Craftsmen Grinders

K

kwells14

Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
9
I have been grinding on my craftsman 2x42 for a few months now and still have not been completely satisfied with any of my finished grinds. I know that having a machine with a variable speed motor would help, but is it possible to get quality grinds with my craftsman? Or is it really just too fast? I don't have the money at the moment to upgrade and really would prefer not to have to go back to filing my bevels by hand. I would love to see pictures of knives that people have made on a craftsman or to get any advice from makers who have ever or are currently working with a craftsman 2x42

Thank you,

Kyle
 
I have a 2x42 and a Bader 2x72. I still grind up to 220 grit on the craftsman and do my finish grinds on the 2x72. Both the bevels and plunge lines are set on the craftsman, and I really do love the little thing. Mine is getting weak these days, but it's been a work horse. Mind you, my blades are typically 4" long and 1/8" or under so not a ton of grinding usually.

Do you have any modifications done to the craftsman? The biggest difference I saw in grinding was when I installed a glass liner on the platen. It turned crappy looking grinds into reasonable ones almost instantly. It is definitely a serviceable grinder, and there are folks making far nicer blades than I do on them.

Justin
 
I use one on all my folder blades from 5/32" to 3/32" flat grinds.
I use a ceramic glazed tile for the platen... Only because they were out of stock of glass at the time.

Taking the time to get the machine trued everywhere is the biggest thing.
Once that is done, it's just getting use to the speed.

I burnt two blade tips when I started with it, now after probably 30 blades I have no issues.

Would I like a variable speed 2x72.. ?? yessss
But I got what I could afford...
And where there is a will there is a way.
 
Not glass, pyroceram. Can find it by the inch on the fleabay.
I happen to have a spare piece about the right size for a craftsman platen. If you'd like, pm me and I'll send it to you.

-Eric
 
I used a ceramic tile on mine also. I had a tile saw and some 6x6 tiles. I cut the middle 2" out of a 6" tile, so that both edges were the same. Worked great for 150 knives, till I built a 2x72.
 
Pyroceram, Neoceram, and Robax are all brand names for high temperature glass. It's mainly used as fireplace glass. I get mine from the local glass shop. A 2"x9" piece cost me about $15.00.
 
Sorry for the late reply thanks for all the advice. Attatching a glass platen was the first and only thing I have done with my craftsman in terms of modifications and it helped some. But I just found that my main issue was the height of the table that my machine was sitting on. I am now working on a lower work surface and I already see a night and day difference in the quality of my grinds.
 
Late to the game and I think I've made a mistake. I have a 2x8 pyroceram liner, an inch too long for my Craftsman. What should I do? Is this workable?
 
Back in the prehistoric days we didn't have variable speed grinders. We managed to make some nice knives....
 
Liberty_or_Death said:
Late to the game and I think I've made a mistake. I have a 2x8 pyroceram liner, an inch too long for my Craftsman. What should I do? Is this workable?
Click to expand...

You could get a glass cutter and cut it to size, or take it to your local glass shop and let them cut it for you. A third option would be to leave it be and mount to your metal platen having the extra extend towards the top. You would just want to make sure you don't grind on that part as it could break off with no support behind it. Whatever you do, be sure to create some sort of ledge at the bottom to support the glass from coming off and going down between the belt and lower wheel. This would not be pretty.
 
I successfully cut the pyroceram liner with a rotary tool and diamond bit. Highest speed setting (~35K) and slow & steady, DONE
Took about 10 minutes or so.
7d92d8f754fd729f6654109d55c85c63.jpg

f2116ad09a526924d1f422de31e77da0.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top