New Craftsman Belt Grinder

A

abpro

Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
15
Greetings all!!

Down in the States this past weekend for a wedding. Mother-in-law forgets her dress, we go to Sears and I hang out in the tool dept. there where I see a new belt grinder, 2x42 with a 6" disc. Anyone seen this one or tried it?
Price was $103.00 US on sale. Any comments?

Thanks
 
I own a craftsman 2 x 42 with an 8" disc. Have they re-introduced it with a 6"?

Mine was $250 CDN on sale (reg $400).

It is vastly superior to a 1 x 30 but still suffers from expensive, short lived and hard to find belts, and a poor belt platen. A few mods help some. I now use it primarily for the disc. The only problem I had with it was that it blew the startup capacitor. Sears wanted $65 for the part. I got it elswhere for $5. :rolleyes:



Rob!
 
The craftsman will work for flat grinds and with some work, convex grinds. The main thing it lacks is a contact wheel to work up against. This means no hollow grinds. Alot of people will suggest you get a 2 x 72 belt grinder with a contact wheel but they aernt anywhere neer as cheap. Belts costs wont be much cheaper with the sears sander so if you have the money just buy a belt grinder and be done with it. IF your on a tight budget the sears will get you going. I hope this is all correct as this is what has been told to me in the past few weeks (coote 10" on its way :) ). If I got anything wrong please feel free to correct me guys. =P
 
i have the sears 2 x 42...so far it has done me well, i dont have any real knifemaking grinder experience...working on my 3rd (of 5) to send out to get heat treated...but so far im happy with my starter grinder from sears...
 
i have a sears 4x36 and made 20 or so knives. still works fine. I will buy a 2x72 if I keep making knives. then i will use the 4x36 for handles.
 
I have a 2x72 but I still use my Craftsman 2x42 for non knife grinding and contouring handles. One of the best parts is I can zip over to sears and get A/O belts instead of ordering them. this has saved me a few times. I did convex grind many knives w/o the platen. I did put an AC speed contol on mine which also helps. My only complaint is the thin stamped sheet metal platen that flexes too much. That could be easily fixed with a 1/4" chunk of angle iron.

The 6" wheel is also very handy. If this one ever burns out I will replace it. I only paid $99 for it. My last order of 2x72 belts cost more then that.
 
the platen is absolute garbage......not even suitable for recycling:D But if you survive, you can keep the Craftsman for slack grinding handles. The good news is that folks like Tru-Grit have finally ralized that not every knifemaker uses a 2 X 72, so they have expanded their selections of smaller belts. I had this problem in the past because my first grinder was a Craftsman and my second was a Jancey Radiusmaster, which uses 2 x 48, but has the same left side access problem as a Wilton. I just got a KMG variable speed and the platen attachment alone on the KMG's and Baders make them worht the price of admission.:thumbup: So save your pennies, my friend.:)
 
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