Is it time to upgrade my belt sander?

tsavickas36

tsavickas36

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Jan 14, 2025
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If you look at my posts I am very new in my mind to this great hobby of knife making. I think total I have made 20 knives and helped with another 10 or so for others trying to learn as well.

I currently own a 2x42" Grizzly belt sander. I upgraded the platen from the original to steel with glass hoping to eliminate the chatter on my belt.

I have heard a 2x72" make a big difference to the quality and consistency on cutting in bevels but also heard it just takes time. I have seen youtube videos of people making really nice knives on a 1x30 harbor freight belt sander which I am sure they have many years of experience to be able to do that.

I am interested to hear from the experts on something that will probably always be a hobby for me, is it worth the investment into a quality 2x72 belt sander to eliminate some of the frustrations on the 2x42 or should I keep going until I complete "X" amount of knives to improve my skills more?

Is it time or does it matter what sander I use?

Thanks all for your help in advance, I love the hobby just dont want to lose my passion because of poor tools.
 
If you love what you’re doing it’s only natural to go forward, as long as you don’t go broke doing it. The problem I see is folks who have a general interest in making knives, get expensive equipment, then lose interest till the next hobby rolls around.
 
Do what you can with what you’ve got. If what you’ve got includes money, then what you can do includes buying better equipment.

If you don’t have money or you need to be extra careful with your money, you can still efficiently make beautiful and functional knives on a 2 x 42. I’ve never used a 2 x 72 and am not in a position to add one.

My shop needs a number of other things before I can add that, though I’d like to one day. It is not in the budget at this time.
 
I have the Grizzly 2x42 and with a little tightening and decent belts it tracks great. It's also pretty easy to modify. For cleaning plunges I made a little waterfall platen that I can swap out the top wheel with. Small wheel adapter is cheap off ebay. Contact wheel up to 8" works fine. Another platen with felt and graphite makes a decent soft platen.
Sure it's underpowered, but for my hobby purposes I don't see outgrowing it anytime soon.
 
I started with a Buck Tools 2x42 because it was cheap and I knew I could plug it into a standard household outlet. I always wanted more. I then bought the first generation Grizzley 2x42. I really liked the variable speed. I upgraded to a ceramic glass platen and I thought I had my grinder. Three motors/controllers later within the first 6-9 months, I got my money back. I then finally ponied up the dough and bought a Pheer 2x72 with a 1hp variable speed motor. I can still plug it in to a standard household outlet. And, upgrade the motor to a 1.5 hp once I retire and build my dream shop.
 
Ben Thomas said:
I have the Grizzly 2x42 and with a little tightening and decent belts it tracks great. It's also pretty easy to modify. For cleaning plunges I made a little waterfall platen that I can swap out the top wheel with. Small wheel adapter is cheap off ebay. Contact wheel up to 8" works fine. Another platen with felt and graphite makes a decent soft platen.
Sure it's underpowered, but for my hobby purposes I don't see outgrowing it anytime soon.
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Ben, could you send me pictures of the setup for he contact wheel you did? I am also interested in seeing your waterfall platen. I did buy a small wheel attachement and modified it which is very helpful.
 
Thank you everyone for your feedback. I think I will stick with my initial investment and make a few jigs to help as I further develop my skillset. I have a backlog of 30 knives currently so I am sure as I keep going things will get better.

I think one very cheap fix is setting my grinder a little higher than my current setup.

I think part of my problem is it is slightly too low for me to allow myself a stable base while I am grinding bevels.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone.
 
bladegrinder said:
If you love what you’re doing it’s only natural to go forward, as long as you don’t go broke doing it. The problem I see is folks who have a general interest in making knives, get expensive equipment, then lose interest till the next hobby rolls around.
Click to expand...
That is one of my fears, it is a busy time of life, I found it hard all Summer to get into the shop and I also love bow hunting. This darn real job is getting in the way of my hobbies! Thanks for the thought.
 
David Mary said:
Do what you can with what you’ve got. If what you’ve got includes money, then what you can do includes buying better equipment.

If you don’t have money or you need to be extra careful with your money, you can still efficiently make beautiful and functional knives on a 2 x 42. I’ve never used a 2 x 72 and am not in a position to add one.

My shop needs a number of other things before I can add that, though I’d like to one day. It is not in the budget at this time.
Click to expand...
David, thanks for your input. I think my big problem is I am a perfectionist but in knifemaking I think some of the beauty is the battle wounds each knife may have that makes it a custom handmade knife. You do beautiful work I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
 
SBuzek said:
A better grinder will help but the only way to get better grinding blades is to grind a bunch of blades. Remember the saying The Master has failed more times than the apprentice has tried.
Some catch on quickly, some of us take a bit longer.
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Well said. I know this is true and in just I year I have gone from not having a clue to sharing with kids how to get started themselves. I will continue to battle through the frustrations to develop my skillset.
 
J Lensmire said:
I started with a Buck Tools 2x42 because it was cheap and I knew I could plug it into a standard household outlet. I always wanted more. I then bought the first generation Grizzley 2x42. I really liked the variable speed. I upgraded to a ceramic glass platen and I thought I had my grinder. Three motors/controllers later within the first 6-9 months, I got my money back. I then finally ponied up the dough and bought a Pheer 2x72 with a 1hp variable speed motor. I can still plug it in to a standard household outlet. And, upgrade the motor to a 1.5 hp once I retire and build my dream shop.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yeah I have had some issues with my controller ad VFD as well. I have made it work but can definitely see the additional spend on quality could eliminate the mass production.
 
I found a "Grizzly G 4,000 Two HP servo Motor Upgrade" online (servo motor kit) for a bit over 400 bucks. Not sure if it's worth it since it's more than the machine itself? Will a 2 hp 240V motor be able to be bolted onto the grizzly and use a regular 110-240V step up vfd that are inexpensive now for the unsealed ones?
 
I started with a Bucktool 2x42 as well and then upgraded to the Grizzly 2x42- I had a bunch of upgrades from Contender Machine Contender Machine that made the machine way better, but the motor went out on me. Grizzly did send me a new one, but I decided to upgrade to a 2x72. Mine is not nearly a top of the line machine and I would like to upgrade again someday but the bigger machine with a much stronger motor does make a pretty good difference!
 
tsavickas36 said:
Ben, could you send me pictures of the setup for he contact wheel you did? I am also interested in seeing your waterfall platen. I did buy a small wheel attachement and modified it which is very helpful.
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I'm not set up to post pictures here. There are a few in the Grizzly Belt Grinder Mod group on FB.
The contract wheel is just a bar that I ground down to fit in the receiver with a hole trapped at the end for a bolt that serves as the axle for the wheel. A couple of washers act as spacers to center the wheel.
The waterfall platen is a piece of 1.5" angle tacked to a 3/16 x 2 x 6 flat bar such that the flat bar is in line with the belt. The angle is at the very end of the flat bar. One hole through the angle for a bolt to replace the top wheel. The belt still runs around the bottom wheel. It works well, but gets hot quick. It will wear down quickly, so version 2 will be hardened.
 
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