Home Built Surface Grinder

250 in parts and a couple weeks build still sounds like over $1k ? what would you guys charge ? i have one already from travis, just curious :)
 
Grecoknives said:
One armed,
Would you be willing to build these?
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I’m sorry Grecoknives, I have no desire to build & sell these. It wasn’t my idea to begin with. This is Travis Wuertz design. I just figured out WHAT was being used, reverse engineered the unit from pictures & vids and found places to buy the parts super economically. Ok, I guess that actually IS quite a bit, but I would never try to profit from another’s idea. To be honest, Travis’ price is on par to what anyone would sell it for. Somewhat cheaper as mine does not look nearly as nice as the origional. (Or even as nice as those built by many here who followed me). But it certainly would cost much, much more than $250! This really is something for the DIY’ers here! Those of use who not only make knives, but also build our own belt grinders, and other tools we use.

The one that was just cerekoted is beautiful! But I’m with Ken! LOL! It’s a tool! Ken was the first to contact me, and built his right after mine. Ours are the first two, and nearly as “nice” as many of the ones built since. But either one can hold surface grind to within .001-.002”. Ken is getting pretty consistent .001”! That is very, very cool given what either of us spent.
 
Oh, and for those still worried about the sliding table portion..... Try making your own guys! As I & Ken both did! Remember what you are making here guys! Surely you can make the slide as well, instead of buying the cheap ones from China. Look at the beginning of this thread again. I have very detailed pictures of how I made the slide assembly. I’ve actually shortened mine some and used retention screws on the center rail portion. It is more accurate and lighter than anything you can purchase.
 
I'm with OneArmed, not interested at all in building to sell, but come by the shop and I'll help you build your own SGA. Travis has a very nice SGA, but OBG has a nice one also, and I think I actually like his better because it's got the contact wheel mounted direct to the tooling arm. https://www.ebay.com/itm/263146335672 It's almost half price of Travis'd SGA.
 
Ken H> said:
I'm with OneArmed, not interested at all in building to sell, but come by the shop and I'll help you build your own SGA. Travis has a very nice SGA, but OBG has a nice one also, and I think I actually like his better because it's got the contact wheel mounted direct to the tooling arm. https://www.ebay.com/itm/263146335672 It's almost half price of Travis'd SGA.
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I probably woulda gotten that one but I wasn't impressed at ALL with their lightening wheels, so wasn't about to drop $900 on their SGA
 
One thing I think there WOULD be a market for is the mag chuck. If someone has a mill, and offered to mill slots in aluminum bar stock (heck you don't even have to glue in the magnets) I think that you would have a lot of interest. It was the most difficult part of the build for me anyway.
 
Today I did some more experimenting with the surface grinder. Because my chuck assembly is mounted seperately I am able to change things up. I wondered if it would be possible to grind grooves (fullers) with this setup. Also if it is possible to taper the fuller at the end. Because the wheel is not in the center of the slide I was a little worried about fibration, but it worked really well.

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Ken H> said:
Now that's slick! OR - use a 12" contact wheel for a hollow grind blade.
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Well , to do that he will need another one axis.........I think that I will build this thing . It will be so easy to grind FF and distal taper blade :thumbsup: Best thing will be that we can grind only ONE side to get that FF distal taper blade ;)
 
Ken H> said:
Now that's slick! OR - use a 12" contact wheel for a hollow grind blade.
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I immediately thought the same thing Ken! The moment I saw what Toni did!

Hey guys.... How cool is this?? A simple idea of “hey, that’s really cool! I think I BUILD that really cheap for myself!”! Like a spark.... And look at it now! Look what some of us are taking it to! Doing with it! It really has been a pleasure being on this ride with you all. Well, I guess “I’m” like the tour guide?? Or, WAIT....maybe it’s more like Travis was the Tour Guide.....and I’m the guy who opened the back door for a bunch of my friends to get in. LOL! :D Oh well.

Seeiously, It really has been an absolute pleasure seeing all of your different talents my friends.

So when is Bladeforums going to make this a “Sticky”?
 
Main problem with using it to hollow grind a blade is the blade has to look like the bar of steel shown. No way to walk the hollow grind along a curved blade like is done by hand.

Probably possible with a small wheel for a narrow fuller, or with a wider wheel for a center fuller on a dagger. Fuller the bar and then grind the blade.
 
Exactly, as soon as the edge curves up, the edge will get thicker. You can compensate by tapering at the same time, but it will never be the same as grinding by hand. The setup I used is very handy for fullers. At this moment I am working on a new knife model on which I want the spine of the blade to be thick as long as possible. So no distal taper, but I want to loose some weight. Fullering this way with the taper at the end is really nice for such a blade.
 
I know this may be a silly question, but has anyone experimented with standard bar magnets like you get in welding magnets?
Seems they would provide sufficient grip for a knife blade. I use some I have to really wrestle a blade off when I am done grinding.
 
I don’t think bar magnets would be sufficient for the size we are using. This style magnetic chuck must use small magnets, as the surface needs to be of interrupted design & above the magnets. And to be honest, these Neodymiums are not what I would call “cost prohibitive”. I have a set waiting for my next build that cost $20 for 15 5mmx10mmx50 magnets. I want to do a 2” wide chuck. I’m also going to switch to the 47mm guide rail.

I have an old 50lb welding magnet that is larger & heavier than all 15 of these 2” long Neodymiums. But the 15 Neo’s have a couple hundred pounds of holding force all together.
 
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Anyone thought about incorporating a Z axis to the base so you can move the blade across a 2" face sorta more like a real surface grinder?

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razor-edge-knives said:
Anyone thought about incorporating a Z axis to the base so you can move the blade across a 2" face sorta more like a real surface grinder?
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Where are you referring to using this adjustable table? This thread is about “building” an SGA (Surface Grinder Attachment). I’m not sure what the adjustable table would have to do with it??
 
Haven’t seen height adjustments yet, some 3” wheels and belts to account for this. Just taper and bevel adjustments until you build it..
 
One Armed said:
Where are you referring to using this adjustable table? This thread is about “building” an SGA (Surface Grinder Attachment). I’m not sure what the adjustable table would have to do with it??
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Underneath the whole assembly, this would allow you to traverse a 4" axe head or whatever across a 2" belt as you raised the assembly up and made your passes ...
 
razor-edge-knives said:
Underneath the whole assembly, this would allow you to traverse a 4" axe head or whatever across a 2" belt as you raised the assembly up and made your passes ...
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Yes, it can be done, but I do think it's a bit overly complex. I do find a 2" wide chuck a bit narrow for a 2" chef knife, but using 2-1/2" chuck & belts should take care of the problem. That's one of the things on my "to do" list {g}
 
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