new grinder from Uncle Al

[kevin -the professor]

Hello Everyone - I want to say, if you do not have a grinder with variable speed, you need one. It is amazing. I can actually control things now.
I just set this up today, I got it yesterday. I call it SUPERGRINDER although it is really just Uncle Al's standard model. Plug and play like this.

$1,700.00 and change, delivered. Edited to add - 1.5 hp, 120, variable.

I am going to spend some time working in the shop over the next couple of days, finally. Stupid day job, don't they realize I have knives to make, things to grind...?

thanks for looking. I have never used a kmg, only Baders and Grizzlies. Please don't anyone launch into how wonderful kmg's are. I am certain that they are a high quality machine. I happened to want this machine, for many very good reasons, and it has surpassed my expectations.


Also - you will want to pay close attention to the tensioning mechanism. It is novel, and it works very well. It has a cylinder with an angle cut on top as the bottom structural piece. Then, a piston with a small cylinder and then a ring around it form the top half. The piston fits into the bottom cylinder, with the ring and then the smaller top cylinder around the piston. When you push up on the lever, the piston moves up and the top cylinder pushes the ring down against the bottom cylinder. Now, the neat part, when the tension pushes down on this contraption, the ring presses against the angle in the bottom cylinder, causing it to tilt. The tilted ring binds the piston so it can't move. THIS IS A SYSTEM THAT CAN MOVE UP BUT NOT DOWN UNLESS YOU FREE THE RING BY LIFTING THE LITTLE TAB. Clever, simple. Works great.

take care,

kc

 

[Bailey Knives]

Has anyone ever mentioned to you how great KMG's are? Just kidding, that thing looks pretty cool. I have an Uncle Al press, and I love it. If his grinder is built anything like his press, it is probably a tank.

 

[Salem Straub]

KMG's are a great grinder. Oh wait, this thread is about Kevin's new Riverside machine?

Sorry, had to kid around a bit, too. I'm happy for you, getting a new variable grinder tends to majorly change the way you make knives, it's so nice.

On a side note Kevin, I wanted to tell you that I took your advice to use rottenstone or pumice in hamon polishing, and it worked very well. So thanks for that.

Finally, I think you just have to quit that stupid day job. They don't understand real priorities. Just be a swordmaker. Of course, this is probably not sound financial advice.

 

[Darrin Sanders]

I have often thought about buying one of Uncle Al's grinders. Looks well built. Have you found any negative aspects yet? At that price you can almost buy two of those for the price of a KMG.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

I have often thought about buying one of Uncle Al's grinders. Looks well built. Have you found any negative aspects yet? At that price you can almost buy two of those for the price of a KMG.

Not true Darrin .

 

[kevin -the professor]

the only negatives I have found so far are a result of how badly UPS beat it up in travel. The grinder was bolted to a spec-made frame of 1/2" square steel tubing. It had veneer wood sides. The sides were smashed in, and almost every single screw that wasn't part of a true structural component (which I suspect have loctite on them) were loosened from the trip. So, there were a lot of loose and wobbly bits, but they weren't that way because of Al or his people.

Only one even minor negative thing, and this is not certain. At present, because there was a hex screw that is loosened from the vibration and beating of the trip, and this screw had a larger head than I had a wrench for, I have yet to tighten it. This causes the top idler wheel (the one that is responsible for tracking) to not line up perfectly with the platen.

Now, once I tighten this screw, it should pull the lever over into alignment. If it does not, then I will have to shim the platen over with a washer. Even now, the thing tracks just fine. I just don't like the fact that I know the belt is supposed to ride centered on the ridge in the tracking wheel, and it rides about 1/8" to one side.

So, I may need to shim the platen over to make up for abuse given in transit. May not even need to do that.

kc

 

[kevin -the professor]

salem - great. It makes a huge difference to scuff the hamon area. It does the cosmetic whitening, but if you do it with your finger or soft backing, it also selectively abrades the soft rather than hard steel and leaves a more rough structure at the micro level. This rougher structure causes more refraction, and you get livelier hamons. I learned from JD Smith and by reading Fogg and Tai Goo. Great.

I spent the last hour reading your intergral wip. I don't have the courage yet. I have to master regular full tangs, then go for an integral.

kc

 

[unky_gumbi]

I spoiled myself and built up the GIB with a VFD. The only thing I have made on it was a tiny knife, but it was a blast. The VFD kicks butt, just reach over and turn the knob till the belt is running at the right speed and grind away. Another thing that amazed me was how quiet these things are, running full speed and leaning into it you can talk to some by only raising your voice a tad, and I am set up in a tiny room I have two more knives to finish up once they get back from HT then I have to take apart my grinder and pack it up for the move, it is going to be heart breaking