Quitest grinder?

D

dalr753

Joined
Jan 5, 2012
Messages
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hey guys i live in an apartment and make knives on my porch, but im getting pretty sick of grinding out my knives with a hand file. so i wanted to get a bench/ belt grinder/ angle grinder/etc. but because of fear of noise complaints i was wondering whats the quitest type of grinder?
any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
 
grinder_foot_treadle4.jpg


Pedal powered farms and factories: the forgotten future of the stationary bicycle
 
Part of it depends on what types of grinds you are doing. Running a contact wheel is much quieter than running a flat platen, and the belt sliding over the platen greatly increases noise levels. A rotary platen can decrease that noise, but you're adding $$ and it's only available for certain grinders unless you were able to cobble together your own version.

--nathan
 
The Hardcore grinder, a burr king knock off is also very quiet. That being said, I dont think any full size belt grinder is going to be feasible to run in an apartment.
 
The TW-90 is the quietest, with the Hardcore and Burr King coming in second.

My Hardcore is very quiet indeed, but the few of Travis' TW-90's I have played with are even quieter.
 
I got to see the TW-90 at the show in Ft. Worth this spring and hardly heard a sound with it running. It is by far the quietest machine I've ever heard, err.. not heard.
 
Your actual grinding will probably make more noise than the grinder. You might have more issue from neighbors over the sparks. They can sure light up a space and freak people out! Dusts and the acrid burny smelling atmosphere could potentially cause alarm for folks too. A water bucket can catch a lot of that though. If you sand on wood that will really send up a cloud of dust. (A motorized dust collecting system would probably make more noise than the grinder/grinding.) Grinding is a messy stinky noisy business just about anyway you slice it.
 
Small benchtop drill presses are quiet and adaptable, can do a lot of what you need, at least would represent an advancement over hand filing. For example, you can profile the blade from a bar with a series of drilled holes. Then hack saw the profile out. You can buy grinding and sanding attachments such as drums that will remove a lot of steel and handle material. Ordinary hardware stores will have drums and other things, and more speciality items can be found from woodcarving suppliers. As already noted, will make a great mess.
 
Beware of heavy side loads that WILL unmount your chuck. Most drill presses are not designed for this type of load.
 
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