For those that have or have built a NWG.

Harden Knives

Harden Knives

Joined
Aug 7, 2013
Messages
405
Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good week.

So...my "ye olde crappy grinder" that i do all my work on and has quite a bit of modification to it so that i can make knives on it, is dying.

I will probably only get two or three more knives out of the thing and i realize it is time to jump head first into a better grinder.

I am thinking a NWG is the way to go. Apparently from usa knifemakers website, i can get into one that only does flat grinds (only thing i do for utility's sake), for around $240-260 ish.
I do consider myself pretty handy with tools and building stuff, so i think i can manage the build.

What i need to know from all of you who have NWGs or have built them, is what did it cost you to make yours, what were the optional attachments on yours and why did you get them?

I also need to know if i should look at contact wheels for profiling handles as well.

Thanks in advance and i apologize for not capitalizing "I" and for poor sentence structure, but hey, I'm tired.:o
 
If you can do it for $240-$260 then go for it.
Not sure you've factored in everything though, unless you're machining your own wheels youve got $150 in drive wheel and tracking wheel alone.
Add $80 worth of idlers, another $80 if you're using step pulleys, bearings, you're already over

And then youve still got the motor and steel.

I built the NWG a long time ago, use a KMG clone now.
IMO the skill and time difference it takes to make each of them is negligible, yet with the KMG you get a much more solid machine.
 
You might want to look at the "grinder in a box" kit from Polar Bear Forge. There is a website and there are how to videos on you tube about building one. The kit is $250 plus about $12.65 shipping. You have to drill a few holes and tap a couple threads and you have a choice to bolt the base to the upright or have it welded. Also the basic KMG grinder without motor and drive is about $750 if you want a platform for a permanent professional grinder.
 
You'll spend about $220 on wheels alone if you go with Beaumont wheels, or get them from USAKnifeMaker (who sells Beaumont Metal Work's aluminum wheels). That said, I have seen a couple of sets of wheels on eBay for about $130 to $150. I can't speak to their quality though...

That will leave you with $100 for a motor, step pulleys, a belt, shaft, 2 pillow block bearings, a spring, misc. fasteners (including knobs), and the steel. You'll also need a few misc. electrical supplies and a base to mount everything to. Oh, and you'll want a piece of ceramic glass for your platen.

If you have any local scrap yards or fab shops in the area, you can probably get most of your steel for next to nothing vs buying from a distributor.

All in all, I think I have about $500 into my grinder JUST for the flat platen. Maybe a little bit more.

Off the top of my head, I think I paid closed to the following:

$80 for motor
$20 for bearings
$35 for pulleys
$25 for link belt
$80 for steel
$220 for wheels
$30 or $40 for the misc fasteners and such

Now all prices are subjective, and could be more or less, depending on what you already have, or can find used. Obviously you can save a lot if you make your own wheels, and you might get all the steel you need for less than I did. A motor is a huge part of the cost too, so it really depends on what you can find.
 
FTO_dude said:
If you can do it for $240-$260 then go for it.
Not sure you've factored in everything though, unless you're machining your own wheels youve got $150 in drive wheel and tracking wheel alone.
Add $80 worth of idlers, another $80 if you're using step pulleys, bearings, you're already over

And then youve still got the motor and steel.

I built the NWG a long time ago, use a KMG clone now.
IMO the skill and time difference it takes to make each of them is negligible, yet with the KMG you get a much more solid machine.
Click to expand...

thanks man, I think I did miscalculate on the wheels.
 
Two years ago i spent around 800$ on steel, aluminum, crowned tracking wheel, nuts/bolts and a motor to build a KMG clone. Took me many hours of work to save a couple hundred bucks..
 
We built a NWG a couple of years ago for my brother, about 500 in it and several hours of work and getting it aligned. When we were done he said he should have just bought the KMG platen package and been done.
 
For the wheels on a platen, use a longboard wheels - those sell around $15 or so (for 4 wheels) shipped off ebay. They will be around 2 to 3" diameter, 2' wide, and usually 78A hardness. I've been using a pair for the last yr and they have worked really good. I'm NOT talking about running grinder 8 hr/day, 5 days/wk. I've only made perhaps 10 to 15 knives in the last yr on the grinder. For hobby use like myself, they work really good.

Ken
 
Ken H> said:
For the wheels on a platen, use a longboard wheels - those sell around $15 or so (for 4 wheels) shipped off ebay. They will be around 2 to 3" diameter, 2' wide, and usually 78A hardness. I've been using a pair for the last yr and they have worked really good. I'm NOT talking about running grinder 8 hr/day, 5 days/wk. I've only made perhaps 10 to 15 knives in the last yr on the grinder. For hobby use like myself, they work really good.

Ken
Click to expand...

yeah i've seen some people use longboard wheels (I actually used to longboard back in the day:D) but how do they hold up with tracking?
 
I personally find building grinders to be really fun! So Im happy to write off any time that I sacrifice from knifemaking
If you're a full time maker then yeah its much more difficult to have the numbers make sense at the end of the day
 
FTO_dude said:
I personally find building grinders to be really fun! So Im happy to write off any time that I sacrifice from knifemaking
If you're a full time maker then yeah its much more difficult to have the numbers make sense at the end of the day
Click to expand...

makes sense. I probably only devote 15 hours a week to knife making. Kind of hard to do more with work, college, family etc.
 
