Help needed, Getting a Craftsman 2 x 42 grinder to Canada.

duffy99

duffy99

Joined
Apr 2, 2011
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Sears doesn't ship their grinder to Canada and I think I want to go with this one as my first grinder. The price is good and allows more budget for belts. My other option is a Kalamazoo which is 2x48 and $400 plus tax and shipping but is available in Canada. Is there anyone that could help me get one of these to Edmonton, Alberta? I'd pay upfront for the costs of course . Even better anyone want to do some mods on it and then send it up ? Thanks in advance.
 
I looked into this a while ago and Sears did ship to Canada. Have a look at the Sears.com website and see if that is still the case.
 
Interesting. If you pop on sears.com and hit checkout for the sander it redirects you to a page for international shipping. $25 to Canada with an optional $19 prepaid customs to make sure you don't get dinged. Ships with DHL. Looks like you won't have to mess around with getting it sent up
 
Prepaying customs and locking in your costs is a good idea. In the past I have been dinged hard by shippers like UPS and Fedex for administration fees when they cleared stuff through Canada Customs (even when there were NO duty charges on items). I just did a prepaid duty shipment through Amazon and they actually refunded me the prepaid duty when the stuff sailed through customs ding free.
 
I'm going to order it today , next question . I'm going to place an order with trugrit I think for some belts to get started any advice on types and quantity to get me rolling?
 
duffy99 said:
I'm going to order it today , next question . I'm going to place an order with trugrit I think for some belts to get started any advice on types and quantity to get me rolling?
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This is an interesting question, as everyone grinds differently.
Tracy Mickley has an article on that here.
http://www.usaknifemaker.com/abrasive-belt-basics-what-kind-should-i-buy-p-1393.html

Ed Caffrey has mentioned going from rough to fine like 60 to 400 and skipping the grits between.
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I have found that on working with a fixed speed machine - for bevel grinds going direct to 400 or 600 grit and using a light touch really helped me.
 
I hog with 50 or 60, clean up with 160 Gators and finish grind with 400 Gators (all from Tru-Grit, available there in 2x42). The Gators are worth every penny, they cut well and last a long time. The light touch is very important on such a fast machine.

Some will tell you that you can't get a decent finish unless you use every single grit belt known to man in increments of 10, but that's hogwash. If you want a nice satin or high polish you're going to be doing some hand-sanding to get the 400-grit scratches off anyway. When you get to hand-sanding it does pay to step up through the grits, I go 400-600-800-1000-1500-2000. It goes faster once you get things nice and clean with 400 - don't rush through that part!

Quantity depends on how many/how big a knife you want to make. Order as many as you can afford, say 5 of each, you'll soon find which ones you eat up the fastest. Get a belt cleaner stick (looks like a big tan eraser), they do help your belts last a bit longer and prevent nasty scratches caused by broken grit and swarf in the belt.

Incidentally I've ordered several times from TruGrit even though I'm in the States... I'm quite pleased with their service.
 
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That's a great article thanks , as for supplier I've used Jantz in the past and they have been good but have a limited selection in 2 x 42 . I've read lot's of people use trugrit , any other good suppliers that ship to Canada like UsaKnifemaker which had that great article. Would it be worthwhile to get 1x42 blaze belts or just stick with 2 x42's , I don't see any blaze belts in that size. I'm thinking I might as well invest in a couple of good belts to start with . Also what are thoughts on Gator belts, you can skip the last question if you feel I should use the UTFSE ( use the f**king search engine ) more . Thanks

So order would be something like :
Metal removal:

4ea 40 or 60 grit Zircona.
2ea 80 grit Zirc

4ea 120 grit Zirc

2ea Norax belts in 100x, 65x, 30x, 16x and 5x or another belt type than Norax?

Maybe I should get ceramics instead for the 40/60/80/120 or a mix of both?

For Wood/ Micarta/ G-10

5 each of AO grits 40/80/120/240/400
 
Skip some belts works if you are grinding on Damascus but in my opinion not all that good for stainless steels. Here uis what I use.
60, 120 0r 150, 65, 45, 30, 15 and 5 on edges. I operate my grinders slow and these may not work well with that speed ball machine you are getting. Frank
 
pixelhack said:
500dollarknifeshop on youtube has some interesting mods for the craftsman 2x42.
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I checked out those video's , really cool . I'm going to do most of those I think. Will these work for the platen ? One is glass but I don't know if it's the right kind ,the other ceramic . It's cheap and easy to get , I know places sell them but with shipping and that I'd rather source it in the city.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/3-inx-6-in-smoke-glass-single-tile/902277

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/2x6-bullnose-white-tile/925878

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/12x12-black-floor-tile/925871

will these work or should I use something else ?
 
Use the search function and read up on threads about ceramic platen or glass platen. If you want to use ceramic tile you would be best off to have the tile in hand and check it to see how flat and smooth it is.
 
pixelhack said:
Use the search function and read up on threads about ceramic platen or glass platen. If you want to use ceramic tile you would be best off to have the tile in hand and check it to see how flat and smooth it is.
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Will do thanks , just ordered $120 worth of belt from trugrit , went with the more expensive ones for the most part and some cheapo's for sanding handle materials . Can't wait for everything to arrive.
 
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