I built a no-weld grinder. It runs fine.. It took longer than I expected, though. Factoring in my time, there's no way it was cheaper than buying a complete grinder. If were to do it again, I'd buy the WilmontLittle Buddy.
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People using homemade grinders
- Thread starter Taximanny
- Start date
I built a no-weld grinder. It runs fine.. It took longer than I expected, though. Factoring in my time, there's no way it was cheaper than buying a complete grinder. If were to do it again, I'd buy the WilmontLittle Buddy.
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 325
Taximanny, I'm running on the Sears 2 X 42 also. It was a yard sale item. I've attacked it pretty severely with the plasma cutter to get better access to the belt and have made several knives on it. Put a ceramic platen on it and that was a big improvement. All in all it's been a good first grinder. Time to move up now. Got my electric motor repair guy studying VFD and motor choices because i'm uneducated about electric motors and he has had his shop for 30 years and he's a thinking kind of guy.
I first built a welded, no-weld, grinder. After using it for a while I bought a new frame kit from polar bear forge. It is, in my opinion a much nicer grinder. It probably helps that I bought a nicer platen at the same time. I started with a 1.5 hp motor and a vfd from the beginning. Both of mine have been direct drive. I would like to eventually get a second one set up, I believe it's the Tw-90 that has the surface grinder attachment available.
Stromberg Knives
strombergknives.com
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2015
- Messages
- 856
In my case, I have something that resembles the NWG. A big advantage for me was that I could build and develop my grinder over time, i e spreading the cost over time.
I'm somewhat ambivalent regarding the subject. For me building the grinder meant a lot of learning about workshop techniques which proved very useful for my beginners knife making skills. But as I progress I'd like to spend more time making knives than tinkering with my tools. It seems as there's always something that needs tuning/fixing with my homemade grinder.
If I'd do it all over again, I'd probably buy a complete grinder with VFD.
I'm somewhat ambivalent regarding the subject. For me building the grinder meant a lot of learning about workshop techniques which proved very useful for my beginners knife making skills. But as I progress I'd like to spend more time making knives than tinkering with my tools. It seems as there's always something that needs tuning/fixing with my homemade grinder.
If I'd do it all over again, I'd probably buy a complete grinder with VFD.
I built mine from the GIB NWG kit from Polar Bear Forge. It was pretty straightforward to screw together and nice that it is 1/2" steel plate. Very rugged grinder and with 2hp motor direct mounted and VFD can quickly change from hogging thick steel to finish grinding. I made all my wheels, rests and platens etc so saved a bunch on the extras that really add up.
http://www.polarbearforge.com/tools.html
http://www.polarbearforge.com/tools.html