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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Looking to dip my toes into making knives - is this 2x27 belt grinder decent for under £50/$65?
- Thread starter blizzard_beast
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2006
- Messages
- 13
Nah it was my bad - for some reason I assumed I needed an adjustable angle on the grinding table in order get different angles on edges/bevels but after actually watching some tutorials on youtube I assumed very incorrectly.
Appreciate all the advice from everyone. Thanks!
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 38,207
Blizzard Beast,
While everyone is trying to advise you to get a bigger and better grinder, your initial question was about a budget entry.
We all love our nice equipment and want everyone to have the same level of gear. But that is not always the financial reality for new makers.
Others, Like David Mary are experienced makers and can do many things you can't (yet).
The simple answer is a budget priced 2"X36/42/48 or whatever size is available for a low price will get you started. 1" is not nearly as desirable as 2".
You only need belts to grind away the excess metal to make a knife shape. 100-200-400 ( or something like that) is all you would need to start.
A good magic-cut file will remove a lot of steel. Files are a great way to get started. Even with a shop full of grinders, most of us use files regularly.
Wet-or-dry sandpaper is what you want for final finishing. 200-400-800 is enough for most knives. When you are ready for finer finishes, there are papers up to 12,000 grit available.
One big piece of advice is to not move to a finer grit until all the scratches from the last grit are gone.
The other advice is have fun and take your time.
While everyone is trying to advise you to get a bigger and better grinder, your initial question was about a budget entry.
We all love our nice equipment and want everyone to have the same level of gear. But that is not always the financial reality for new makers.
Others, Like David Mary are experienced makers and can do many things you can't (yet).
The simple answer is a budget priced 2"X36/42/48 or whatever size is available for a low price will get you started. 1" is not nearly as desirable as 2".
You only need belts to grind away the excess metal to make a knife shape. 100-200-400 ( or something like that) is all you would need to start.
A good magic-cut file will remove a lot of steel. Files are a great way to get started. Even with a shop full of grinders, most of us use files regularly.
Wet-or-dry sandpaper is what you want for final finishing. 200-400-800 is enough for most knives. When you are ready for finer finishes, there are papers up to 12,000 grit available.
One big piece of advice is to not move to a finer grit until all the scratches from the last grit are gone.
The other advice is have fun and take your time.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2000
- Messages
- 1,105
Hi
B
blizzard_beast
If you haven't already, join Edgematters forum. You have to register to read, but it is UK based, so good for local knowledge for tools, events, maybe someone local enough to you to help you along. This place is great for the depth of knowledge and the number of active members, so not suggesting it instead of posting here.
I am dubious about that cheap little grinder. It will help some jobs, but isn't going to move metal like a bigger grinder. It might be disappointing. Belts are liable to dull really fast. If you don't already have a good set of files, I would advise getting those rather than the grinder, since files can be used for more things.
Do you have a pillar drill? If not, that is a much more useful tool when starting out than a small grinder. I started making with files and a big 220 grit Japanese water stone for grinding the edge on. Took a long time, biggest change that power grinding brought was grinding that edge on after heat treatment. First few knives that didn't matter much. The stone shaped convex edges cut very well, but the blades were thicker than I make things now.
Chris
If you haven't already, join Edgematters forum. You have to register to read, but it is UK based, so good for local knowledge for tools, events, maybe someone local enough to you to help you along. This place is great for the depth of knowledge and the number of active members, so not suggesting it instead of posting here.
I am dubious about that cheap little grinder. It will help some jobs, but isn't going to move metal like a bigger grinder. It might be disappointing. Belts are liable to dull really fast. If you don't already have a good set of files, I would advise getting those rather than the grinder, since files can be used for more things.
Do you have a pillar drill? If not, that is a much more useful tool when starting out than a small grinder. I started making with files and a big 220 grit Japanese water stone for grinding the edge on. Took a long time, biggest change that power grinding brought was grinding that edge on after heat treatment. First few knives that didn't matter much. The stone shaped convex edges cut very well, but the blades were thicker than I make things now.
Chris