What good is a 14 inch contact wheel? What do they do well? Why buy one?

LARRYZ10

LARRYZ10

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Feb 6, 2010
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What can one use a 14 inch contact wheel for? They are expensive for one thing so they must be useful for something...right? Who would be stupid enough to buy one? ME. I just bought a 14inch for a KMG grinder from Rob at Beaumont metal. I wasn't drinking and I don't know why I did it but I had all the other sizes except the 12 inch and figured I MUST need this thing of beauty. It is painted red just the wheels on my 1958 Flex Flyer. Seriously, would some of you guys please tell me that the wheel is very useful and is a must have accessory and does something really well. By the way , I just saw the tool table for disc sanders with a 56 C mount motor that Beaumont is selling at USA knifemakers. I know I need that and will order one this week. Thanks for any ideas or direction. Larry Lehman, Bakersfield, CA
 
Hogging out profiles seems easier on the larger the wheel......but the main use of a 14" wheel is hollow grinding larger blades. The wheel diameter determines how high a hollow grind will go. Bigger wheels mean higher grind lines.
Here is a calculator to determine how high a grind will be:
http://bimjo.com/free/widget.html
 
Yeah the Beaumont wheel in particular seems designed for hollow grinding. It's not super hard nor serrated. I'd be careful using it for profiling if you intend to use it for hollow grinding, because of the hardness, seems easy to dish out any spot you overly use. It leaves an excellent finish when hollowing though.

If I wanted a big wheel for hogging i'd have a high durometer serrated wheel made personally.
 
The bigger the wheel the more subtle the hollow grind can be.
 
I really like a 14" wheel. The shallower the hollow grind the better, normally. It approaches a flat grind more in terms of geometry, a thin edge with a fairly stout midsection and a tall grind can be performed with the relative comfort and ease of grinding on a wheel as opposed to a platen.

I've used 14" non-serrated and liked it, Ken Onion's Dozier grinder was set up that way, all I have now is a 12" serrated but I'd love to have both.
 
The first maker that taught me to grind used a 14" wheel.... he would "flat grind" the bevels by holding the blade against the wheel and run it from ricasso to the tip. It's almost a flat grind then he'd follow up with a hollow grind on a 10" or whatever depending on blade height. He would use this same technique with the 14" to establish the outlines of his his plunge cut, he used these big sweeping plunges and the 14" wheel would give him a sweeping line to follow. I dunno, it's how he ground blades, he had some weird grinder I've only seen one other in a picture besides his. Looked a lot like a fixed arm Bader 3 if I had to describe it.
 
I want to thank everyone for their comments. I have not used this wheel yet as I have 4 custom orders to fill but I am looking forward to grinding something with it. I do appreciate your thoughts about making tall hollow grinds. They are my favorite type so this wheel will be fun for me. If any one has any further suggestions for the wheel I would welcome them. Thanks, Larry Lehman Bakersfield, CA
 
Larry, You,re going to love the 14" wheel. I,ve used mine for several years and wouldn't think of going back to flat grinds only. Please check out my gallery at brucebumpknives.com you,ll see nearly all the knives are big wheel hollow ground. It doesn't need to be a big blade either, check out the 3 and 4" slip joint blades. Yep hollow ground on the big wheel.
 
I hollow grind slip joint blades on a 14". Would go larger but can't do with KMG or BIII.
Might look hard at a 20" Burr King one day down the road. Tony sure likes his!
 
I grind the majority of my knives on a 14" wheel.

It takes a little while to get used to if you are accustomed to using smaller wheels.
 
Would you go right to a 14" wheel, or should a maker start with a 10" or 8"? Is there a place for all three or is there one you would recommend if you had to just have one?
 
My $.02:

If your use for a single contact wheel will be just for hollow grinds, I think it's fine to start with the 14 and have only that. Definitely better than only having an 8" for hollows. If you are learning to hollow grind on a big wheel, it may take a little longer to develop the feel for it- locking into a shallower hollow is more subtle.

If you want to shape handles as well with your one contact wheel, I think an 8" is quite good. That's what I shape handles with. An 8" forms fairly deep hollows on blades, and is less versatile than the two larger wheels. You can feather out an effectively larger hollow with an 8", with practice.

If you will be doing a lot of hollow grinds on several widths of blade, but also a lot of handle shaping, a 10" may be best. I think the 8" works better for me when shaping palm swell into a grip, forming a bit deeper of contours, but a 10" is still OK in this regard.
 
Bruce, I looked at your website and am very impressed by your talent. I was a black powder shooter for many years in the 1980"s. I grind full tang knives almost exclusively and I love the hollow grind. I make only "one of a kind knives" an hope to design some new knives for the 14 inch wheel. Thank you for your input. Larry
 
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