I Want A New Grinder

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
1,598
I have been day dreaming at work about a new belt sander. And I think (for me), and for the price, the Grizzly 2x72 is the best choice. I'd love a variable speed but, I'm not dropping $1500-$2500 on one at this point in time in my life.
Now is there anything I need to know before I do? Any problems I should expect? Or modifications that are a must?

I would really like to try out some hollow grinds, and I've read about problems hollow grinding on the Grizzly. Is this easily fixable?

Thanks for any tips or suggestions! I'm going to feel like an 8 year old boy on Christmas morning when I decide to order one.
 
The BIG BIG problem with the Grizzly is the belt speed. It's great for profiling blades. but when you get to bevels, it's going to take a real expert to handle the belt speed.

A 2X72 grinder is fairly easy to build - anyone with skills to build knives should have the ability to build a 2X72 grinder.

Ken H>
 
I'd look into building a NWGS or even a GIB before I purchased a Grizzly knife grinder. Even a 3 to 4 step pulley will be significantly more versatile.

As for price, if you source a motor for a good price, and get your tube steel from a scrap yard, I don't think that building a NWGS (with a flat platen set up) for $500 or less is out of the question. Especially with the wheel sets you can get on ebay now days.
 
I actually have been looking into that, but I figured the Grizzly would have been ok. My problem is, if I'm going to custom build a grinder, I want a variable speed motor. Isn't that going to run $400-$500 itself? I'm not sure, never really looked into it.

You're 2 replies may have just changed my mind, and I think I want to build one now. Haha!

Strangely I'm actually real big on DIY, so this may be just more fun for me. On top of it my brothers a designing genious. He could always help.
 
If you build your own or buy a KMG for that matter you can do without variable speed and then upgrade when you have more money. A entry level variable speed could be had for about $300(ebay motor & TECO VFD)
 
You can get a VFD set up for fairly cheap if you go with one of the Chinese VFDs from ebay and get a good deal on a 3 phase motor (fairly easy to do with craigslist and surplus stores). Most of them can be set up with a potentiometer for quick speed changes.
The biggest concern on the cheap Chinese VFDs is ease of programmability (which really has to only be done once), and then keeping dust of out of them. A filtered enclosure can be built for almost nothing if you're good at scrounging. Now, you could go straight to a TEFC VFD like the KBAC-27D, which is essentially the knife maker's standard, but the cheapest I've seen those are about $350 to $400 without the motor.

That said, again, if I had the choice between a single (FAST) speed grizzly and a step pulley, I'd pick step pulley every day. With a GIB, NWGS, or similar, you have a grinder that can be expanded, adjusted, and upgraded. While you could certainly do much worse than a Grizzly, it kind of is what it is out of the box. No way to pop in a different tool arm and use a small wheel or any other accessory.

Also keep in mind that you can always start with a step pulley and single phase motor, and upgrade to a VFD with a 3 phase down the road (NWGS).
If you go the GIB route, you'll of course need to set up a belt/pillow block/mandrel set up if you want to use step pulleys. Or that could be one more excuse to just go with the vfd. :)
 
I started out (like many others) on a 2x42 craftsman. Super fast and you could stall it when pushing and it's easy to burn handle materials if you are not careful. It is $150 or so and I still am using up belts I have for it even though I now have a variable speed 2x72. I also use the disc that comes with it as well.
 
The budget for this was 500ish. Leeson 1.5hp farm duty motor, pulleys from USA knife maker, cheap stepped pulleys off ebay. Takes some fabrication instincts, time, and a welder.

AzQgkOCl.jpg


Xmx42k2l.jpg
 
Great tips guys. Heres another question. Of course I want the tall platen as the 1x30 I use has maybe a 3 inch platen? Lol But I also want to start doing some hollow grinds. Is this possible? Or is this going to need huge fabrication? The only way I see that being possible with out tilting everything is having an attachment.
 
I got a griZ not too long ago. The tracking is a pain, it is quite a fast bugger. But I don't know any different, so grinding on it to me is all I know. You won't get crisp grind lines, but if you do hidden plunge lines and walk it up into the ricasso, it works like a charm. It's fast though. It definitely isn't made for precision grinding a straight razor.

I don't have the equipment or time to manufacture a 2x72, my budget was $500 and I got a grizz. Would I have gotten a coote with a vfd bad my budget been slightly higher? Probably. But here's where I am and I'll just save my pennies till I can afford a kmg
 
colu41 said:
Great tips guys. Heres another question. Of course I want the tall platen as the 1x30 I use has maybe a 3 inch platen? Lol But I also want to start doing some hollow grinds. Is this possible? Or is this going to need huge fabrication? The only way I see that being possible with out tilting everything is having an attachment.
Click to expand...

If you build a 2x72, it's just a matter of swapping tool arms. No additional fab needed.
 
pwheeler said:
The budget for this was 500ish. Leeson 1.5hp farm duty motor, pulleys from USA knife maker, cheap stepped pulleys off ebay. Takes some fabrication instincts, time, and a welder.

AzQgkOCl.jpg


Xmx42k2l.jpg
Click to expand...

Would it be possible for a build plan for this? $500 is around where I wanted to spend and all the build plans I am finding are still anywhere between $1000 and $1500 for what I want. And your grinder looks awesome!
 
Tracy Mickley sells plans for his NWGS at USAKnifemaker.com. I think it's like $20 to $25 for the plans, and they include everything you need to build the grinder. You can also get the EERF (GIB) CAD drawings for free, or there's a PDF floating around for a KMG clone that has pretty detailed plans.
 
knife to a gunfight said:
Tracy Mickley sells plans for his NWGS at USAKnifemaker.com. I think it's like $20 to $25 for the plans, and they include everything you need to build the grinder. You can also get the EERF (GIB) CAD drawings for free, or there's a PDF floating around for a KMG clone that has pretty detailed plans.
Click to expand...

I was just looking at that but those build plans he estimates at $1200. Little too much for me. haha
 
You can get a flat platten package KMG for 750.. If you have a motor and some step pulleys you are set. Plus you have a top shelf grinder you can add to.
This is what I did.
 
I have bought and built grinders and I agree with Stan Buzek. Buy a KMG without motor and drive and then buy a drive and motor when you can afford it. You will spend a lot less than if you try to build one in my opinion and you will have a piece of equipment that can produce professional quality knives. Larry
 
Since you've expressed an interest in DIY, this thread shows a grinder I built - total budget is around $500 (I've got less, but had drive wheel).

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1234634-New-Grinder-for-me

Tim Gunn has some good ideas on using a NEMA 4 box for housing the VFD he talks about in the thread.

Runs smooth enough a quarter will balance on edge while running at 4,000 SFPM.

Ken H>
 
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