Slowing down the Grizzly

flatgrinder

flatgrinder

Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
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If anyone's interested, a smaller contact wheel (eg. from Sunray) can slow down the Grizzly grinder.



I installed a 5" wheel, so according to my calculations, the belt speed is now 2258 SFM (from a previous 3612 SFM), and it was done without any modifications to the grinder.

Makes grinding a lot more controlled. :D

(It's just temporary, I'm in the process of building my own grinder and I just selected wheels that would work with both).
 
Funny, I recently installed a 10" wheel (due to advice I got from Northcoast Knives) in order to get a wider arc on my primary bevel. I was affraid that it'd burn up my steel, but the faster speed hasn't hurt me thus far.
 
Man, I like that! The speed is the only real problem I have with the Grizz. Do you have a web site or contact info for those wheels?
 
Flat grinder,
Very cool. I had been wondering if I could buy a slower wheel for speed purposes. Would also be interested in the website, or if you want I will give you my address and you can just send me yours!;)
Matt Doyle
 
Did a google search for Sunray and found www.sunray-inc.com. That's the place for the wheels. Flatgrinder, how about the spec's on what you got for the Grizz? Don't mean to sound pushy, but this is just the ticket to get more use out of the grinder. Slowing it down would sure mean more control and even the ability to sharpen on it. Thanks.
Ricki
 
The wheels I got are just temporary, I'll be building my own grinder sometime this year.

However, I just used a standard 3/4" bore, 2" wide wheel, 80A durometer contact wheel (I believe the Grizzly's are in the 60A range). 70A to 80A is about "normal" for a grinder.

If I had to use one specifically for the Grizzly, I'd use the one with the extended wheel hub:

http://www.sunray-inc.com/custom/extendedhub.html

Make sure the inner hub is 0.20" smaller than the outer on both sides and 0.5" of rubber works fine.
 
I hear a lot of talk about the Grizz being too fast. For what its worth, a Bader bmIII with the full size drive wheel is moving at 6800. It grind very well at this speed. I made knives with a Wilton Square Wheel Grinder for at least 15 years, at 4800 or 5800. Can't remember which. My Burr_King, with 10" contact wheel is at 5800. If you are having a problem with the high speed, use a lighter pressure on handle materials. A shot of wd-40 works well for fine grits on micarta. Burning of handle material, is usually, dull belt. Wrong belt type, too much pressure, and on some materials, lack of lube. Mike
 
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