Is there a good reason to switch a KMG 2 hp motor and drive to a 3 hp motor and drive

LARRYZ10

LARRYZ10

Joined
Feb 6, 2010
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What is the real advantage if any of dumping a 2hp motor and KBAC27D for a 3hp Kbac 29 drive? Will this get you any improved performance related to making a good knife? I would like the opinion of someone that has done this . Was the switch really necessary to make a fine knife? Be honest about the benefits if any. Thank you all for your opinions. Larry
 
Not really sure what the question is.

If it is, "Is a 3HP motor necessary to make a good knife?" the answer is "No". 2HP will be more than sufficient for any grinding and finishing on a knife.
3HP is great, but not a requirement.
 
Generally, the only reason to upgrade to a higher HP motor is because you are bogging down the lower HP motor.

That said, I don't think that too many people have a problem with bogging down a 3 phase 2 HP motor.

As for the drives, they should be virtually identical as far as features/functions are concerned.
 
My embarrassing grinder story.

I have had a 2hp step pulley kmg for over five years. I make fairly large chef knives and do alot of flat grinding on them. Due to the blade being two inches wide, there is quite a bit of surface area in contact with the blade and the grinder was bogging down regularly, to the point that I had to reduce the pressure I used while grinding. I decided to make a grinder that would not bog down. I went with a 3hp 3400rpm motor with vfd on a little buddy frame which is direct drive and also a 6inch drive wheel. This thing is a grinding beast and can go very fast. I tried all kinds of things to get it to bog down with no avail, no slowing this thing down. During the build I happened to retighten the belt on the kmg by sliding the motor back about a half inch and tightening it. I did a side by side comparison and the kmg is now fairly hard to bog down. The issue was that the belt had stretched slowly over the five years and I was getting increasing belt slippage. Basically I build faster, more powerful and vairable speed grinder to fix a problem that really only needed the ten second fix of sliding the motor back a half inch. The 2hp kmg with step pulleys was all I ever needed. Oh Well
 
I do my grinding on a 2 hp driven KMG and have yet to bog it down. I've had it slow a little bit, but never bog down. I'm entirely happy with 2 hp and don't see the need, in my case, for more power.

Haven't tried 3 hp, so I can't comment on that.

Mike L.
 
I run 3 and 2 hp vfd driven machines. Both are good and powerful, but the 3hp is better for rough - grinding chef knives. If I started with thin, even stock I might not even appreciate the difference, but since I forge my chefs I am taking rough forgings down with the 3hp grinder and it does make a difference.
 
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