Looking for Sander/Grinder. (HELP)

Frank Perricone

Frank Perricone

FRANCO
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
90
Hello. My name is Frank. I'm 85 years old and have been "making" knives and leather sheaths for two years now. Turning out some nice pieces. It's a hobby which I try to keep dollar neutral. Close, but no cigar. Been grinding/shaping with a 1"X30" work top Ricoh. Does a job. Not "the" job. Can't have knife vertical. Unit is too small. So I sand/grind horizontal. Then hand sand to mitigate. Not a lot of room. Looking for a work top grinder/sander that might get into finger wells a bit better. Might be easier to change belts. This tracks really well. Have read some reviews about tracking nightmares. Anyone care to share their experience with that piece of equipment?
 
When you say you're looking for a "work top" grinder/sander, does that mean something that is not a 2x72" belt grinder? That's what most knife makers use to grind and shape their knives, along with different attachments like a small wheel attachment for getting into smaller curves such as finger choils etc. May I ask what your budget is for a new grinder? That's something that'll help you get answers better suited to your situation.

Plenty of guys make their own 2x72" belt grinders these days, which can help save a decent amount of money if that's something you're open to doing, but there are quite a few less expensive base model grinders available now as well, which have been discussed quite frequently on this form.

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Some older vids of some of the older knives I made)
 
Thanks for getting back Paul. Don't have room for a 72". You mentioned a "small wheel" attachment. That is very valuable to me. Presently, as stated, I am using a 1"X30" vertical. Really difficult to grind handles. Can you recommend any brand in particular. So many bad reviews on some. I can't make my own. For my age I'm OK but not that OK. As far as budget. If I find something right and I am confident about it I will buy it. I have very limited space. On a work bench 4' by 2' deep I have a belt sander/grinder, drill press and band saw. I manage. Again, that small wheel attachment would be a God send. I'm using a Dremel for finger wells. Not too good. Again, I manage. Thanks again for your detailed response. Frank
 
Hey, that actually sounds like you have plenty of room for a 2x72" grinder, maybe you could get a separate stand for your band saw. I have my belt grinder on a 24" x 40" work bench, and it I needed to I could fit my small drill press next to it. Two feet is plenty deep since the tooling arm from the grinders hand off the front of the bench a bit for better access.

The small wheel attachment I mentioned is something that is used on 2x72" grinders. You can change the tooling arm from a flat platen to a contact wheel to a small wheel attachment etc. I'm just kind of going from your posts so forgive me if you're already aware of all of this info.

Here's a picture showing how those look. They allow you to quickly swap out different wheel sizes as well:

5bce29ffcf7e1d7d7e8b6296441ef313.jpg



There are some vertical grinders as well that take up a little bit less room by simply being taller rather than longer, but the only one that I'm aware of that you can use a small wheel attachment with is the Coote belt grinder: https://cootebeltgrinder.com/

Here is there accessories page showing their version of the small wheel, which they call a "Roller". and how it works with that grinder design: https://cootebeltgrinder.com/accessories/

As far a cleaning up finger grooves and choils, a lot of makers also use oscillating spindle sanders such as this and use different grit sleeves: https://www.harborfreight.com/power...s/14-in-oscillating-spindle-sander-69257.html

I used to use one of these small drum sander sets from harbor freight that I'd chuck up into my drill press for cleaning up smaller inside curves: https://www.harborfreight.com/sanding-drum-kit-20-pc-60741.html

To use those with a work rest, you can simply raise the drill press table up so that the sanding drum sits inside the center hole. I ended up drilling a larger 2" hole (with a hole saw i believe) to fit the largest 2" diameter wheel and used that rather than the surface of the cast iron table since the wood wouldn't potentially scratch the sides of the blade, but you could probably just use some painters tape on the table to avoid that. Here's a pic of my older set up I used:





https://flic.kr/p/2iVaq3v
Let me know if that answers your questions, or raised any new ones.
~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Some older vids of some of the older knives I made)
 
Well Paul!!! I don't know what to say in the face of all this valuable information. The "Coot" is the one but it needs to be "set up". Nope! And no dust collection port. I gagged on the price but would have if it were feasible. Anyway. Harbor Freight! Damn. I have one five minutes from me. I really like the spindle approach. I can jury-rig the shop vac to collect at the drum level. Dust is an enemy at this age. Must be collected! I can't thank you enough for your help. Franco
 
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