The longboard wheels track just fine - as long as the platen wheel is lined up correctly, it doesn't seem to have much impact on tracking - that seems to be a function of the tension wheel as much as anything.

Yea, I'm an "OLD" skateboarder myself, from back in late 60's when we had to build our own boards using roller skate wheels 'n axles. Not sure what was available other places, but in north Alabama there wasn't much going on skateboard wise. Myself and another fellow were the only skateboarders around at the time..... at my college anyway.

Ken H>
 
Here's a video of mine using longboard wheels for the platen idlers and the tracking wheel that I bought on ebay in a 4 pack (they came with the bearings also, which take a 5/16" bolt) for about 40 dollars. They are still working great and are not wearing down at all yet, plus I still have the one extra wheel in case I need to replace one because I only used the 3, plus they work great as contact wheels. I just used a bit of tape to slightly crown the tracking wheel for better tracking, which works great on mine at full speed and the lowest speed. BTW, in the video the motor is running at it's slowest speed.

[video=youtube;aNMuKGMcqlc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNMuKGMcqlc&list=UU2rJM5fwM7F-Fy9E74-fYSQ[/video]

These wheels are called "Abec 11 Grippins" and they come in different durometers (different hardness or "squishiness" of the polyurethane) and I think mine were in the low 70's. 70 duro is the most common hardness for contact wheels it seems.

Let me know if you have any questions. I highly suggest finding a local steel/ scrapyard nearby and getting you steel tubing from there, I ordered mine online and the shipping was crazy high! :thumbdn:

~Paul
My Channel Lsubslimed
 
I built a NWG about a year ago. Its alright but not great. I still have tracking issues and other minor things like bolts and nuts coming loose. I am now in the process of building a KMG clone out of 6061. I've got less money in the aluminum than what I had in the tube steel....probably half. I got the aluminum off flea bay from a guy really reasonable and with free shipping. I got all my wheels off ebay as well and they have worked out great. I even got some small wheel attachments from him that are working out perfect. I guess what I'm saying is don't go with the NWG try something else with better quality. For about the same money you can get a much better grinder elsewhere.
 
Yep, I looked at a picture of KMG and decided I wanted a clone of that. I ordered 1/2" aluminum from Ebay and it wasn't "too" bad. I'm in the process of building another using a VFD and 3 phase motor. I ordered the 1/2" aluminum from Exact Metals website. I used 1-1.5" and 2.5" flat bar to make the 1.5" square tube. I was able to order all the metal cut to size and length for the total grinder for a cost of less than $150 shipped.

A good grinder can be built at a very reasonable cost - I think including the cost of 2 hp 3 ph motor ($127 shipped), and the VFD (Chinese made for $127 shipped from Calif) I should have less than $500 total cost.

Ken H>
 
Yea, knowing what I know now, (when I first start building my nwg I didn't really know what I was doin, plus it took over a year cause I was get this or that and build a little a a time) I would for sure build a KMG clone or the "EERF" grinder it I was going to build one. The tolerances with the tubing for the NWG can vary a bit depening on where you buy your tube and they don't fit that well anyway. I'm fine with my grinder for now bu I'm sure later don the road I'll get tired of it.. who knows though. When I tighten the bolts for the work rest whenever I put it back on it's not always square 100% of the time, and I have to loosen the bolts and tighten them in a certain order to get it back to square and level etc. I really want a grinder that I could trust that when I went to change tool arms that it would fit in the exact same way each time. I have only used my flat platen and have yet to remove it so I'm kinda worried if I did remove it, like to put in a small wheels attachment (which I still want), that it wouldn't be exact the next time I re-tightened up the bolts. But I honestly don't know yet, as I havn't tried it.

Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining and I am so glad I have my grinder, and it has worked great for everything I have used it for, but if I were to do it all over again, it would be nice to have something a bit more solid with better tolerances, nonetheless, it's still a great grinder and tons of pepole use them and make excellent knives on them. :)

~Paul
My Channel Lsubslimed
 
Last edited:
coldsteelburns said:
Here's a video of mine using longboard wheels for the platen idlers and the tracking wheel that I bought on ebay in a 4 pack (they came with the bearings also, which take a 5/16" bolt) for about 40 dollars. They are still working great and are not wearing down at all yet, plus I still have the one extra wheel in case I need to replace one because I only used the 3, plus they work great as contact wheels. I just used a bit of tape to slightly crown the tracking wheel for better tracking, which works great on mine at full speed and the lowest speed. BTW, in the video the motor is running at it's slowest speed.

[video=youtube;aNMuKGMcqlc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNMuKGMcqlc&list=UU2rJM5fwM7F-Fy9E74-fYSQ[/video]

These wheels are called "Abec 11 Grippins" and they come in different durometers (different hardness or "squishiness" of the polyurethane) and I think mine were in the low 70's. 70 duro is the most common hardness for contact wheels it seems.

Let me know if you have any questions. I highly suggest finding a local steel/ scrapyard nearby and getting you steel tubing from there, I ordered mine online and the shipping was crazy high! :thumbdn:

~Paul
My Channel Lsubslimed
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I've seen that video a few times but it is a good reference point for me.

I just purchased the uss knifemakers digital plans and i think i have a good place to start....just need to do some math and BOOM, I have a grinder!

In theory anyways.
 
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