My grinder is crooked :(

D

deker

Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Messages
3,496
So, I went out today after not being in the shop for a good long while. I figured I'd finish grind a little clip point blade I've had sitting around for a while before moving on to "more important" stuff I really don't want to screw up.

Well, as I worked, some things kept coming out just a bit off. I know I'm rusty, but I was taking my time and really didn't think it was me. Some close inspection of my grinder revealed that something is "out of whack". The platen is "clocked" slightly counter-clockwise which is throwing my plunges, etc off.

Here's the kicker though. I'm not certain if it's been this way since I built it or not. It's entirely possible that my grinding just wasn't good enough for me to notice this minor misalignment before. My "eye" has certainly gotten better, I know that much.

I really hate the though of having to tear down and rebuild a good bit of my grinder. I can't afford a new KMG right now though....

Anybody want to buy some damascus? :) I'm going to go bump my for sale threads.....

-d
 
Strap a filing guide to the blade. That way, it won't matter if the platen is a bit "clocked" when you do your plunge grinds.
 
If you overlay a glass platen you can set it up so it is aligned even though your platen isn't. this will work for sure !!! To establish what should be the vertical alingment, put on a new say 120 belt, let your machine turn over a few R.P.M.s adjust your belt to run to one side or the other and then scribe a line vertically on the steel platen where the glass platen should be installed. Frank
 
Could you wallow out one of the mounting holes, and rotate it in line with the path of the belt. I think many grinders have a bit of adjustment to align the platen.

Good luck with it, Craig
 
"I know I'm rusty...."

Heck ,JT, you can't get rusty until you've become polished.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
"I know I'm rusty...."

Heck ,JT, you can't get rusty until you've become polished.
Stacy
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You must be gettin' old Stacy...Last time I checked my initials were still "RD" :)

As for re-aligning with glass, etc. I already have a pyroceram platen liner, and cocking it off to one side would require tearing it apart, and it's a half-assed fix at that. The entire platen assembly is clocked to one side. I'd rather have it fixed properly than worry about it in the future. I'm beginning to work on practice for my JS and I can't have equipment malfunction be a liability for that...

I'm going to have to fix it, it's just that it will be eating very sparse and valuable shop time I could otherwise be using :(

-d
 
A C Richards said:
Shim It??
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I'm going to look and see what's crooked. I may be able to shim it. When I noticed it kind of got fed up and came back into the house to start cooking for the game rather than keep messing with stuff and break something :)

I'll look at it tomorrow. Right now I'm full of BBQ, watching the Steelers walk all over the Cardinals. :D I'm taking tomorrow off work as it' s my 7th wedding anniversary, and I bet I can squeeze a little shop time in. ;)

-d
 
Both of the grinders in my shop are shimmed. It doesn't take much of a shim to move the alignment around.
I tried cocking my head, for a while, but that didn't, do much to fix the problem, so I won't suggest that one.:D

Fred
 
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