Looks like I"ll be pulling the trigger on an AMK 77 grinder

TonyRV2

TonyRV2

Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
270
After about 6 or 8 weeks of reading, studying and researching, looks like I'll finally get my grinder ordered this week. Customer service is what put the decision over the top in deciding on the AMK 77, that and the fact that its just a great looking machine, a novel concept and a great bang for the buck compared to others in the same class. At the beginning of the week I had contacted 4 different builders. Pheer, Esteem, Northridge, and AMK were all on my short list.

Northridge looks like they've got a real winner there, but at this time there are no contact wheels available. Nor are there any small wheels available although you can purchase the small wheel holder. Northridge also was responsive to my concerns and questions, so I believe their customer service is going to be as good as their machine. Unfortunately, they're unable to ship a complete package at this time, and it will be several weeks before contact wheels are available from what I understand. The one glaring downside with the Northridge was pricing on one of the options that I'd wanted...a horizontal tilt table. 500 bucks!! Seriously? Yeah, I know, excellant materials, yada yada yada, superb craftsmanship, yada yada....but 500 bucks to tilt 90 degrees?? It made me worried what the other options would cost once they became available.

At the beginning of the week, I had also emailed Jose over at Pheer, as well as well as Brett over at Esteem, just to ask a few questions about their products. Haven't heard back from either one of them. I understand from others on Blade Forums that these two machines are also good performers and the customer service from both Brett and Jose have been top notch. I cannot vouch for that at this time. I'm thinking that I probably caught them at a busy time what with the Atlanta show coming up. At least I'd like to think so.

Enter the AMK 77. I had seen this grinder in a youtube video a few weeks ago, but I hadn't seriously considered it until this week. Just yesterday afternoon, I'd sent an email to Matt Apoe, one of the principles at AMK. Last night he called me back on the phone. Unfortunately I was teaching a class at the time and missed his call. He did leave a voicemail and told me that the chief engineer, Allen, would be in touch with me to answer my technical questions. Allen called me this afternoon and we spoke on the phone for about 25 minutes or so. Turns out that we were both engineering robotic systems at around the same time back in the 80's. Anyhow, AMK is offering a "show package" right now that includes a 12" serrated contact wheel. One of my questions was whether I could have a solid contact wheel instead...no problem he said. How much is shipping I asked. "Its included in the price" he responded. Ok, great. I'd asked if the 1.5hp motor with the KBAC 27 drive was sufficient for this machine, or should I consider the 2hp. I'd really rather not have to run 220 out to the shop right now, but I likely will in the future. He stated that performance wise, there was little difference and that they probably only sell 2 or 3 units per year with a 2hp motor. Thats comforting...good. I can always swap out for a 2hp in the future if I see the need. The KBAC 27 VFD will handle either. Bottom line, the grinder with flat platten and 12" contact wheel is $1799. The horizontal tilt base is $150. The small wheel attachment with one wheel included, $200. Shipping, free. Grand Total $2150 and warrantied for 2 Years including drive and motor.
 
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Congratulations , sounds like you did alot of research.
I'm surprised you didn't want the serrated wheel though.
 
Josh Rider said:
Congratulations , sounds like you did alot of research.
I'm surprised you didn't want the serrated wheel though.
Click to expand...

I still have time to be convinced otherwise, but from what I've read, the serrated wheels tend to be more aggressive and as a relative newbie at grinding I thought I'd be better off with a solid wheel.
 
Tony, I bought an AMK about 6 months ago, Allen is a great guy. He actually recommended the serrated wheel to me, so that's what I went with (12")--I also went with a Leeson 3 HP motor and the vertical flip option and a small wheel adapter. It runs very smooth and is very solid--I think you will be happy with it--I will say that my next grinder is going to be a Northridge--but my AMK has been awesome, and having the contact wheel and flat platen on one 'arm' is really handy, and saves you from having to store an arm someplace--to put on the small wheel adapter, you just pull a couple bolts and slide the flat platen off, and slide the small wheel adapter on--works great and is pretty quick actually.
Best to you--Don
 
