Multi-tool? and Belt sander & grinder's.

T

Tayous

Joined
Oct 22, 2001
Messages
47
Have any of you heard anything about that Multi-tool grinding attachment that is in the Texas knifemakers supply's catalog? It looks like just what I would need but I have not heard anything about it.


Also is $295.00 the best I'm going to find for a knife makers belt sander or grinder? The one from Grizzly just seams to be nice but that $55 shipping is pushing me away from it also the weight 110 lbs. Is there any place out there does make the belt sanders/Grinders cheaper? I would make my own but I don't feel that until I get one and find out how they work that I would trust my building skills.
 
Tayous, I have one of the multi-tool attachments on my 3/4hp bench grinder. I have the one with the 3" contact wheel, and I've modified it to use 2x72" belts. The modification was easy and probably cost me less than $5. It runs great, and it's what I grind all of my knives on.

The problem that I found with running the grinder with the 2X30" setup is that it's hard to find 2x30" belts. Before the modification, I was buying 4x30" belts and cutting them in half. One nice thing about the multi-tool is the 7" disc grinder on the side.

I have pictures of the modified grinder on my website. Unfortunately, my website is down and will not be back up until Monday sometime.

Check this thread again Monday and I'll try to have a photo of the grinder up. -chris
 
Well Bubba here is my 2cents.
Knifemakeing is not a cheap hobby.
I understand money is a issue.
What I would do is use files & other
hand tools until I could save the money
to buy the Grizzly, but if you want a
grinder now then buy a Sears 2x42 $199.00.
Then I would get some Norton or 3M belts
from Supergrit. As far as the weight goes
you don`t want a lite grinder there would be
to much vibration. Just my $0.02
 
Tayous, I don`t have a Grizzly but a lot
of people do . Some like them some don`t.
If I was going to buy a new grinder on a
budget I would get the Grizzly over the Sears
& thats only because of belt size.
 
I have a Grizzly and thought it was fine until it crapped out. I don't advise getting one. I also have a multitool and for the low price they are great ! Real easy to use too. However, you can't change the contact wheel to diversify the blade profile, like say finger grooves 1" round. You can't do them because they don't have wheels smaller than 2". What I m doing now is trying to get a Rob Frink KMG grinder. They start at around $700., I'm gonna try and get more than that together to purchase different sized wheels etc. Apparently these are wonderful and they've come highly recomended. Don't know the Sears grinder. I've found, the more you spend , the more you save in the end. The grinder will pay for itself, if not in revenue from selling your knves, in satisfaction with the workings of a better machine and the improved fit and finish of your work. Good luck.....RDT
 
You may want to look into a coote grinder
you can get one with a 6 inch wheel for around 250
and one with an 8 inch wheel for about the same as a grizzly
and the shipping is around 30
 
Tayous:

I've got a multi-tool grinder--yep it's not Coote or a Bader or square wheel, but for the moment and for the past year it has given me great service. --and Texas Knife Supply has grits from 36-400 for this size belt--Dan
 
Another alternative is to buy a belt sander. Go to lowes and check out Delta's 4X36 belt with 6" disc sander, costs about $100. Its what I use right now. Its not perfect by any means but its a quality machine that will last. Theres a decent variety of belts for it and its very simple to use. Learn to flat grind on it. If/when you want to step up to a heavy duty grinder, it will still be a great tool for shaping handles/flattening scales etc.
Just my 2 cents.
 
Here is the picture of my multi-tool converted to use 2x72 belts. It works great, and for the money, I could not be happier. To make the conversion, I removed the contact wheel and replaced it with a piece of angle iron. I used washers as spacers at the top of the angle iron to set the contact wheel back over platen. I also replaced the platen with a 2" piece of angle iron. This allows the belt to track over the edge if I need it to. If the grinder is secured to the bench there is no more vibration than when running the 30" belts.

Grinder.jpg


Thanks -chris
 
Nice mod Chris...I have a question though. How do you make knives with all that neat on your bench. Where are the torches, files, cans, ashtrays, scraps, dust, metal shavings and other associated stuff. I clean up after each project but elves put it back that night.:D
 
Thanks Peter. The shop only gets cleaned at picture time or when I can't locate 75% of my tools. Which ever comes first.
 
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