why disk grinder???

[Brock Cutlery]

once you get one you will want two, they are so cost effective and don't take up alot of room.

I know. I am sure one day you will be saying "see, I told you man"

 

[REK Knives]

I use my disc sander for flatening the backs of scales, but not much else (I don't do guards). And if I'm making a Ti backspacer or something, milling it flat to the correct thickness is MUCH quicker and more precise.

Regarding grinding, maybe the disc sander would work better but I just flat ground this to a 400 grit gator trizact on my hardened steel flat platen then switched to hand rubbing at 400 grit w/ no problem (this is only a 400 grit finish, I didn't take it farther), took about 20-30 min maybe total.

 

[kuraki]

I only do big tall blade bevels on my disc. Something that size generally isn't worth it. But on a bowie 2" tall at the heel and 10" or longer, it's a huge time saver.

 

[scott.livesey]

a disc sander/grinder is a good addition to any shop and inexpensive. if you already have a VFD, a 1/2hp 3 phase motor and 8" disc pad should be $150 or less. very useful for blades, handle and general wood working. a fancy tool rest is usually more than the motor and pad. 8" for some reason seems to be an industry standard and i have PSA discs from 24 grit to 1200 grit, AO, SiC, Zirc, and ceramic.

 

[REK Knives]

I only do big tall blade bevels on my disc. Something that size generally isn't worth it. But on a bowie 2" tall at the heel and 10" or longer, it's a huge time saver.

Ahhhh that makes sense now!! Thanks for clarifying John. =)

 

[Augus7us]

Valnut posted the video I was thinking of. I always thought that I needed one to get my bevels laser flat. I thought that until I asked Cashen what kind of disc grinder he uses and he replied "What's that?"...

I still plan on getting on to flaten my bevels like Nick does in the video above. That and I do not believe a 2x72 does a good job getting wood flat because the belts, at least in my experience, don't hug the platen and balloon out a little. That is not a big deal with steel but it does cause me issues with wood/micrata/etc. You don't get that with a flat disk. Again just my experience with it.

-Clint

 

[jwesthurl]

Has anyone used the 1 1/4 hp 12 inch disc sander from harbor freight? I know it’s not going to be a precision machine but is it worth $169? I’m thinking mainly for flattening stuff

 

[Mahoney]

Is the HF sander worth $169? Maybe? But for twice the money you could build a much better tool. Something variable speed with a platen 9" or less in diameter will pay back the extra cost over time. 12" diameter locks you in to buying 12" PSA disks. With 9" or less you can use standard abrasive sheets trimmed and glued on with feathering adhesive. Or you can buy PSA disks. That gives you a lot of choices in abrasive types, some at considerably lower cost than PSA disks.

 

[Randy3000]

I havent found rectangular sheets that are heavy duty like the psa disks i get.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Has anyone used the 1 1/4 hp 12 inch disc sander from harbor freight? I know it’s not going to be a precision machine but is it worth $169? I’m thinking mainly for flattening stuff

Yes … it is junk. Soft armature shaft, thin aluminum disc, lots of cast metal construction. It isn't good for more than being a door stop.

 

[Drew Riley]

Has anyone used the 1 1/4 hp 12 inch disc sander from harbor freight? I know it’s not going to be a precision machine but is it worth $169? I’m thinking mainly for flattening stuff

I wouldn't bother, considering it's a single direction, single speed machine. I also have serious doubts it's a 1.25hp motor.

Trugrit and Beaumont Metal Works both sell 9" disks for less than $100. You should be able to find a used 1hp motor for less than $100, so arguably, for about the same price, you could set up a fixed speed machine (albeit minus a table) that will be much higher quality.
Now, if you want to spend a little more, like Mahoney says, you can get a lot of machine for about $300.

$100 for a chinese VFD, just under $100 for a disc, $50 to $100 for a used 1hp 3 phase motor, and if you really need a table, they're easy enough to make.

 

[Drew Riley]

If you know anyone with a waterjet or plasma cutter, there was a forum member who had some free plans for a disk grinder mount/table that was pretty nice. I wanna say it was Kevin Powers?

 

[kuraki]

Yeah. If anyone needs the file I can share it. Ive made a few.