Possible beginner grinder?

C

cooper_luke_10

Joined
Dec 11, 2008
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Hi everyone. Just bought a house with my girlfriend and the good news is there is room for a little work shop, the great news is that there are two 20amp power sockets already installed.
And here is the question, I'm still an apprentice so my money has to stretch as far as I can make it, I have found this grinder and have been quoted a price well under $400 for this entire set up plus a mitre table for the disk.
I'm hoping some of the more experienced people out there could give their opinion of this grinder.

www .unitedtools.com.au/products2.htm?pid=809&catID=69

For its price I'm hoping it will be suitable for a beginner, I can see plenty of pro's and cons myself but I don't have the experience to really judge it as a suitable tool.
Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I imagine it would work fairly well for beginner use. You're going to want some files and sandpaper to touch up areas, but overall it should do the job.

Just make sure before you buy anything you can get belts that fit the unit. Might also want to figure a way to mount it sideways when using the belt so the belt runs vertical.
 
65535 said:
Just make sure before you buy anything you can get belts that fit the unit.
The working link -

http://www.unitedtools.com.au/products2.htm?pid=809&catID=69

It is common and I have seen one in use. It's better than nothing, but expensive for what you get.
Don't ignore the disc it's useful.
You may wish to put that $$$ towards building a no-weld grinder / kmg clone
http://www.mickleyknives.com/html/no_weld_grinder.html



http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=7564&hl=clone

http://www.dfoggknives.com/PDF/GrinderPlans.pdf

google it, there are tons of pics and some plans too


They list belts in mm, but it is 2x36" you can order belts custom made, or split 4x36" belts

you can also get it in 2x48" (I would)

http://www.vansantent.com/Vendor_pages/Multitool_Grinders.htm

Since I already have larger motors in my junk supply, I would just buy the basic attachment and put it on a motor I already have.
(bigger motor too)


other links
http://www.vansantent.com/multitool.htm

Video Demo ( same site)
http://www.vansantent.com/Grinding_Sanding/multitool_video.htm
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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I bought one of those 10 years ago and it worked well for flat grinds. The akc sells them too with a decent grinder with it. Last year I salvaged parts off the attachment and built a kmg clone, I now can do hollow grinds with plently of power from the 2hp motor and a solid platten makes a big difference.
If you go ahead and buy that setup Ive still got 24 sanding belts to suit in a variety of grits some used most not. Ive been meaning to put them on ebay but msg me if your keen on them. I'm in Melbourne so if your nearby...
As 65535 said mount it vertically as you can do, might even be able to mount some kind of plattern too.
 
Thanks for the input so far.
Ideally I plan to eventually build something resembling a KMG clone But for now I'm willing to pay a little bit just to get something now.
I'm thinking I will go with a more powerful 8" bench grinder and get the 50*1220mm (2*48) model as 12345678910 recommended.
By the way it will not only be used for knives, Im a third year fitter/machinist apprentice so it may be used for all soughts of stuff.
Altonahunter if I end up getting this grinder anytime soon I might see about those belts, but it could be a while off, unfortunately my hobbies don't always come in first.
I will contact the manufacturer directly, fingers crossed I might be able to get it a little cheaper if I go direct to the source.
Altonahunter, with this setup is it possible to put the hook and loop disks onto the disk sander? I'm assuming it should be possible if I get some of the suitable velcro backing for the disk sander part.
 
Im sure the one that comes with the grinder is a velcro attachment as I've never altered mine and thats how it is. Bunnings used to sell the belts and disks but Im not sure anymore, might be a special order if not in stock. Or use the akc which have alot of belts and knifemaking stuff but not as price friendly as the us market. I remember years ago seeing an attchment like the one your looking at but it had an 8" wheel on it instead of the little one, pretty sure it was in the akc catalogue. That'd be my choice anyway. Hope this helps.
 
Looking around I have found the same sought of set up with an 8 inch wheel and different size disks, the problem is that it seems like most places only store the one type at a time. That was why I thought it would be better to go straight to the manufacture. I first found this grinder with the AKC magazine, but as much as I would like to support them I think I can get it for a bit better price. I'm not to worried about a large contact wheel at the moment, I'll save any hollw grinding for a long time off in the future when I get a bit of experience lol.
I have used the radius master machine in the past and I would love one of them but they are much to expensive at the moment.
But I think the multitool should do the trick for the immediate future and it is kind of three in one so it still has a bit of versatility.
 
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