Good horizontal grinder?

Mitchell Knives

Mitchell Knives

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I'm looking for a quality horizontal grinder, but am not having much success.

I've used the Beaumont Metal Works version, but I don't like the fact that the work rests are not height adjustable.

I thought about buying a MAP arm, but working vertically seems a little odd. This might be the best option though.

Any suggestions?
 
Mitchell Knives said:
I'm looking for a quality horizontal grinder, but am not having much success.

I've used the Beaumont Metal Works version, but I don't like the fact that the work rests are not height adjustable.

I thought about buying a MAP arm, but working vertically seems a little odd. This might be the best option though.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I have been looking at the Beaumont, but now that you point out the lack of height adjustment, I'm not sure. If you are working with a thin work piece, like when profiling, there is a lot of wasted belt if you can't adjust height. I have an MAP arm for my KMG and it definitely works nicely, but it can be uncomfortable after profiling a dozen knives. Also, my MAP isn't as rigid as I expected. Even when tightened down all the way there is a touch of flex in the work rest so I constantly have to recheck to make sure I'm still keeping things level.

I've been toying with the idea of making my own horizontal grinder, but am curious about opinions on existing models too.
 
Even if you split the belt to 1", there is still a lot of wasted belt. You can only adjust the tracking so much, so you'll never use the belts efficiently.

I suppose you could make metal "spacer plates" to put on the work rests, but that seems clunky.
 
My bader 3 changes from vert to horz. I made a map type rest that works either way. Jess
 
I wish there was a kit or something for one, they seem simpler than a regular grinder.
 
Johnathan - you know Andrew right? I think if I were looking to do a horizontal grinder, I'd want a setup like his BIII. I bet he'd be willing to let you look at his stand for it and you could do a copy. He might still be selling a Bader too.
 
AcridSaint said:
Johnathan - you know Andrew right? I think if I were looking to do a horizontal grinder, I'd want a setup like his BIII. I bet he'd be willing to let you look at his stand for it and you could do a copy. He might still be selling a Bader too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've met Andrew a few times. I might have to look into doing that. Travis had something similar. It would be a little harder with the KMG though. Might check on that Bader too.

A separate grinder would be sweet, but even the Beaumont version is $1400. That's almost half of a TW90 that is already a horizontal/vertical grinder.
 
jonnymac44 said:
I have been looking at the Beaumont, but now that you point out the lack of height adjustment, I'm not sure. If you are working with a thin work piece, like when profiling, there is a lot of wasted belt if you can't adjust height. I have an MAP arm for my KMG and it definitely works nicely, but it can be uncomfortable after profiling a dozen knives. Also, my MAP isn't as rigid as I expected. Even when tightened down all the way there is a touch of flex in the work rest so I constantly have to recheck to make sure I'm still keeping things level.

I've been toying with the idea of making my own horizontal grinder, but am curious about opinions on existing models too.
Click to expand...

The Map arm should be rock solid. Let me know where its flexing and I'll take care of it. Is everything tight under the table? All screws under the table have locktite on them but Its could have loosened up over time. Let me know and I'll get it back to good as new condition.

Michael
www.adammichaelknives.com
 
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