garage made grinder

MarkJeffrey

MarkJeffrey

Joined
Nov 7, 2013
Messages
262
I thought I'd post some pictures of my grinder I made, I've since changed pully sizes, and am going to add a speed controller at some point. It's also just tacked to the base in these pictures for anyone with an eagle eye. I'm new to knife making, I made my first knife from forging a piece of round bar and using hand files for shaping.. then I moved on to this. I've got one finished knife from it so far and one more I'm working on both in 01, I'm amazed at the amount of information I've gathered from these forums since I beat that piece of round bar into a knife. Thanks! :thumbup:



 
Good stuff, like the pivot for the tracking wheel. All ya need is a handle welded on to pull the tracking assembly down to change out belts.
 
Thanks guys, I did have a piece or bar kind of shaped into an arm for that.. but it never got put on. I wonder where that is now haha I should really do that I've gotten used to heaving it down I think.

Here's a better view of the tracking arm


I milled the arm at an angle so it would track good both ways


The middle nut is drilled through then I threaded it all together for welding to be sure the threads on both sides lined up.
 
Good build. Make a flat platen with two 2" wheels and you should be a real knifemaking fool with a real knifemaking tool.
 
Ditch that little spring. Your tracking will be horrible.

Go to Lowes for Home Depot and buy a 69lbs spring and mount that. Your tracking will be dead on with that.
 
Ha I could throw some pictures of mine up Marc, would make you feel better about your welding.
 
Mark, I think you did a great job on the grinder. Just out of curiosity is the tool arm 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches and where did you find a the piece of steel that is the horizontal piece that holds the tool arm snug? It looks to be about 1/4 inch thick. Also, how did you notch the vertical bar?
 
Good build. Make a flat platen with two 2" wheels and you should be a real knifemaking fool with a real knifemaking tool.
Click to expand...
Yea that will be the next part I make, any reason for that or do you just prefer flat grind over hollow grind? Thanks

Ditch that little spring. Your tracking will be horrible.

Go to Lowes for Home Depot and buy a 69lbs spring and mount that. Your tracking will be dead on with that.
Click to expand...
It may not look it in the pictures but thats a pretty heavy spring, I havnt had any tracking problems yet. A slight wobble on certain belts but its minor. I could try a heavier spring and see if that eliminates the slight wobble. thanks

Mark, I think you did a great job on the grinder. Just out of curiosity is the tool arm 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches and where did you find a the piece of steel that is the horizontal piece that holds the tool arm snug? It looks to be about 1/4 inch thick. Also, how did you notch the vertical bar?
Click to expand...
It is solid 1.5x1.5 yes, and I made the tube it fits into using 1/4 inch flat bar. I notched the vertical tube with a plasma cutter and cleaned it up with a grinder and hand files


Thanks for the comments
 
Nice looking grinder!

Looks like you could cut a hole in the mounting plate, drop the motor down, and add step pulleys for a cheap speed control ;0)
 
Even if you hollow grind every blade you still need a flat platen to flatten or taper tangs, add distal taper, flatten the bar before grinding, etc. make straight spines and edges, etc. I would venture to say that it would be nearly impossible to make knives without a flat platen, but you could easily make knives without a contact wheel.

And yes, I do prefer a flat grind to a hollow grind.
 
bladsmth said:
Even if you hollow grind every blade you still need a flat platen to flatten or taper tangs, add distal taper, flatten the bar before grinding, etc. make straight spines and edges, etc. I would venture to say that it would be nearly impossible to make knives without a flat platen, but you could easily make knives without a contact wheel.

And yes, I do prefer a flat grind to a hollow grind.
Click to expand...

ok I see what your saying. So far, for the 2 I've made with it, I just kept it as square as I could to the wheel to get my basic shapes done, then squared all the edges by hand file where needed. I'm going to work on a flat platen this week. Thanks
 
chemistguy said:
i need to practice my welding (self-taught) before I could attempt something like that.
Click to expand...

I'm a self-taught welder and just do it for hobby, my welds are far from good compared to that of a professional fabricator. MIG welding is fairly easy with a decent machine and a little know how. If you have a welder and can get metal to stick together, you can always clean up your welds with a grinder if need be.
 
jonekatt said:
Nice looking grinder!

Looks like you could cut a hole in the mounting plate, drop the motor down, and add step pulleys for a cheap speed control ;0)
Click to expand...

I do have the pulleys for that kind of set up, but honestly after all this it seemed like such a head-ache trying figure it out and to find the room. This has to sit on a work bench so what I have there for a base is pretty much it. But that reminds me... I need to return all those pulleys those things aint cheap! ;P
 
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