Cheap grinder wheel alternatives?

[Atama]

I am working on assembling a KMG grinder clone with the plans from Don Fogg's website. I figure I can start out with just a basic flat platen with a tool table, then as time, and funds, allow, I can build other attachments.

My question is this - In trying to keep the initial cost as low as possible, what are some good alternatives to the spendy poly wheels to make a platen? I will go ahead and start out with a good drive wheel, but want to see what others out there have used for wheels to keep my initial investment as low as possible. Thanks in advance!

 

[bikermikearchery]

My first build on my NWG I made wood wheels with a 2" hole saw and put cheep wheelbarrel barrings in them. The barrings were noisey but it worked but it ran true enough to make several dozen knives with.

 

[AVigil]

When I did my GIB build I was willing to try to save money on everything but the wheels . Bad wheels will have you spending more time chasing after problems then making knives.
You do not need poly wheels to make knives and use the aluminum ones available from Beumont or USA Knifemaker.

 

[unky_gumbi]

Personally I would just buy the budget polly wheels from Tracy one USA Knife Maker (unfortunately he is sold out of 2" right now, but I think he will get them back in stock soon enough). While the bearings are a little subject and they don't have a sleeve inside to make adjustment easy, they are still a good wheel. I have been running mine for close to a year now and the stock bearings are still working fine. Once they do go, I will just pop them out, make a sleeve and put in higher quality bearings. At least with the budget wheels there is no guessing about how true they are or if they are going to fly apart on you. Homemade wooden wheels have a higher chance of failure even if they are made perfect.

 

[Salem Straub]

I turned UHMW plastic idler wheels for my platen on a metal lathe, 2x2 with a bit of a crown, and just pressed some skateboard size bearings in. Speaking of which, longboard wheels can be much less expensive than idler wheels, and can be ordered with quality bearings. It just takes looking for a minute to find a set or a pair with sufficient width.

I turned my tracking wheel out of UHMW too.

I've used a wheel and bearings from a broken pallet jack before for a super cheap 8"-ish contact wheel. It worked pretty well. You'd want one with ball bearings and fairly well balanced, I know quality with things like that is very inconsistent.