Coote 2x72

FOG2

FOG2

Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
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I,m gathering info. as i may be buying a knife grinder soon and the cost is a LARGE factor. It seems to me that the Coote grinder gives the best bang for the buck.

http://www.cootebeltgrinder.com/Information/index.htm


I know a lot of my questions could/would be answered by speaking with the manufacturer but i also would like to get your opinions.



I,m thinking i would get the 2x72 with the 10in. wheel

The accessory page:

http://www.cootebeltgrinder.com/Accessories/index.htm

I DO wan,t a small wheel accessory and it seems there are 2 ways to get it one way is to have the small wheel in place of the idler wheel if i understand correctly. There seems to be a big difference in price and I have no idea which would be the better way, whatcha think???

I,m not sure if i would want the 9in.sanding disc. But for the $37.00 price it may be worth getting. Opinions ?

I,m assuming that it comes stock with a platen and that the 2" x 9" ceramic platen liner for $28.00 is an upgrade. I don,t believe i would get the ceramic. OPINIONS ?

The knife rest for $35.00 i,m a lil confused by but i think that it,s the lower rest in the pics and is for resting the knife on while hollow grinding. Ive not done any hollow grinding so i don,t know how useful the rest would be. OPINIONS ?


I have NO knowledge when it comes to electrical stuff so please be patient in helping me PICK a MOTOR.

If i can get away w/o spend any money upgrading the supply of electricity
( breakers,wiring,etc.) it would be great! My shop is located in a spare bedroom and the only elec. comes from a couple of 3 holed wall receptical,s.
Is it going to be practical/possible to make this work ?

Right now i,m using a Delta SA180 1x42 belt/disc grinder if that info helps you help me.

THANKS folks !
Bryce
 
I use the Coote. 8" wheels- smooth and serrated. I wish I had the 10" unit. I have the small wheel attachment with the 5/8" and 1" wheels. I have the knife rest which is need to profile blades, but not for hollow grinding. I do that freehand. I started with a 1HP motor and stepped pulleys. I now have a VFD and a 2HP motor which is wonderful. I do not have the glass platen- just the standard one which I should replace.

I am very happy with the Coote. However, I will upgrade to a KMG or Bader one day so I can interchange the large wheels. You can't do this with the Coote.

Milt
 
About the small wheel attachment- it mounts on the back side. Don't try changing the top wheel. I also have the sanding disk- useful, but not necessary. Get a 2 HP motor that will work on 220 volts.
 
I went from a Sears 2x42 to a Coote with a 1 hp Baldor 1725 rpm motor. I wish I had gotten a 1.5 hp but was worried it would trip my 15 amp breaker anytime I leaned into it. I don't know if that is true or not but 1 hp is on the light side for tapering handles or flat grinding really wide blades.

I got the knife rest and ended up taking it off. I'm trying to practice and learn hollow grinding freehand and didn't like it. I've been doing flat and convex mostly and don't use it for that or for profiling.

I got the ceramic platen and can't really say if it is needed or not.
I just got the small wheel attachment but havent added it yet. It does fit on the backside.

I like the Coote and it seems to run smoothly to me. I don't intend to sell knives and don't intend to upgrade anyway, but I don't know anything else in the price range that compares. It is built like a tank. The Grizzly is supposed to be reliable but I think it runs at 3450.

Gerry Hamrick
Everett. WA
 
You can't change the contact wheel size like you can on the KMG and Baders, but for the price and the stability, i think it can't be beat. Profile blades on the table! No need for the knife rest which should be for hollow grinding originally.

1725 RPM Motor with either step pullies (that Norm Coote carries) or a VFD and a motor (which will likely defeat the purpose of keeping costs on the lower end) ?

I grind at the lowest speed that the 3 step pulley offers and am not interested in hogging material off quick so that's never been an issue for me. I grind annealed and heat treated steel at around 900 SFPM.

Not as easy to change around to do effective hollow grinding like the KMG or Bader would be depending on you setup your motor and where you mount it.

You can pick up a motor from pretty much anywhere. I got mine from Grizzly industrial several years ago and it's still running strong. WAs about 160.00 back then. H5379 Motor 1 HP 1725 RPM. Haven't seen the need for POWER because again, I don't hog material off in a rush.

Give Norm a call, he'll tell you everything you want to know about it.

Replacement platens are CHEAP incase you ever grind a divot in it after years of grinding and replacement parts other than the frame and contact wheel are very low cost.

You can't go wrong with it as a starter grinder.

Hopefully you are grinding in ventilated place and not an upstairs bedroom !
 
I use a Coote... it came with the work rest, and I procrastinated about attaching it until I learned how grind entirely freehand (I'll give you a good price on it if you want).

I hear you can tilt it to hollow grind on the wheel, but I've never gotten around to trying it; I just flat grind on the steel platen, which has never given me any trouble.

Good machine! I need to mount mine better- the table allows it a little wobble, but there's none in the unit itself.

I don't think you'll regret it- take as evidence the fact that Cootes NEVER come up for sale on BFC. I don't think I've seen more than one other listed here since I bought mine 3 years ago. People hang on to their Cootes even when they upgrade to KMGs, Baders, and Doziers.


(To address a couple of your more specific questions, I frequently wish for a small wheel attachment and have never wished for the disc attachment.)
 
