Lets see your KMG grinder, MAP Arm, Caffrey Platen and rotary platen pictures......

norcalblacktail

norcalblacktail

Joined
Jan 17, 2008
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I need some pics to hold me down until I am able to order my grinder. So lets see those KMG, MAP Arm, Caffrey platen, rotary platen and custom attachment pics.

Also a couple of questions...
1. Which small wheel should I get first? 3/4" ??
2. Which large wheel 8" or 10"?
3. What speed motor should I be looking for if I am going to be running a VFD? 1725?

Thanks in advance.
 
I don't have any pictures of my KMG handy, but I will give my opinion on your questions.

1. I would go with the 1/2" or 3/4" I find those the most useful getting in the tighter contours. I have a 2" contact wheel on the top of my Flat Platen setup that gets the more gradual curves.

2. I went with the 8" contact wheel. I'm making mostly medium size fixed blades and I wish I would have got the 10" wheel.

3. I got the KBA-27 AC drive and went with a Leeson 1.5HP 1725 RPM motor and it works great for me. I don't think I could handle a faster motor and if I need more speed I can always change to a 6" drive wheel which increases speed by 50%.

Hope this helps.
 
I should be done painting it this weekend...but here it is midway. It's going to be green. :)

grinder11.jpg


I got the 8" wheel with platen and small wheel (3/4"). I also put a 2" contact wheel on the top of my platen.
 
I haven't used it much, yet. But I've noticed that it can take a while to get really dialed in. That could be the result of inexperience with it. But once you get it set where you want it, it can be extremely helpful.

I got the 1.5 hp Leeson from Beaumont as in our current place I have to stick with a 110v motor. When I can afford my next motor, perhaps I will be in a place with 220v outlets. I can get my variable speed then. ;)

Hope this helps. :D
 
Here are a couple pictures of my KMG.
 

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This is a grinder kit from Jamie that I just finished with a rotating platen, using an 8" and 2" wheel with a home made tool rest.
IMG_0447.jpg
 
This is not a photo... but I have this video from when I first got my KMG up and running. It's a LOT dirtier now. :D

KMG VIDEO

As for your questions:

  1. The first small wheels that I bought were the 1/2" and the 1-1/4". I now have a 3/4" wheel. I use all three, but if I could have only one, it would be the 3/4"
  2. I bought the 8" with my grinder. It is a good wheel. I wouldn't trade it, but I do often wish I had a larger wheel (12"-14").
  3. I don't think motor speed makes a heck of a lot of difference. With the KMG, you can adjust the motor and drive pulleys to give you similar belt speeds whether you're using a 1800 or 3600rpm motor. Just remember, if you are using a VFD, you want to buy a 3-phase motor. I bought a 2-hp 3600rpm TEFC 3-ph from Grizzly for about $100.
Erin
 
Keep in mind that the "Rotary Platen" is a tool sold by Beaumont with a rotating platen belt that moves with your grinding belt and looks like this:

Mvc-016.jpg


The platen porter posted has been called a rotary platen but is probably more properly termed a "rotating multi-platen" or a modified "Caffrey platen". Just playing semantics, but I don't want people to be confused here.

--nathan
 
You are correct, my poor terminology!

silver_pilate said:
Keep in mind that the "Rotary Platen" is a tool sold by Beaumont with a rotating platen belt that moves with your grinding belt and looks like this:

Mvc-016.jpg


The platen porter posted has been called a rotary platen but is probably more properly termed a "rotating multi-platen" or a modified "Caffrey platen". Just playing semantics, but I don't want people to be confused here.

--nathan
Click to expand...
 
Here's my KMG , I took a oak coffee table top and built a adjustable height bench for it.
 

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This one I built 30yrs. ago with skate board wheels. It really discouraged me, because I didn't follow through with refinements.
 

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Here's a few pics of my KMG:

IMG_0402.jpg


IMG_7541.jpg


IMG_7540.jpg


IMG_7538.jpg



Here's a brief and low quality video of it running variable speeds and in reverse right after I got it painted and hooked up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8oZgEDszpc


Here's a little attachment I've made but haven't fiddled with enough to make it work. This pic is of Kyle Royer's setup for cleaning up plunges. I've got some tweaking to do to make it track for me, though:

kyleroyer1.jpg


--nathan
 
What does the "rotating platen belt that moves with your grinding belt" on the Beaumont rotary platen achieve? Sorry if this is a dumb question. Looks from the picture in Silver Pilate's post above as if the various contact wheels would work okay without the extra belt. I don't see it on Beaumont's website.
 
Beaumont's Rotary platen was designed to give a semi-firm platen surface that is adjustable in firmness. In other words, you can tighten the belt tension on the attachment up which will give you a more firm backing for your grinding belt similar to a contact wheel or graphite platen face, or you can decrease the tension and get a more giving platen surface for very controlled convex grinds. Another major benefit of the rotary platen is that it all but eliminates "belt bump" that you get when the splice in your grinding belt passes between a fixed, hard platen and your knife. It also reduces noise quite a bit. The various positions of the attachment also serve to give you different firmnesses. For instance, the two sheaves close together under the platen belt gives you a very firm working surface whereas the two sheaves that are far apart with the platen belt unsupported in the middle gives you a more giving surface.

Hope that makes sense. This is a very popular attachment for many makers, and I know of several very talented makers who grind 90% of their work on a rotary platen now.

--nathan
 
Many thanks! I wonder if it would work on my old Square Wheel? Wilton, which now carries stuff for Square Wheel, has a tiny contact wheel add-on that somehow floats on air jets or something. As with all their stuff, it is sky high.
 
There. Finally. Next step is to get it dirty. :)

grinder20.jpg


grinder21.jpg


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...and put up more lights. :D
 
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