Northridge Tool 2"x72" Grinder

J

Jesse Miller

Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
2
Good day! I wanted to take a moment and share about my experience with Northridge Tool Company and the 2x72 grinder I recently purchased from them.

Last October, I began my hunt for a 2x72 grinder of my own. I read as much as I could, and tried out as many machines as I could get access to. At that point, I had had the opportunity to grind blades on a Bader, a KMG, a Burr King, and a TW-90. As I was making my inquiries I was told, by a blade smith that I respect greatly, to talk to George, owner of Northridge Tool. After a week or two, I gave George a call and wound up talking to him for over an hour. He not only educated me about what it takes to produce a quality machine, but he also showed me that he loves what he does and is constantly working to make things better. I bought the Pro Package (as seen in the link below) and I added on a 10" contact wheel and tool arm. http://www.northridgetool.com/packages

This grinder is amazing. It's runs incredibly smoothly, and all the parts are machined to very high standards. The belt tensioning system is super low-travel; getting proper tension is a snap. Another thing I really love about this grinder is the system that allows me to transition from vertical to horizontal drive orientation. It uses a strut that makes the transition smooth and effortless. The chassis of this grinder has a high quality coating that is durable and pretty to look at, keeping the machine from rusting. The chassis on mine sports two tool arm attachment channels, and the in-house-built system for securing the tool/accessory arm employs a set screw that pushes a tensioner plate to evenly distribute the force of the locking arm. The tracking control is on point. Just a little movement on the adjustment screw goes a long way.

The drive system: I had mine wired for 240 volts to get the maximum potential from the Leeson motor. The Leeson TEFC 2HP 4 pole AC motor is controlled by a KB-27D VFD unit. This sucker will sing!! I haven't even used it turned up to 100% output; plenty of power in other words. The output from VFD is steady and is easily controlled.

Grinding: I learned to grind on a Burr King, which I still love using when I'm in that particular shop. I also had the privilege of grinding blades on a KMG, a Bader, and a TW-90. I really like using the TW-90, but I like grinding with my Northridge even better. It's just so freaking smooth and true. Things I found challenging in the past, such as producing dead flat and even bevels are made considerably easier with my Northridge.

If I could change one thing about my Northridge, I would like to have rubber idler wheels on the flat platen that comes with it instead of aluminum, so I could do some radius work without switching to the small wheel tool arm.

Bottom line; If you want an amazing machine that allows you to do your best work, don't hesitate to get in touch with George and get yourself a Northridge. You won't be disappointed.

confirmation
 
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This is good to hear. I just received mine, also with the 10" wheel and unfortunately just so busy that it is still in the box. I got the Baldor motor but otherwise exactly the same setup. This is actually my first grinder. So any handy tips or tricks you have learned specific to this grinder on use, other attachment preferences or wants, or just setup, ....I would love to hear. Thanks
 
You can change out the wheels. Just order some rubber wheels from USA KM and switch them out. That's what I did on my Pheer platen.
 
Will Northridge be at the Blade Show this year? I didn't see them on the exhibitor list. I tried the grinder at the booth last year and was very impressed. I thought about picking one up this year if they are there again.
 
No sorry we won't be there this year, last year all the prep for the show got us way behind so we thought it would be better to have our backorder fulfilled, we will be there next year.

Thanks George
 
I know this is an old thread. I contacted Northridge Tool Friday and was told they were out of stock on the Mod-E grinder chassis. The e-mail said 6 to 7 weeks. Thought I would let people know.

Jon
 
I love my Northridge grinder. Had it for a couple years now and not a single issue after grinding lots of knives on it.
 
JonBishop said:
I know this is an old thread. I contacted Northridge Tool Friday and was told they were out of stock on the Mod-E grinder chassis. The e-mail said 6 to 7 weeks. Thought I would let people know.

Jon
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I just sent them an email asking if they still make and sell the mod e... its not on the website, but is mentioned is a blurb about motors so...?????
I’ll hopefully let everyone know how they reply...
 
I personally had bad experience with their customer service. Good luck.

I purchased a KMG-TX and couldn't be happier. Most top tier grinders have the same features, but no other grinder has axis neutral tracking like the TX.
 
Wow. Ok, that’s an interesting observation. Can I ask what happened? If you’d rather pm, that’s ok, but it may be best to let everyone know our stories?
 
If you're wondering about the Mod-E, read this thread:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/want-a-northridge-mod-e—good-luck.1759056/#post-20126274

And regarding Northridge and customer service. George was very nice and accommodating when I talked to him over the phone. He let me upgrade to the larger platen for a very reasonable sum. He offered to throw in some of his beautiful custom machined contact wheel spacers for my existing wheels for free (I foolishly declined).
 
bmilleker said:
I personally had bad experience with their customer service. Good luck.

I purchased a KMG-TX and couldn't be happier. Most top tier grinders have the same features, but no other grinder has axis neutral tracking like the TX.
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I was talking to them about purchasing a pro package, and a few days before I was ready to send payment, they told me they wouldn't ship to Canada due to the effort in dealing with customs. I was fine with the costs associated. There was nothing more to be said, and they told me to buy a grinder in Canada...

