Craftsman 2x42 Questions

N

Nic.

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Dec 8, 2014
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Super stoked about my Chrismas present! I know it's no fancy 2x72, but it is already way better than my 4x36...faster belt speed. One issue I do have though is that the work rest is too short. I could make a new one, but does anyone know of a place to buy aftermarket rests? I've looked at different threads, but can't find anything specific to this. Thanks for any help and Merry Christmas!
 
I don't believe anyone make an aftermarket rest for the craftsman but it isn't hard to build one yourself. Then you can make it any size you'd like! Check YouTube for the mods done on these grinders.
 
I learned to freehand grind on a 2x72. I'm glad I did. My .02

A 90 degree work table is nice for profiling though.

Through practice I can hold a pretty good 90 freehand fit profiling. Just don't look through my junk knife learning pile !
 
I just clamped a larger surface to mine when I needed it. I had a thick piece of sheet metal at one time and also used a piece of masonite.
 
NC Biker said:
I just clamped a larger surface to mine when I needed it. I had a thick piece of sheet metal at one time and also used a piece of masonite.
Click to expand...


I do the same with mine....
I clamp a piece of white cutting board material on mine.
Getting better with it each grind.
Today I finally grounded a folder blade with it, with no burnt tip.
Just dunk in cool water every pass on the second side when it starts getting thin.
 
I would recommend building a work rest separate to the machine than trying to make one that attaches. The attachment location for the factory work rest is pretty flimsy. The one in mine is uneven and has a bunch of flex.
 
No help on the aftermarket rests but I most certainly recommend doing the mods to the grinder. Thumb screw tracking, trashing the dust cover, modifying the factory table and upgrading the platen.
Have fun with the new grinder!
Chris
 
I epoxied a wooden knob for the tracking screw. Do that first! About two times with the Allen wrench before I did that one! Ripped the safety guard of and angle grinded the back so I could get thicker belts in as well.
 
Before you even start thinking about a work rest, get or rig a better platen!!:eek:
 
Many Utube videos of mods...
The tracking nob mod can be done under 4$
And the platen I used a piece of ceramic tile cut to fit.
JB welded it to stock platen and bolts under it just incase it ever gives way.
I had to grind on my rest to get it completely square. The slit that allows to adjust the movement of the table was not long enough.
 
jdm61 said:
Before you even start thinking about a work rest, get or rig a better platen!!:eek:
Click to expand...

This! The stock platen will make you say bad words. :mad: It's made of soft, thin sheetmetal, unlikely to be flat/true out-of-the-box, and I guarantee it will get dished-out very quickly.

I used a "Pyroceram" tempered glass platen liner from USAKnifemaker on mine. I scuffed up the paint on the stock piece, and simply slapped the glass on there with JB Weld. Held it in place with rubber bands until I was confident the JB weld was cured and never looked back. The tempered glass starts out flat and stays that way a long, long time. I profiled and beveled hundreds of blades on it, only stopping twice to pull the whole platen assembly off and lap the glass to make sure it was still pretty flat. (knifemaker flat... probably not trained-machinist flat ;) )

I can't help much with the work-rest issues... I took mine off almost at once and promptly lost it... I just prefer grinding freehand and having the entire platen surface available.

If you do want to use a workrest against the platen, I suspect the other posters are right... mounting it securely will be the main issue. But if you just need to get your grinds "in the ballpark" and clean them up freehand or by hand (drawfiling, etc), you should be OK.
 
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