will this work for now?

V

vermont88993

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Jul 21, 2010
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At the moment i am looking for a belt sander and a grinder and noticed this on the sears website and thought it looked pretty good for my purposes and since im only 15 im not making much money per year :grumpy:.... so is this "OK" for a beginners belt grinder/ sander. i already have a angle grinder, vice, drill, and most other tools used for a mechanic and household stuff.
I'm looking at getting a belt sander, bench grinder, drill press, and bandsaw soon (at least by spring)

here is the grinder:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00980778000P?prdNo=22&blockNo=22&blockType=G22
 
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I would look at the 2x42 grinder sears sells. It's a bit more and has a disk grinder on the side rather than the wheel, but it works decently. Just make sure to get a glass platen for it. I got mine from usaknifemaker.com
I don't know how many belts are available for that one, but 2x42 is not too bad. I get the belts I need through Tru-grit and they have a decent variety available.

The two power tools I use most are the belt grinder and drill press. I use my regular drill with a small/mid sized buffing wheel for light buffing and my dremel for some stuff but neither could really replace the first two tools. I use an angle grinder for cutting the steel to length and such, but not much in the way of shaping, it still doesn't look anything like a knife when I switch to the belt.
 
vermont88993 said:
At the moment i am looking for a belt sander and a grinder and noticed this on the sears website and thought it looked pretty good for my purposes and since im only 15 im not making much money per year :grumpy:.... so is this "OK" for a beginners belt grinder/ sander. i already have a angle grinder, vice, drill, and most other tools used for a mechanic and household stuff.
I'm looking at getting a belt sander, bench grinder, drill press, and bandsaw soon (at least by spring)
Click to expand...



  1. I agree the 2x42 will work better
    (and my take on the rest of your list considering low funds)
  2. Get the drill press first.
  3. Skip the bench grinder altogether.
    (try a nice hand finished satin before buffing)
  4. Wait on the bandsaw and get a GOOD hacksaw and blades,
    (one blade at a time a hacksaw till do a lot of cutting especially on thin blade stock)

consider building your own 2x72 grinder,
(see these plans links at the bottom and get your metal shop teacher involved..)


Grinder / Tools

Hand Tools
You can do it all by hand with files and abrasive paper.
The Green Pete video does it this way.

Photo of a nice bevel filing jig .
http://www.flemingknives.com/imagesPrime/FileStation/KPicB007.jpg


Entry Level Grinders
Many makers start with the Sears Craftsman 2x42 belt grinder.



DIY 2 x 72” belt grinders

KMG Clone
Free Plans
http://www.dfoggknives.com/PDF/GrinderPlans.pdf

NWG No Weld Grinder
http://www.usaknifemaker.com/plans-for-the-no-weld-grinder-sander-nearly-50-pages-p-723.html

EERF Grinder (EERF =“Free” backwards)
Free plans
http://wilmontgrinders.com/EERFGrinder.aspx
http://blindhogg.com/blueprints.html

Buy the kit
http://polarbearforge.com/grinder_kit.html
 
Of the 7 knives I have made all but 2 were made mainly by hand tools. I cut out most of them with a hacksaw profiled and beveled them with files and finished them by hand with sheets of sandpaper. I spent some money on a 30x1 belt sander and it didn't do much to help because I still needed to go back over them with the file to get the bevels true. I just ordered the polar bear forge grinder kit. I say save the money and wait till you can afford a 2x?? And cut your teeth with hand tools. I found it has really helped me learn some of the finer points of making, soon I will find out if it transfers over to a real grinder
 
I got the sears 2" grinder two years ago for about $130. I've made about 40 knives on it using belts from trugrit.com and inductrial abrasives.com. It's a fast grinder with a small motor, so you develop a light touch as you learn. I cut away a portion of the upper wheel guard so I could use that wheel as a contact wheel and I epoxied a 2" x 6" piece of granet tile with radiused edges to the platten. This is obviously not a bader or a KMG, but it is a good starter machine at a reasonable price.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction.

Dick
 
Start with the Sears Craftsman 2x42, its running around $120-140. Its the best bang for your buck in your price range. I've used it to make small blades and springs for slipjoints to making 8 1/2" fixed knives.

Theres also a decent selection of belts for it. Tru-grit has plenty of 2x42 belts. The grinder will also run 1x42 belts.

It does run fast, it takes some getting used to. This can be converted to a 2x72 machine, Im planning on coverting it within the next few months. Got to get some knives sold first!
 
thank you for your responses!... i am prob. going to get a sears 2X42 type sander. i made a knife yesterday out of a file and the blade was supposed to be double the width but with the angle grinder i ended up taking off too much metal.... so its more like a thick bladed trout knife with a rounded tip.

The Knife i made yesterday:
imga0488.jpg
 
How did you remove material? From the right side so the arc still helped keep things stiff? I've been thinking about taking a chunk out of it for a bit but I keep worrying about creating a tracking issue. It'd be great to have that smaller wheel available.

rasret01 said:
I got the sears 2" grinder two years ago for about $130. I've made about 40 knives on it using belts from trugrit.com and inductrial abrasives.com. It's a fast grinder with a small motor, so you develop a light touch as you learn. I cut away a portion of the upper wheel guard so I could use that wheel as a contact wheel and I epoxied a 2" x 6" piece of granet tile with radiused edges to the platten. This is obviously not a bader or a KMG, but it is a good starter machine at a reasonable price.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction.

Dick
Click to expand...
 
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