Which Grinder

Geoff Wood · Aug 9, 2000

I am an amateur living in England. Iuse a home made grinder & mainly complete bought in blades. I am going to invest in a new grinder which means importing from USA. I do not want to make a big mistake. So what do I go for. I am thinking of a BADER BM3 1,5 variable. I can not see any demos so I am relying on some friendly advice from more experienced guys.

L6steel · Aug 9, 2000

Stick with the big three and you can't go wrong. I have a Wilton square wheel and it's never given me any trouble for 5 years. It's also the lower costing of the three, Wilton, Bader, and Burr King. You can also get a variable speed Wilton together cheaper than the others by buying the single speed from Jantz for $895 and then a variable speed kit from K&G for $535. That'll save you a couple hundred dollars and you'll have a spare motor to make something out of.
Heres the contact info for Jantz and K&G:
Jantz- 18003518900
K&G-18009721192

Isn't the power in England a different cycle than here in the U.S. ? You might want to ask them about that too. Hope you find what you're looking for Geoff! Take care!! Michael

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Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!

Fox · Aug 9, 2000

Geoff - I have a BM III and have never regretted the money spent for it. Over a period of time I purchased a number of the small contact wheels which make the grinder incredibly flexible for all types of grinding. I would recommend getting it with a 10" contact wheel. They normally come with an 8" wheel but the 10" is more versatile and widely used for hollow grinds. I went with the variable speed 2 H.P. because I never wanted to be short on power. The Bader and motor were recommended by Bob Engnath. I bought directly from the Bader company and got a great price. The guys at Bader will answer any questions you have and treat you right. You can reach them at:

Stephen Bader & Co., Inc. P.O. Box 297 Valley Falls, NY 12185 Phone: 518-753-4456 Fax: 518-753-4962

Fox

tom mayo · Aug 9, 2000

I think in terms of price....they are in ascending order......Wilton, Bader, Burr King, Hard Core.....and from what I can see, the most expensive one is the best...the least expensive one is the least best....but they all work just fine. get a variable speed!!

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http://www.mayoknives.com

C L Wilkins · Aug 9, 2000

I wholeheatedly agree with Tom. One thing to be sure of though is as L6Steel mentioned, ask if it will run off of 50 Hz. The variable speed motors are DC but be sure and ask if the controllers can run on 240V 50Hz. It may be as simple as to get a simple transformer. That's what we did on some appliances when I was in the Navy and stationed in Scotland.

Craig

Geoff Wood · Aug 10, 2000

Thanks for the help, I will be sure to check on the power requirements before I move. Any further replys / advice will be welcome.

L6steel · Aug 10, 2000

I've never used anything but the Wilton. Whats better about the others??

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Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!

magnum .44 · Aug 10, 2000

mike, they're quieter, so i've heard. mines pretty fancy, and it's quiet. i can listen to the ratio, and don't need ear plugs, and i don't get any ringing in my ears. i heard that since the hardcore is machined it's very quiet.

C L Wilkins · Aug 10, 2000

L6,
I have a Hard-Core and it is extremely smooth (and quiet). There in no lateral movement or vibration whatsoever. I have ABSOLUTELY no tracking problems, regardless of what belt I put on it.

I am partial to the design of the Hard-Core and Burr-King. The belts are driven by the contact wheel, not by a separate drive wheel that necessitates the use of a third idler wheel which will lend itself, in my opinion, to more tracking problems than a machine with only two wheels.

If the flat platen assembly will be used with the Hard-Core, then a third wheel is in the picture but even then, I haven't experienced any tracking problems.