Recommendation? Can you make a knife on just a contact wheel?

J

Jay82

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Apr 16, 2014
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Beginner knife maker here, wanting to pick up a cheap grinder to start me off.
I've spotted a good deal on a used 1.5hp variable speed belt grinder which just has a 200mm contact wheel.
Cost-wise it's the same as buying a new, really shitty, 370w disc/belt sander.
I have basic other tools i.e. angle grinder, drill press, dremel, vice.
Would you go for the good quality contact wheel only, or the crappy disc/belt?
So far as I can tell, the contact should be all I need to make a hollow grind knife.

Thanks
 
Yes.
Sounds like a good deal. Jump on it before it is gone. Add a flat platen for less than $100 when you can.

A link or photo of the grinder you are considering would help.
 
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Definitely, I use a contact wheel for 80-90% of the entire knife, and the 10-20% that I don’t use a contact wheel you could do just by hand.
 
Jay82 said:
Beginner knife maker here, wanting to pick up a cheap grinder to start me off.
I've spotted a good deal on a used 1.5hp variable speed belt grinder which just has a 200mm contact wheel.
Cost-wise it's the same as buying a new, really shitty, 370w disc/belt sander.
I have basic other tools i.e. angle grinder, drill press, dremel, vice.
Would you go for the good quality contact wheel only, or the crappy disc/belt?
So far as I can tell, the contact should be all I need to make a hollow grind knife.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Of course that you can grind blade on contact wheel .BUT not any one you want on ONE contact wheel Dia. .............thickness , width of blade dictate what you can grind and how far .Look in this chart carefully ............
8LzWgGm.jpg
 
That's a interesting guide and seems good for a dagger but you can do a lot of different size hollows, convex and more with an 8 inch wheel. It's just more time consuming but you will get good at blending.
 
You don't have to only do hollow grinds.
You can preshape a bar of steel to a roughly flat bevel on a wheel and then hand file/sand to fully flat and ready for HT.
 
You can make a pretty flat blade with a large contact wheel...
I can't do it, but I have personally witnessed @Tom Lewis profile and FFG a skinner on a 12" wheel.
In like 5 minutes.
 
Buy flat ground stock and using a wheel is not an issue. Just use a surface plate to keep the flats flat
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback - I bought the machine. Pretty excited about it!
I have a bunch of old saw blades to muck around with until I am competent enough to work with decent stock.

Cheers
 
How long are the belts on your machine there? Im interested if you can put a work rest on it too.
 
That's an expanding drum sander, not a belt grinder- though it could be converted to a belt grinder fairly easily.
I had one of those sanding drums explode while using it at high speed. The belt snagged and broke, and there was nothing there to keep the disc from over expanding.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
That's an expanding drum sander, not a belt grinder- though it could be converted to a belt grinder fairly easily.
I had one of those sanding drums explode while using it at high speed. The belt snagged and broke, and there was nothing there to keep the disc from over expanding.
Click to expand...
I had a google just now and you're correct - happily admit that my knowledge of tools ends at drill press!

The previous owner said he's made a heap of knives on it without any dramas.
Do you suggest I have it modified before using? Anything in particular you recommend?

I ran a saw blade KSO blank on it last night and it definitely makes shit sharp, and is fun to use.
 
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Randydb said:
How long are the belts on your machine there? Im interested if you can put a work rest on it too.
Click to expand...
They're 200mm as they wrap around the drum. A tool rest would fit but would obviously need to be custom made. I haven't yet considered whether I want one
 
It will work fine. Just don't run the wheel faster than recommended RPMs, and try not to snag the belt.
 
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