

I have all the resources, knowledge, and materials to go into the grinder business myself at this point, but I ended up buying two Wilmonts instead of building any more. I've spent enough time tweaking other people's KMG's, Baders, Burr Kings, and Wiltons, that I'll recommend you seriously consider some of the newcomers instead of those, but anything will put you miles ahead of trying to modify some other machine like a lathe to the purpose.

In the end, as I've said before, for me, I enjoyed the learning experience, but I could have made a lot of knives in that time otherwise. You're better off spending your time building fixtures and the million other shop tools and furniture that you'll need, than trying to jury rig your single most important tool as a knifemaker (and one of the most useful tools for fabbing the other aforementioned items). If you want something a bit more DIY, consider a kit like the GIB or Wilmont LB-1000, and consider that even most of the pre-built grinders, still require some assembly.
 
Goldsmithy said:
Chris, at Wilmont Grinders has just come out with a new model called the Little Buddy. I saw one at Chris's shop and it looks to be a smaller version of the Tag101 and extremely overbuilt http://www.wilmontgrinders.com . Check it out as I think it will fit your needs. I have no connection with Wilmont other than a very happy customer. Chris is great to work with.
Click to expand...
I'll second that.
Jim
 
Bader B 111 ,two square wheels, and making knives.
I have actually built like 3 different 3 wheel grinders in
my shop, they were all satisfactory. I don't have the time
and have never had a problem with the first 3 mentioned.
Ken.
 
To add to the comments... I bought mine because I didn't have the tooling. Even though I do now, I would buy again because it's put together nicely.

On the other hand, if you enjoy machining and can thrown one together for $150, why not? If/when you get a commercial machine, you'll know more about what you are looking for and will still have your backup machine as a second op machine.

(For me, there are times when I switch back and forth between setups and wish I had the space and money for a second grinder)
 
If you already have a motor, and a bunch of steel, you can do one economically yourself. If you have to buy everything, you won't save much, and the time you spend will take away from any savings you could have had.
 
I've got a Pheer, and feel it was well worth the money. But, for that matter, I wouldn't attempt a folding knife either. I'm reasonably handy, but I have to draw the line somewhere, and fighting with it to get it to work right would have not been worth the savings to me. Brett's grinders look superb, with a few advantages over the Pheer. I think Jose is planning some improvements for later grinders, however, so you'll likely get an even better one than the one I got. I'm probably going to buy one of Brett's at some point when I have a bigger shop so I can compare. A word to the wise; get a dustproof enclosure for your VFD. I didnt, and had to cobble one together once I realized the need.
 
For what it's worth Chris at Wilmont is first class. He went well beyond with his CS well beyond!
 
I have said it on this site before and I will say it again. I have now bought 17 Wilmont grinders. Both Little buddies and TAG-101 grinders, all for Aussie makers. Where every other manufacturer I contacted wanted to muck me about and waste my time, Chris has been an absolute Gem. His customer service is first class, right from the start. His products are simply awesome, right out of the box, and for your money you could not go wrong.

While they might seam expensive compare the TAG's tool rest with any of the others and you will see that it is, expensive to make, but leaves everything else available for dead.... by a long way.

If you are after a budget model, his Little buddy, mounted on some ply wood, with some hinges and a bit of ingenuity to make sure the motor gets air to breath, becomes the cheapest flipping grinder on the market. A horizontal and vertical grinder for $1000!

I am wrapped in my TAG-101. Best money I ever spent, whatever it ended up costing ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top