"lets see your grinders"

[Tom Lewis]

On the TW-90 comparison thread I stated that I had six grinders. Someone asked for pictures, so here they are.
Since I can only post five pictures per thread, I will post three here, and then three on the next post.
The first grinder is a Wilton Square Wheel that I bought in 1980 for If I remember right, $450.00. That was when Gas was 45 cents a gallon. I made lots of knives on the Square Wheel, and it has proved to be a real workhorse. I have made a lot of attachments for it, and can quickly go from one to another.
About ten years later I bought a Bur King. It is a fine grinder and I have used it a lot.
I next bought a JL Horizontal grinder after seeing one at the Blade Show. It has some nice features.
Next post will be my last three grinders.

 

[Tom Lewis]

The last three grinder I have are pictured here.
I decided to put a variable speed motor on my Square Wheel, so I used the old motor to make a 2"X72" grinder for my blacksmith shop.
Then I saw a Dozier grinder at the Blade show and bought one of them. The Dozier grinder does not have spring tension for the belt, but rather uses air pressure. It is a fine grinder.
The last grinder I got was the TW-90. It has become my favorite. It runs incredibly smooth, and the tracking is amazing.
Knifemaking has never been my source of income for my family. Therefore, I have been able to put my profits from making knives into more equiptment. Some new makers visit my shop and get discouraged because they don't have all the equiptment I have. Well, what I have, I have built up over 30 plus years of knifemaking, so the new maker should not get discouraged. I mowed lawns to get the money for my first grinder.
If you really have the desire to make knives, the equiptment will come.
Lastly, a great grinder will not by it's self make you a great knifemaker anymore than the best tennise racket will make you the best tennise player.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Tom, you can only post five per post, you can make as many posts per thread as you wish. I will merge the two threads.

 

[Tom Lewis]

Thanks!

 

[thegeek574]

Tom,
I am hesitant to ask in case this comes across the wrong way, but why do you need 6 grinders? I'm not trying to be snarky. I'm genuinely curious. Now that you have them do you think you could get along with fewer, or do you find that you can make good use of all of them? Please don't take this the wrong way. I've seen plenty of high profile makers that have more than one, and I was just wondering why. I know changing belts take a while, but is it long enough to justify buying another grinder?

 

[Tom Lewis]

I made lots of knives with just the Square Wheel Grinder. Sure, I could get along with just one grinder. I also like machinery. I have sold lots of knives, and have put a lot of that money back in to grinders and other machinery.
Maybe it's like the gun collector, car collector, etc. I like tools.
I do use all the grinders. I have them set up with different wheels, platens, slack belts, etc. It makes things easier for me.

 

[thegeek574]

Sounds good. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[GTH11]

Heres my grinders, the first pic is my 12" disc, and the 3x60 horizontal, second pic is of the work horse built out of an incline weight bench, a tile saw motor, and a few other odds and ends! Runs like a champ and has let me crank out 200+ blades in the last couple years! For me having multiple stations allows me to flow around the shop, working different stages of knives through the different orders of procedures. Ending up with consistant results, which for me makes knife making extremely enjoyable! First shop I walked in Brett Mathews, had like 5 discs adjutable tables on all, 3 2x72's, big 2x72 slack belt grinder, mills, lathes, pantographs, etc! I was so bummed that I didnt have and couldnt afford anything...however I showed back up to his shop with a pile of steel and some plans and I was hollow grinding shortly after!! So if there is a will there is a way!!
Happy Grinding!!
Greg

 

[Tom Lewis]

Greg, I agree, having multiple stations with the equiptment already set up is nice to have.
By the way, I notice you have a bicycle seat on your Jet band saw. What a great idea. I think I will do the same with mine.

 

[jll346]

Very nice collection Tom

 

[jonnymac44]

Good stuff, Tom:thumbup:

Here are a couple pics of mine.....A 1x42" Delta, a KMG 2 x 72", a variable speed 9 inch steel disc grinder I built myself, an 2 x 72" horizontal I got from Brian Fellhoelter that I finished building and modified, and my Harig Super 612 surface grinder, still need to convert it to belts.

