Contact Wheel Size for beginning maker....

armourer2

armourer2

Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Messages
374
Hello,
I'm just in the beginning stages of building a knife making shop and have gathered all sorts of things (I do jewelry making outside of my full time job and have a fondness for heavy things made out of cast iron).

I have gotten ahold of an ancient kalamazoo belt grinder in need of some refitting (i.e. it was free) and I would like to put a new contact wheel on it.

What size wheel would anyone recomend for a beginning knife maker? I can reconfigure the machine to take almost any size and belt length up to 72" (low ceilings in my shop and the ginder came with a very nice base with a pivot point about 32" off the ground).

Thanks,
Patrick
 
Patrick, congrats on the free machine..those are the bes kind!!

The most popular sizes are 8" and 10". Since the Kalamazoo has a driven contact wheel, I would personally lean towards an 8" to help keep the belt speed down. I think the 10" wheel may be way too fast for knifemaking....or else you'll end up playing some crazy games with the motor set-up to keep things slower.

Tell us more about the machine. Does it have a motor.... has is it driven? Variable speed?

2 cents poorer...
-Rob
 
Hey Patrick. Listen to Rob! He knows of which he speaks!

My $.02

Curt Wommack
Stone Mountain, GA
 
Start with an 8 inch serrated wheel. Serrated wheels are more agressive than smooth contact wheels. I also use a 10 smooth wheel. Smooth wheels are good for the finishing steps. Smooth wheels are best for setting the edges on knives both the primary and cutting edges.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll try and get some inages tonight, right now its in two or more peices. The base with the motor has a large rotary shear on it and the contact wheel and grinder parts on the floor.

But: the unit has a 1 hp motor (seems to work, but its been awhile since I tested it, have spare though), pretty sure that I can't put a vfd on it but there's plety of room for step pulleys.
all the pillow block brearings seem to spin freely and the shaft seems to be strait and all the grinder assembly needs are new link belts and some rust removal.

When I first got the machine I measured what seems to be the belt legth of 62 inches after I get some images up can someone recomend if it is possible to extend the two supports that hold the other wheel to put 72" belts on the grinder.

Thanks,
Patrick
 
Took some pictures tonight just have to post them. But found that its not a Kalamazoo but a B&E MFG. co. inc model 500. Looks like a kalamazoo and similar config.

Patrick
 
Not to sound too stupid, but are there distink advantages or disadvantages of going with an 8" or 10" wheel? Is one inherently more difficult to learn how to grind knives with. With the ginder that I've got it seems fairly easy to change from 8 to 10 whenever my skills impoves to warrent the change.
I'll figure out how to post images.....

Patrick
 
Patrick
The reason or at lest my reason for using differnt size wheels depends on how wide the blade is and how far up you want the grind line.Johny Stoudt has a good dvd out on hollow grinding you should check it out if you can.Also there is a knifeshow this weekend not to far from you. Im sure you could learn alot buy asking around there here is the link for the show.
http://www.knifeshows.com/shows/baltimore/index.html

Kirby
 
kkc said:
Patrick
The reason or at lest my reason for using differnt size wheels depends on how wide the blade is and how far up you want the grind line.Johny Stoudt has a good dvd out on hollow grinding you should check it out if you can.Also there is a knifeshow this weekend not to far from you. Im sure you could learn alot buy asking around there here is the link for the show.
http://www.knifeshows.com/shows/baltimore/index.html

Kirby
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, I'm not sure if I can go to the show this year. Your explanation makes sence for the different wheel sizes.

Thanks,
Patrick
 
I agree with Fitz, If you could only get one, get the biggest you can afford. I dont think you will see any difference learning on a 10" as opposed top a 12" if you have never hollow ground before. If you know how to hollow grind and you move to a bigger wheel, there will be a small learning curve that you will easily overcome. Get the bigger wheel if you can afford it.
 
Patrick, it would help to understand your grinder a bit better. Is the contact wheel attached to the motor shaft or is it separate and uses an internal bearing of some sort?I'm a bit confused if this is direct-drive or belt operated.

If it attaches to the shaft, a cheaper wheel may be the one Grizzly sells. Match shaft size and you can have a wheel for a budget price.

If you want a top notch wheel with or without bearings, contact:

http://www.contactrubber.com/

Another place that has been mentioned here lately is Sunray Corp. Do some searching here on Shoptalk and you'll find several budget alternatives.
 
I used to use the Grinding table off Mr. Rietveld's side, but it looks like the new site doesn't have it anymore.

You might want to try e-mailing him for his grinding chart:

bertie@rietveldknives.com

Here's what I did with an 8" wheel (grind height is 1" at the widest point):

IMG_1784copy.jpg


And the results with a 10" wheel (grind height is 1.2" at the widest point):

IMG_1868.jpg


-Different designs -but it all basically depends on what you're making and how high a grind you want.

With a hollow grind, the taller the grind, the less it will "wedge" in the material as it gets closer to the spine.

If you use a 14" wheel, on shorter grind heights -it will be closer to a flat grind.

-Just my .02, hope it's helpful. :)
 
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Thanks for all the responces!
Got a bit of a learning curve for getting images up thanks to dial up.
My grinder is not direct drive, but belt driven, with the contact wheel mounted on a sealed bearing shaft with a sheave on the other side. May my images help my explanations!

Patrick
 
That's an old beast! Old tools always make me wonder what stories they'd tell. :)

Is it just me, or does that top right picture make the wheel assembly look out of alignment to the axis of the machine?

After you get the wheel off the machine and can determine what the bore is you can then see if by chance the Grizzly wheel will fit. That at least wouldn't be real expensive.
 
I'm pretty sure that everything is strait. The top right picture was taken at a bit of an angle + the bottom right wheel has a fair amount of adjustment room.

I know that this machine was in a wood and metal shop in Baltimore, and then given to the Peabody Institute about 15 years ago. Then it would up in our shop where no one had the umph to get it up and running. I got it when they demolished the shop.

Patrick
 
I agree that you should listen to Rob ;) I also would like to say that I disagree about the difficulty. I would start with an 8" wheel becuase, in my opinion, it is easier to learn on. I haven't used a 10" wheel, but I have used a 12" wheel and, for me, it's harder to set a deep grind and keep it following the groove than it is with an 8". It won't make a difference after a few weeks using either one, but when I first tried it, the 8" seemed a lot easier for me. Just a newbie perspective.

Cap Hayes

(P.S. I think this is my first post)
 
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