For comparison, Beaumont shipped my grinder with 2 day Fedex priority, had incredible communication during the order process (I didn't just order the TX) and sent along a banner to hang in my shop. And customs was about a half hour of MY time, not Beaumont's. So Northridge complaining about the customs makes no sense to me.

The Northridge is most likely a better machined grinder, but their customer service was awful and I'm glad I found that out before spending that kind of money with them.
 
bmilleker said:
I was talking to them about purchasing a pro package, and a few days before I was ready to send payment, they told me they wouldn't ship to Canada due to the effort in dealing with customs. I was fine with the costs associated. There was nothing more to be said, and they told me to buy a grinder in Canada...

For comparison, Beaumont shipped my grinder with 2 day Fedex priority, had incredible communication during the order process (I didn't just order the TX) and sent along a banner to hang in my shop. And customs was about a half hour of MY time, not Beaumont's. So Northridge complaining about the customs makes no sense to me.

The Northridge is most likely a better machined grinder, but their customer service was awful and I'm glad I found that out before spending that kind of money with them.
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To be fair... Unless you have had issues where you have lost thousands of dollars to a customs issue you can't really call that bad customer service. As a manufacturer and seller they must make sure you get your grinder - what if there's and issue with paperwork, the grinder gets lost or damaged, or you get charged a bunch in duties/taxes and then blame it on them because they didn't make you aware of the problem (I'm meaning "you" in general terms, not personally). Then they have to pay for it, or spend a bunch of time dealing with either the paperwork, phone calls, or simply dealing with the drama online of that person bad mouthing them (and time = money).

I'm absolutely sure they have made that policy because of having issues in the past and it is not worth the headache or hassle to them, especially when they sell out constantly here in the USA.

I just had to change my policies for the same reasons, it's too much of a nightmare that I simply am no longer going to deal with.
 
razor-edge-knives said:
To be fair... Unless you have had issues where you have lost thousands of dollars to a customs issue you can't really call that bad customer service. As a manufacturer and seller they must make sure you get your grinder - what if there's and issue with paperwork, the grinder gets lost or damaged, or you get charged a bunch in duties/taxes and then blame it on them because they didn't make you aware of the problem (I'm meaning "you" in general terms, not personally). Then they have to pay for it, or spend a bunch of time dealing with either the paperwork, phone calls, or simply dealing with the drama online of that person bad mouthing them (and time = money).

I'm absolutely sure they have made that policy because of having issues in the past and it is not worth the headache or hassle to them, especially when they sell out constantly here in the USA.

I just had to change my policies for the same reasons, it's too much of a nightmare that I simply am no longer going to deal with.
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I do understand that policy. I get it. The problem was pulling the plug last minute after talking about the grinder, and options for over a month. And how they did it.
 
bmilleker said:
I was talking to them about purchasing a pro package, and a few days before I was ready to send payment, they told me they wouldn't ship to Canada due to the effort in dealing with customs. I was fine with the costs associated. There was nothing more to be said, and they told me to buy a grinder in Canada...

For comparison, Beaumont shipped my grinder with 2 day Fedex priority, had incredible communication during the order process (I didn't just order the TX) and sent along a banner to hang in my shop. And customs was about a half hour of MY time, not Beaumont's. So Northridge complaining about the customs makes no sense to me.

The Northridge is most likely a better machined grinder, but their customer service was awful and I'm glad I found that out before spending that kind of money with them.
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Hi,

‘I do understand your frustrations. However, as a Canadian, I’m sure you’ve experienced the ... let’s say “chalanges” of getting anything into Canada from the states. The fewc0m-shoes I’ve worked for have always had to set up canadian companies complete with logistics and wharehousing. Even tech support we duplicated people and tools and kept in Canada. Upon the occasion we had to send a support engineer into Canada from the us, 50%of the time they were wither rejected entry at the boarder or their tools were confiscated.

Anyway, I do feel your frustration but it sounds like like it’s more of a small company th6 may have either been burnt sending into Canada previously or head the many nightmares of dealing with Canadian customs and frankly made a bus9ness decision to focus on a geographical-hy that they can service we..

Just my 2 cents. Think of this from the other side...
 
bmilleker said:
I do understand that policy. I get it. The problem was pulling the plug last minute after talking about the grinder, and options for over a month. And how they did it.
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Lets be fair about this, if we emailed back and forth for a month I would say you didn't tell me you were in CA until the end when you were ready to order, we have had problems with CA customs they do not want products produced in other counties sent in most people who send things there lie about the cost for one, to lower the duties, and second when it goes over a certain dollar value they want a lot of info such as how many bolts and screws are in it, how many cubic centimeters each part is, origin of each part and description usually it paid for with PayPal if they seize it the customer can request their money back from PayPal and its on us to figure out how to retrieve it, we have had many Canadians drive down to pick them up and request invoices for less than they paid, for the above reasons, if they get pulled over the Mounties will ask for a receipt they will check the website to compare prices if they believe its new and the invoice is false they will seize it, it hasn't happened but that's what I have been told and then its up to us to straighten it out, we are very busy all the time our Ohio shop is small with limited people and we don't have time for the possible problems, Australia is another country that their customs don't want imports and we have had a nightmare with them before, maybe in the future we can hire someone to deal with international shipping but right now we are content selling in the USA.
 
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