I do know a maker who loves the Coote grinder. He has used it for over 15 years. For sure get the 72" size. The 48" belts will wear our sooner and selection of types and sizes is not near as available. By the way sand paper and belts are sold by the square inch so you are only going to pay for what you get in size. As well, I would recommend the 10" wheel if that is available. Perhaps the disc may come in handy at times but why not buy it later where as a small wheel attachment can be very useful. I introduced the glass platen to the forums several years ago. No, it was not an original idea. I still believe it's the only way to go. What is hard to believe is that the original platen even if made from hardened metal will show wear especially if you do conture grinding and I certainly recommend you use your grinder for that. Then if flat grinding the wear spots will show up in blade grinding as "odd" looking grinding problems. The "rest" or table can be used for support while grinding as well but is in fact is too wide to help much with this. If you can make one with a length of say 1/4" - 3/8" it would work muck better. However, the rest as supplied is necessary so that the blades can be conture ground as I mentioned. I would recommend a 2HP motor for your machine and step pulleys so that the speed can be adjusted. To show my back ground for these recomendations please please go to customknifegallery.com and find me there. Sorry I don't do pictures and am terribly limited in my computer abilities. Frank Niro
 
I have had a Coote for a little over seven years and there are two negative things that I have found about it. The work table is not adjustable to where you can adjust the gap between it and the belt. On the small wheel attachment, the two wheels I have are not made out of rubber. The are a hard composite that when the belt splice goes across them, it leaves a dip in the metal. Other than that it is a good two wheel machine. I would recommend a 1.5-2hp motor. I saw where someone mentioned platen wear. Something that has worked for me is that when I am not using the grinder, I take the belt off and soak the platen with silicone. This has stopped any grooving to amount to anything. I have been doing this for about 6 yrs.
 
I really appreciate your responses !!! This is the setup i,m contemplating using your advise:

2"x10"x72"--490.00 + Shipping Shipping Wt. 35#

Small radius roller unit for 5/8" - 2-1/2" dia. sleeve on live shaft. Just move belt over and rotate machine forward for access. Fits all machine sizes. Roller unit only available which replaces idler wheel $48.00, but requires some reconfiguration of machine. Sleeves priced separately. Unit complete for mounting on back side of column, $130.00.

2" x 9" ceramic platen liner installed $28.00

Motor- 1 or 1.5 hp i think would be plenty as i,ve not had a problem with bogging down the Delta 1x42 ( yes i can if i try while profiling but i rarely do )

I would like the BELT speed to be around 1,000 to 1500rpm on the LOW end,the HIGH end isn,t really very important to me.I need to figure out which motor rpm, and Step pulley set up it would take to achieve this.

I might even be happy w/o step pulley,s and a lower rpm motor. I,ve never used any grinder other than the Delta i have which i think runs at 3450rpm.

I do alright with it but it does heat the steel up fast which sucks because i make a lot of knives from files w/o annealing and rehardening.
(I reduce the temper in the oven) And Sometimes the fast speed will *burn* my wood scales as well



It seem,s with shipping and misc. i,m at $900 ish

Thoughts/opinions please about this setup or anything else you think of ??

Have i missed anything other than belts to have a working grinder ?
 
Dive in and get it. I have the 2 x 72 w/10" wheel and the ceramic platen and tool rest. I got a 2HP TEFC 1750 RPM motor (220V). I don't remember the make off the top of my head.

Your set up sounds great. It will be plenty enough to suit you. Don't worry too much and remember to order some belts and build a stout table to mount it on.

Edit to add that I also got the stepped pulleys (also from Norm Coote). I think that this is important so as not to burn up handle materials and ruin the HT when you are finishing. Best of luck!
 
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Sure thing! Get it running and get to making some sparks. You'll be amazed how your 4 letter word vocabulary will increase!:D
 
I know I'm a little late to the thread, but I love my Coote! If I had unlimited funds, would I buy a KMG? Yup! That doesn't mean the Coote isn't a top notch machine though. For the money, there is nothing else close. Norm is a great guy to deal with. I got my 1.5 hp Leeson motor from QC Supply. The ceramic platen is a must. Talk to Norm about the step pulleys, he can set you up. I bought the knife rest and it makes a good rest for hogging when you are profiling, other than that, I don't use it. If you want a disc grinder, I would suggest you get a dedicated machine... it's on my own wish list right now.
 
Thanks for the info. Mark !

To do SLACK BELT grinding on the COOTE can you just use the portion of the belt above the platen.
Or is there some reason that doesn,t work well ??
 
I have a coote and it works really well, I use a 1.5 hp motor at 1725 rpm. I got my step pullies from Grainer. I use two and they are reverses so they run 4" dia to 2" dia, 3" to 3" and 2" to 4". This range of speeds works really well and the low is slow enough to do finish work without burning and the high will remove alot of metal fast. I am sure the KMG or others are slower and faster but this range works well for me.

Do get the step pullies you the cost is mimimal and you will adjust the speed sooner than you think.

Also look at the blaze belts, they look expensive but last a long time.
 
I've been trying to email norm... i keep getting an error message though. anyone have an address?
 
FOG2 said:
Thanks for the info. Mark !

To do SLACK BELT grinding on the COOTE can you just use the portion of the belt above the platen.
Or is there some reason that doesn,t work well ??
Click to expand...

Well, I don't do many convex grinds, But you can slack grind above the platen. The issue is that there is that it's not as tight as it would be on a three/four wheel grinder. I cut a screwdriver slot in the bolt that set's the tension on the idler and was able to tighten it up a bit, but it's still not as good as it would be on a set up like the KMG has. My girlfriend is working on her first knife and was able to get a decent convex on thinner stock with it, but it was a lot of work. Before I had my Coote, I did a few convex grinds with files then smoothed everything out on my 1x42. I would probably go that route again but with the Coote.

psycho78, I contacted Norm via e-mail address provided here: http://www.cootebeltgrinder.com/Contact/index.htm
Have you tried calling?
 
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