Thanks Don, that's reassuring. There's so many of these grinders on the market its hard to make a decision, especially if you're like me and have to research everything that's out there 3 times. :rolleyes: For me it came down to not only the price of the machine, but even more so the price of the options. Its seems that all of the grinders in this class have about the same base price comparing apples to apples. Yet the prices for contact wheels, tilt option, small wheels, etc., vary all over the map...caveat emptor! All things considered, this AMK unit did seem to be the most well rounded, affordably priced machine out there. And customer support looks like its going to be awesome as well. I received two telephone calls within 24 hours of an email enquiry, one from Matt, and another from the engineer, Allen. There's a lot to be said for that in my book.
 
Congrats on the purchase! It's been about two years since I got my Pheer so Jose may be not as good now, but I can say when I got my grinder he emailed me back fast and always answered the phone when I called. I had to fix one thing on my motor and he walked me through fixing it. :thumbup:
 
The Pheer looks like a good grinder Ben, and a lot of others here have said the same, as well as how good customer service has been. Mike from EKIM knives did a really nice YouTube review of the Pheer which is what got it on my 'A' list. I haven't heard back from Jose yet, I sent him an email through his website on Monday and I'm wondering if something happened where he didn't receive it, or just plain out hasn't had the time to catch up with his email. I know its a busy time of year for these guys. As an update, I did hear back from Brett just today about an hour ago. He seems to be a really nice guy and we talked on the phone for about 20 minutes or so. He answered all of my questions and then some. He's been extremely busy filling orders which is what I'd suspected. He's going to send me a quote with all of the options that I'd requested, pretty much decked out similar to the AMK-77. I'll update this post after i receive it.
 
I wouldn't buy anything with proprietary tooling arms. Get something that takes 1.5" arms, preferably with multiple sockets and you can accessorize as you go. Just my .02
 
Your two cents makes sense Ben, and I'd long considered that exact thing. But when it comes right down to it, I can't foresee needing any kind of tooling besides a contact wheel, a flat platen, and a small wheel fixture. The AMK-77 offers all of these, along with a tilt base, for the best price in the marketplace as far as I've been able to determine. Although admittedly, if I could find a grinder with comparable quality that used tool arms that came within 100 bucks or so of this one, I'd have to reconsider my choice. And besides, I'm a 'road less traveled' kind of guy. :rolleyes:
 
I believe you made the best choice going for the smooth wheel. The serrated does not give as good a finish when using many of the belts available today. The 12" wheel should allow for grinding very thin blades. You should be set to go with what you ordered. If you are new to machine grinding remember for some of us the learning curve can be a long one. My very best to you.
Frank
 
I pulled the trigger on a basic Wimont. Mid range single speed 1.5 hp 110v. Basic 2x72 spinning less than the speed of sound. I like it. Need to add a 3/4" wheel, but want to make sure I don't stink too bad first. North ridge look good, as do some of the others mentioned, but first year production stuff worries me. Dozier
 
Is that AMK-77 chassis made of aluminum? Just curious.

That Northridge grinder looks really sharp IMO. If I was getting a new system, and was on a budget, I'd probably go that route. Otherwise I'd get a Wuertz grinder. The Northridge looks nice because, even though the flip-to-side table is $500 you can get it down the road when you get more funds together. That would enable you to get a wuertz style setup and not have to drop out $3600 all at once.

I will say though, after getting the Wuertz surface grinder, his stuff is VERY well made.
 
Seems like there are quite a few in the market for grinders right now.
The OP's four choices were also my choices, but for some reason I kept being drawn back to yet another grinder, the KMG.
I heard mostly the negative talk of the pulley drive on the KMG, but I have an old Atlas drill press built in the 1950s. I have used it over 40 years with no complaints and it has a pulley system.
I watched videos of various well known knife makers that seemed perfectly happy with their KMG.
They are built like tanks, and I like tanks.
The other reasons I went in another direction was what wdtorque mentioned about first year production stuff and what BenR.T. mentioned about the 1 1/2" tooling arms.
I know mine is overkill because I'm not a knife maker, just a retired tinkerer, but I like tanks and the KMG looks to be a tank.
All that matters in the end is that we are happy with our decisions. I think I would have been perfectly happy with the same choice the OP made.
 
