Grindomatic5000

[Sam Salvati]

Don't know why my other thread got closed, feel bad for people who search for this finding a thread with no pictures and then hopefully this thread, but here is photos again of the Grindomatic 5000. This is really not all that hard Here I copied and pasted the original info.

I have seen various incarnations of this jig but never one like this. I put it together today, some drillin and tappin and bam, Grindomatic5000.

One of the best features of the KMG is the adjustable angle platen, never really though much of that til I worked up this jig. It is just a piece of HEAVY angle iron with some holes I spaced 6" apart, the bolts that go in there are adjustable stops, the blade rests on them while you grind. You center scribe your stock, the angle iron jig sits flat on the work rest, then after you figure out the proper angle for the width of stock you want to use you set the platen and just grind away to your scribe line. Works a charm! I want to do some pieces where it is ground from flat stock, then forge bent to add some curvature, it's quite a handy setup. I see using it also to rough something out then freehand it from there, nice to work off of a precise base.

Please no safety sally comments on my grinding position, i don't really care.

 

[Matt Markell]

Many thanks Sam, I plan to make something like this in the near future and having your pictures back makes things a lot easier!

Cheers

 

[quint]

Thanks Sam, I think the last one the pictures disappeared and people were asking about it so it got closed.

That looks like the perfect setup for longer blades like what your doing. Pretty cool and best of all simple.

 

[Don Nguyen]

When you get to the tip, do you then go freehand?

 

[Frank Niro]

Thanks Sam. Frank

 

[Sam Salvati]

Glad you found it guys, you are welcome.

Don yes I freehand the tip.

Here's the finished blade from the grindomatic:

 

[Fred.Rowe]

What degree setting is the stool. Do you have to compensate the setting on the 5000 to compensate for the stool? Haa Haa.

I'd show my set up but it would get a lot more laughs than yours.

Great blade Sir!

 

[mgysgthath]

That's awesome Sam!

 

[savagesword]

Thanks for the repost! Very helpful to see these different techniques

 

[Mr. Night]

love the jig!

 

[AVigil]

I grind sitting on a stool now and boy is it a pleasure compared to standing. Sword looks great Sam!

 

[Metzger]

I thought I invented that jig! Haha, I think a lot of us have something like this works the best. I have some with bolts on the bottom for different angles or you can just angle the platen. I also made a 4" work rest about 3' long to keep the angle iron at the same angle.

 

[Sam Salvati]

Thanks guys!

What degree setting is the stool. Do you have to compensate the setting on the 5000 to compensate for the stool? Haa Haa.

I'd show my set up but it would get a lot more laughs than yours.

Great blade Sir!

I think the stool is set about 15 degrees, I have this bubble level jig I developed for chair angles..........hehe

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Beautiful sword Sam.

 

[Sam Salvati]

thanks Dan!

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Is that blade a single sided bevel?

 

[Frank Niro]

Lovely piece of work , Sam !!! Frank

 

[Shawn Hatcher]

Beautiful work on the sword, Sam!

I think a lot of us have something like this

Here's mine. Just a piece of 90 aluminum with some 6-32 screw holes drilled and tapped. I've added several more holes for different patterns since this photo.

I use to lay these top grinds in by hand, but using the fixture is way less stressful!!

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

OK, how about a picture of the useful side? That's like showing us the back of the frame of the Mona Lisa and saying "See, this is how DaVinci attached the canvas!" Please show us the front so we can learn from your designs.

 

[Shawn Hatcher]

OK, how about a picture of the useful side?

I used the above photo because it conveyed the most useful information.

One hole needs to be drilled and tapped for a screw to become the fulcrum, or resting point, for the knife. I've drilled and tapped a series of other holes along the blade to provide support after the bevels have been ground. I cover one side of the knife with blue tape to protect it from the inevitable scratches and use my Kant Twist to clamp the work piece to the fixture. Be sure to round the ends of your screws so they don't cut into the blade.

The platen is adjusted to the desired downward angle (usually somewhere between .5 and 3 degrees for me). For the above knife, I start the grind at the tip of the knife while holding the other end of the fixture toward me. As I make the pass, I push the fixture forward, which allows me to follow the radius of the spine. As you can see, I've ground off the corners of the fixture to give me clearance when angling it towards the platen.

There's still plenty of opportunity to muck things up when using the fixture. And I generally prefer the freedom of freehand grinding to the restrictive nature of fixtures. But for this type of top grind or for really long flat grinds like Sam's above sword, it can really reduce stress and speed things along.

Please show us the front so we can learn from your designs.

Here you go.

And here's another example of its use.