New toy in the workshop!

D

Donald Babcock

Joined
Oct 3, 2007
Messages
36
I've been having fun tonight using my new belt grinder. I bought a new Grizzly 2X72" 1hp belt grinder. I've been doing some finishing work on a bowie that I have been working on for about a year now (hand filing it) and things are going a heck of a lot faster with the grinder.

I've finished setting in the transition lines for the edge bevel and finished profiling the blade and tang to the way that I like it. I've worked up to a 220 grit and will be doing the 350 grit next. After that I'll be drilling the holes for the handle pins and heat treating the blade. After that, polish the scale off and sharpen, make the guard, size the handle slabs, make the handle pins, and the PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER!!!! I hope to have this blade finished in time to bring to the NECKA hammer in on the 27th up at Dan Gray's house. I'll post some pics once I get the camera out.

Time for some more grinding! :D
 
Just as a hint, the Griz has 3 slots under the arbor to let air in to keep the motor cooler. Those will let any dust and metal bits get into your motor, and it will mess it up. What I did is put pantyhose over the whole motor to help keep things out of there. Oh and get rid of the graphite on the platen and go buy some ceramic platen liners.

-Mike Sheffield
 
Nice, you scratch your head trying to get a good look down the belt to keep your lines straight?
 
I wear a baseball cap when I use the Grizzly. Now I recognize the sound of the brim on an 80 grit belt.

As Mike said, get a ceramic platen liner. The graphite one is crap. Darren Elllison sells them and is a pleasure to deal with. Do a search on ceramis platens for some good and imortant safety tips on monting the platens.
 
I third the ceramic platen face. The graphite will work for about 2-3 knives if you don't lean on the grinder hard. I used a pre-motor vac-cleaner filter I taped over the cooling vents.

As far as looking down the belt, I've never done that with the Grizzly for obvious reasons, though I've also heard the sound of ball caps and face shields against an AO belt. I keep my grinds straight by watching the spark patterns off the platen.

Oh, and for God's gracious sake, please do not order AO belts from Grizzly!! They are absolutely HORRIBLE! Ante up the extra for some 3M or Klingspore.

Have fun grinding!

--nathan
 
silver_pilate said:
I third the ceramic platen face. The graphite will work for about 2-3 knives if you don't lean on the grinder hard. I used a pre-motor vac-cleaner filter I taped over the cooling vents.

As far as looking down the belt, I've never done that with the Grizzly for obvious reasons, though I've also heard the sound of ball caps and face shields against an AO belt. I keep my grinds straight by watching the spark patterns off the platen.

Oh, and for God's gracious sake, please do not order AO belts from Grizzly!! They are absolutely HORRIBLE! Ante up the extra for some 3M or Klingspore.

Have fun grinding!

--nathan
Click to expand...
Buy Klingspor or Norton blue zirconia for the heavy stuff. The yellow Klingspors are great for flexible belts in smaller grit. Belive it or not, so are the grey Hermes belts. Their heavy cheap brown AO stuff sucks for anything other than rough hogging wood, but the lighter, more expensive belts are pretty darn good and cheaper than Klingspor.
 
second on the crap belts from grizzly (don't buy their end-mill cutters either C-RAP!) my stepfather just got a Grizzly 2x72 and we ordered some of their belts to try, they suck!
BTW yes that graphite platen is also crap, already grooved to hell. Great tip about the ceramic from Ellis, I ordered high temp brick from them, (great service BTW) I will be ordering ceramic for my stepfather's grizzly! For my Kalamazoo's platen I welded on some ground flat 15 years ago, it's still flat, but it probably has a whole lot more friction than ceramic

-Page
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll check out the ceramic platen.

About the belts, I got some of the Silicone Carbide belts from Griz so I can get used to using the grinder. It's a lot different from the Wilton that I used to make my first knife with Dan Gray.

It seems to take the metal off okay, but it barely throws any sparks while grinding. I tried grinding some mild steel bars (low carbon) with moderate success, so then I started doing some more on my bowie that I am making. I was able to get it up to a 320 grit last night and shape the tang the way I want it. Now I plan on making the guard latter today or tomorrow after work. I'll see if I can find the camera and take some pics of it.
 
The main problem I've had with Grizzly belts is the seam. It's thick, it's unstable, and it bumps like mad. I switched to Klingspor and my grinds improved a great deal. Also, I'm no longer getting electricuted by the static build-up that I was experiencing with the Grizzly belts.

Have fun!

--nathan
 
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