JG Custom Metal Works said:
Is that AMK-77 chassis made of aluminum? Just curious.
...The Northridge looks nice because, even though the flip-to-side table is $500 you can get it down the road when you get more funds together. That would enable you to get a wuertz style setup and not have to drop out $3600 all at once.
Click to expand...

The frame of the AMK-77 is made from structural aircraft aluminum which is pretty much an off the shelf component. We used this same stuff in a lot of automotive and process automation applications.
 
For some reason, the forum is only letting me post short responses...frustrating. Happened a few days ago too. Anyhow, structural aluminum is sort of like building with an industrial grade erector set.

As far as the 500 bucks that Northridge wants for a tilt base, am I the only one that cringes at the thought of paying that much for what is essentially a hinge? Its not the money JG....its the principle of the thing. And I say this knowing full well that for people that say this it IS the money. :D
 
Nope,

Never would pay $500 for a hinge and not many others would either. If you can make a knife, you can make your grinder tilt.

$500 for a motor and VFD yes, for a tilt base....no
 
AVigil said:
Nope,

Never would pay $500 for a hinge and not many others would either. If you can make a knife, you can make your grinder tilt.

$500 for a motor and VFD yes, for a tilt base....no
Click to expand...

My sentiments exactly AV.
 
I have the Esteem which is essentially based off the Bader design. The reason I went that route is because tooling arm accessories that work for bader also work for Esteem. I actually made 4 additional tooling arms by simply drilling and tapping the appropriate length 1.2500" square stock. Changing the tooling arm only requires loosening one thumb screw and takes about 10 seconds. So in short order I can go from platen to 10" wheel to 1" wheel and back to platen very quickly. I have been very happy with the Esteem.

With that said I just ordered a hollow grind jig from AMK, and worked with them to make a bracket to work with my Esteem. They seem like a good company.

Here is a view with a 10" wheel and one of the tooling arms I made.

13198581_10154130151984491_952008103200741552_o.jpg
 
Here's an update with regard to pricing the 4 units I'd originally looked at, the AMK-77, the Esteem, the Pheer, and the Northridge. I priced all of the grinders with 1.5hp motors, tilt base, 12" contact wheel, and small arm attachment. All prices also include shipping. As I had already mentioned, the AMK-77 came in at $2150.

The Esteem grinder comes in at $2340 but is available with an 8" contact wheel, the largest that Brett offers. This price also does not include a tooling arm or small wheel for the small wheel attachment. So to compare apple to apples we could add a few hundred dollars to this price. I know that contact wheels are available aftermarket, but I'm looking for a turnkey system.

The Pheer grinder comes in at $2525 with a 12" contact wheel. Although, since I haven't heard back from Jose and its not listed on the website, I estimated a tilt base to be about $250, the same as what Esteem charges. The small wheel attachment includes one wheel and a tooling arm.

I estimate the Northridge grinder would come in at about $2850 similarly equipped. Its only an estimate because contact wheels of any size are not yet available, neither are small wheels. The Northridge has a base price of $1660. The tilt table (your basic hinge!) is $500. Small wheel attachment is $150 and shipping is $130. This price includes an estimate of $350 for a 12" contact wheel and another $60 for a small wheel. These seem to be about the going prices from other manufacturers although better deals can be found on FleaBay.

Bottom line is that after comparing apples to apples, I was tempted to go with an Esteem, but I don't think I'd be happy with an 8" contact wheel. All things considered, as strictly a hobbyist, the AMK-77 still looks like the best bang for buck. If I ever get to the point where I'm making contract knives, then I think at that time I would consider some of these others again. I realize there's something to be said for the attachments available for tooling arm styled machines, as other posters have pointed out. But for the life of me, I can't envision ever needing anything more than a platen, contact wheel and small wheel attachment. I'll be contacting AMK tomorrow and place my order. Pictures to follow. :D
 
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