Stupid Questionon Grinders from a knifemaking virgin!

[Stephen F]

Hey - I thought I would come to the experts for this.

I am thinking of setting up a small hobby shop to try my hand at knife making. To begin with stock removal, and if it takes then maybe forge (my passion in collecting).

But before I can walk (never mind run) , I need to crawl. This means understanding the basics of the functions of the various tools and what they are used for.

So here goes:

Grinders - from what I can see there are 4 or 5 different types used by makers (from the excellent list post that is in this area):

Belt grinder
Knifemakers Grinder
Surface Grinder
Discs/Wheels
Vertical Grinder
Horizontal Grinder

I think that some of these descriptions may be descibing the same thing, but I am not sure.

1) What I really want to know is what is the different function and use of each of these grinder types?

2) For a person starting out what would be best to get for shaping Blades, Handles and Guards?

3) I have seen combination Belt and Wheel/disc set ups from the hard ware stores for general use - would these be OK to start with? Or a waste of money in the long run?

4) Any specific make model recommendations?

As you can see my knowledge is vertually none existent as far as machine tools and there uses are concerned - but ya gotta start somewhere

Thanks, Stephen

 

[tmickley]

Focus on getting a 2x72 grinder before all the others - which is usually referred to as a knifemakers grinder in our circle. It is a belt grinder when working on metal, a belt sander when working on wood. If you want the best, you won't go wrong looking at the KMG.There are at least a dozen threads on 'which grinder should I buy?'. The verticle and horizontal grinders are usually disk grinders with the disk mounted either horizontally or upright. Don't even bother thinking about a surface grinder right now.

Have fun and welcome to the madness....

 

[Sando]

I agree with everything Tracy said (why not he's a man that knows).

Have you built a kit knife yet? For that a jewers saw, a file, and some sand paper is all you need.

I still remember vividly working on my first kit. You wouldn't think there's much to it, but building the kit made me think about plungecut in relationship to the handle, handle shape, sanding steel vs. wood. ...... lots of things.

I recommend doing a kit or two, before buying anything. Of course your first power tool is the KMG.

Steve

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Steve beat me to it.A kit is a great way to start.You can customize it a lot with only hand tools.Start up cost for kit making is only a couple of hundred dollars,max.You may already have everything you need.There are lots of nice kits in the supply catalogues like K&G,Alpha,Koval,Jantz,Texas,etc.Get a 2X72 before any other tool.While I love my Badder BIII,I would get a KMG if I could go back and do it over again.If you owned a HF combo grinding unit you could play around with it,but they are basicly worthless for any serious attempts at knifemaking.