I've been watching hours and hours of various videos from different bladesmiths and I am absolutely amazed at the talent that many of you have. Walter Sorrells and Trollsky produce some of my favorite videos so far. One of the things I have been paying close attention to is the variety of grinding methods as well as the variety of different grinders that guys are using. One question that keeps coming to my mind is this... Since grinding causes so much dust, why doesn't anyone use a vacuum system of any kind to suck away as much dust as possible? Maybe they do and I just missed it, but I haven't seen anything that really stands out in any of the videos.
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Question about Grinders....
- Thread starter idHawk
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they do, we do,
so you may see either a water bucket underneath the grinder
or some of us have a dust collector
I'm trying to understand why more makers don't use a 4x36 grinder in a horizontal mode with flat platen, and why builders don't make a wet grinding machine...
I saw Travis Wuertz yesterday at the Pasadena knife show and asked him to think about the wet grinding.
I know Burr King makes a wet belt grinder model
so you may see either a water bucket underneath the grinder
or some of us have a dust collector
I'm trying to understand why more makers don't use a 4x36 grinder in a horizontal mode with flat platen, and why builders don't make a wet grinding machine...
I saw Travis Wuertz yesterday at the Pasadena knife show and asked him to think about the wet grinding.
I know Burr King makes a wet belt grinder model
Although belt life is way shorter on a 4x36 grinder, I use one for all my grinding. That's partially because 2x72's are not really available here in Japan, and because importing belts would be way too expensive. The machine has some limitations to be sure, but for the kinds of knives I make (Japanese style chef knives), it works great. I use mine in both horizontal and vertical positions depending on what I'm trying to do. I think this kind of grinder really lends itself to grinding with the knife diagonal to the platen to get good flat bevels.
It is not so great for knives with plunges, and can be tricky to grind horizontally, as there is a higher chance of bumping into the far end of the belt and getting over-grinds. At least, that's my experience anyway.
idHawk: lots of makers use vacuum systems to collect dust. Put "Spark Bong Dust Collector" into youtube and you'll see an example.
It is not so great for knives with plunges, and can be tricky to grind horizontally, as there is a higher chance of bumping into the far end of the belt and getting over-grinds. At least, that's my experience anyway.
idHawk: lots of makers use vacuum systems to collect dust. Put "Spark Bong Dust Collector" into youtube and you'll see an example.
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Tenebr0s curious why you aren't using a rotating water stone?
agreed on all points, although I haven't really noticed lower belt life.
I have two 2x72 grinders and am switching to primary grinding on my 4x36,
I've moved to laminated high carbon which "requires" wet grinding.
I've just been pouring water onto the belts and it works fine.
I've noticed the 2 wheel grinders handle the water circulation better than the 4 wheel 2x72.
The rust etc doesn't really concern or bother me.
for the OP, you can see my dustcollector here below
I just took a Kalamazoo S4 4x36 and changed out the motor to a 1725 RPM to slow down the SFM, and bolted it to a angle bracket I made up.
The 4x36 is an inexpensive way to get an additional grinder in your shop that add alot of versatility IMO
I think wet grinding is significantly faster and more efficient. I've found keeping the belt wet, you get more out of it than dunking a blade in water to cool it.
I use them whenever I have access to them, mainly in the shop of one of my teachers over here. My own workshop is really a temporary setup. It's fine for my needs now, but in a couple years it will be time to upgrade to a larger place, at which time I will definitely be getting at least one rotating water stone. Honestly, nothing comes even close in terms of efficiency, IMHO.
agreed, I watched Murray Carter grind some blades on his stone and it blew my mind how fast he could grind on them.
I'm talking about 1/5th to 1/10th of the time.
One has to develop the muscles in their hands to keep up with the speed of the wheel , but as you said, nothing even comes close.
I'm talking about 1/5th to 1/10th of the time.
One has to develop the muscles in their hands to keep up with the speed of the wheel , but as you said, nothing even comes close.