 

[silver_pilate]

Here they are. They are in different locations now:

The trusty and well used single phase 1hp Grizzly 2x72" non-variable speed:

The workhorse 3 phase 2hp KMG 2x72":

3 phase 3/4 hp disc:

3 phase 2hp GIB 2x72":

All the three phase motors are run off the same VFD:

Here are all except the Grizzly on their new bench in the new shop:

--nathan

 

[The_cutting_edge]

This is my only grinder. it is a Cone-Loc Drum sander. It is a 2" X 10" contact wheel driven by a 1hp motor. It uses shop roll belts, which I consider to be it's biggest draw back.

it opens pac man style and pinches the belt when it is closed.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

 

[Bill Hoffman]

http://gonza-rytec.rajce.idnes.cz/brusky/ I think this might be the mother
of all grinder sites.

Bill

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

..........By the way, I notice you have a bicycle seat on your Jet band saw. What a great idea. I think I will do the same with mine.

When my band saw was still on the base frame (it is counter mounted, now) I bolted a small saddle on it. It was comfortable to sit on when cutting blanks, and certainly got second looks.
I have seen others us old motorcycle seats and old tractor seats. The one in the photo looks like the seat from a HF rolling shop stool.


As to needing multiple grinders set up in the shop, it isn't as much a need as a mater of ease. I did fine for years with one Bader and a disc grinders set up. But when you add the 6X48 for doing handle blocks, the number goes to three. Add a slow speed 3X24 sharpening belt grinder, and it goes up again. Then another belt grinder and another disc....etc.
The new shop will have four or more 2X72 belt grinders set up with different arms and special platens. Other types of grinders will be placed as needed to make knifemaking chores easier, not better. All told, there may well be ten grinders set up to do one task or another.

TIP:
A trick for making a smaller workspace handle more tools is to mount all the tools you can on 24X24" base plates of 1" plywood. Then make the bench top with a front and back strip to allow these to be slid from side to side, or removed. You can store these tools on shelves under the work bench, or build a rolling cart to hold a batch of them ( like the ones used in commercial kitchens for food trays).
This system allows you to place the bigger tools you need on the bench together, and rearrange or remove them as needed.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

New grinder and my old one. Old one is a 4x36 that I added the top wheel and platen to. It's worked fine, but is too weak and way too fast. The newer one is a modified GIB with a 1HP 120VDC motor and router speed controller. I'm in the process of building a new speed controller, but the router controller works fine with this motor.

 

[gomipile]

This is my only grinder. it is a Cone-Loc Drum sander. It is a 2" X 10" contact wheel driven by a 1hp motor. It uses shop roll belts, which I consider to be it's biggest draw back.

You can get 2" wide shop roll with zirconia abrasive. I'd say that's an advantage for hogging, since roll is generally cheaper than belts. Just looking around quickly, I found some 50 grit 2" wide zirconia shop roll at about 71 cents per foot. 85 cents per foot is a good price for 2"x72" 50 grit zirc belts.

 

[Leethal Cutlery]

This is my only grinder. it is a Cone-Loc Drum sander. It is a 2" X 10" contact wheel driven by a 1hp motor. It uses shop roll belts, which I consider to be it's biggest draw back.

it opens pac man style and pinches the belt when it is closed.

Couldn't you use 2x72 belts and just cut em instead?

 

[viral]

This is my only grinder. it is a Cone-Loc Drum sander. It is a 2" X 10" contact wheel driven by a 1hp motor. It uses shop roll belts, which I consider to be it's biggest draw back.

it opens pac man style and pinches the belt when it is closed.

Where do you get something like this? I think it's sweet. Super compact. I don't have much room so this would work nice. I am curious about the contact wheel that opens up only. Thanks!! Sweet thread by the way!