Wilmont Cooper -1 at the blade show?

S

setlab

Joined
Apr 11, 2012
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I was skimming over Wilmont's web site looking at their 5 tool arm grinder, and the more I look at it the more I really like it. Their web site says it will be/ was at the Blade show a couple days ago. Is there any videos of it up yet or more detailed specs out? Or is this grinder still vapor ware?
 
It was there and I think it is a bit disrespectful to ask this question the way you did. Give them a call!
 
David66 said:
It was there and I think it is a bit disrespectful to ask this question the way you did. Give them a call!
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Disrespectfull? I think you are confuseing disrespectfull with inquisitive, I'll leave it at that as to not derail this topic. I'm asking a question about a product that was mentioned to be at the blade show, I'm simply asking if there is any more pictures of if or any other info ie priceing, future availability or maybe even an opinion or two from some of you that saw it at the show if it was there.
 
Give him a call and ask away. From what I have heard about him he is a great guy with a very nice product.
 
shotgunner said:
The -1 is the reason for the comments about disrespectful...
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That's what they named the grinder that he is asking about...

http://www.wilmontgrinders.com/pages/products.aspx

As far as being "disrespectful", I presume David may have taken the term "vaporware" to be a cheap shot or an offensive term, but it's actually a legitimate term that originated in the computer industry for a product that's been announced, but not necessarily ready for release.
 
LOL at everyone calling him disrespectful without even knowing the name of the grinder he is talking about. Jumping the gun there
 
knife to a gunfight said:
That's what they named the grinder that he is asking about...

http://www.wilmontgrinders.com/pages/products.aspx

As far as being "disrespectful", I presume David may have taken the term "vaporware" to be a cheap shot or an offensive term, but it's actually a legitimate term that originated in the computer industry for a product that's been announced, but not necessarily ready for release.
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Yep, that summed it up pretty well.

As opposed to calling the manufacturer, I like to get the collectives opinion and do some research on that before I make decisions on bigger purchases. For instance on the Cooper-1 when set up with multiple contact wheels (from the couple pictures on their web site) there is an additional roller that contacts the abrasive outside of the belt. To me this is a really neat and innovative feature but one that could possibly wear down a lot of rollers fairly fast and personally that could make or break this option for me. So I look to the knife making community for un biased opinions, plus it gives Wilmont more public eye and if it were my business I would want topics like this to dispel concerns and give me better ideas to further improve my design.

I'll probably make a similar topic here in a few months when I get ready to buy a new heat treat oven and have several different models narrowed down.
 
Using a rubber contact wheel against the abrasives doesn't seem like a bad idea. If anything will stand up to the abuse of the abrasives, i would assume it would be rubber. My only concern, is the hot metal particles in the belt grit, but that wheel might serve double duty and keep the belt a little cleaner....
 
All Wilmont grinders at the Blade show were of extremely high quality. The 5 slot is a monster as you can see by the pictures on the website (compared to KMG).

There are a number of makers I associate with that have used the contact wheel to pull the belt closer to the small wheel attachment (can then work on deep areas such as a sub-hilt); usually even rubber wears pretty quickly. Chris is using a proprietary material on his wheel which seems to minimize wear. They also have an extra attachment that can be added to the work-rest that allow two separate work areas when in the horizontal mode. Overall IMHO quality on par with Travis' grinder, and Chris is willing to work with his customers to develop new features.
 
At the blade show Wilmont had the 3 arm grinder and the little buddy there. They seemed to be concentrating on how you can make the 3 post grinder a vertical or horizontal grinder. There was no mention to me of the 5 slot grinder when I was talking to the sales person.

To be honest I was a little off put by how confrontational the guy working the booth was acting when I told him I purchased a GIB. I told him that when I tried to inquire about the Wilmont grinders I tried to call the number...I got no response...E-mailed...No Response. The guy at the booth kept saying how the GIB was a stolen design and that Polar Bear has no right to sell it....even though they have the prints for the EERF grinder right there on their website. If Wilmont Grinders would have updated their site, keep their stuff in stock, or even called back about their products...They would probably got quite a bit of business from me.

The stuff they had at the blade show seemed solid. I have just had a couple of REALLY bad experiences with the company / sales person at blade.

Jamie at Polar Bear Forge was nothing but upstanding! He e-mailed me back promptly and sent my order out in a day. Jamie also gave me many good pointers that helped with my build of the GIB. From my experience I would buy many more times from Polar Bear Forge!

I have heard many good things about Wilmont and that is why I was originally looking at them. I am not trying to be disrespectful but, I thought I would share MY EXPERIENCE with the company and at the Wilmont Grinder booth at Blade.
 
That seems surprising that sales rep there acted anything but professional, and the lack of communication is a bit disheartening for a potential buyer should I find myself in need of grinder repairs or what not. I don't know much about how the GIB came to be but the first time I saw a picture of it I immediately though it looked nearly identical to the Bador grinder.

I would like to hear more about their outside contact wheels though and how long I could expect one to last. And with the abrasive belts running with more surface area and more bends in their travel (thinking with running two contact wheels) is there a measurable difference in belt life when using good belts? I think I've seen Wilmont post here before; maybe he can give some insight here too.
 
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setlab said:
That seems surprising that sales rep there acted anything but professional, and the lack of communication is a bit disheartening for a potential buyer should I find myself in need of grinder repairs or what not.

I don't know much about how the GIB came to be but the first time I saw a picture of it I immediately though it looked nearly identical to the Bador grinder.

I would like to hear more about their outside contact wheels though and how long I could expect one to last. And with the abrasive belts running with more surface area and more bends in their travel (thinking with running two contact wheels) is there a measurable difference in belt life when using good belts? I think I've seen Wilmont post here before; maybe he can give some insight here too.
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It sure does look like a Bader

It's interesting that anyone would talk about a stolen design, because it's already a Bader remade to suit laser cut plate instead of castings.
This fellow started it off, but was unable to deliver on orders and it really blew up on him.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/675343-2-quot-x-72-quot-Belt-Grinder-kit-369-99


Then others started to release the design.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/724484-New-EERF-Grinder-Finished
 
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I don't know about this "sales person" stuff, but I spoke with Chris Williams at length about GIBs(I use a heavily modified one), and the whole scenario, at the NC custom knifemaker's meeting, and he was not only totally respectful, and professional, but he also had nothing but good things to say about Jamie at Polar Bear Forge.

He didnt even remotely claim that the EERF was stolen to make the GIB, he said in fact that there had been amicable dialogue between themselves and agreement.

He acknowledged the obvious design limitations of thr eerf/gib that I pointed out and was open to discussing ways to alleviate them, and helped me make decisions on changes to my gib.

He is frankly one of the nicest and most open knife and tool makers I've ever met, and seemed to treat everyone with the same courtesy and respect so I have no clue what all this is about.

He's also returned all my calls and emails, even though he knows all I'm not likely to buy another grinder ever again when I can build one fron scratch.
 
javand said:
I don't know about this "sales person" stuff, but I spoke with Chris Williams at length about GIBs(I use a heavily modified one), and the whole scenario, at the NC custom knifemaker's meeting, and he was not only totally respectful, and professional, but he also had nothing but good things to say about Jamie at Polar Bear Forge.

He didnt even remotely claim that the EERF was stolen to make the GIB, he said in fact that there had been amicable dialogue between themselves and agreement.

He acknowledged the obvious design limitations of thr eerf/gib that I pointed out and was open to discussing ways to alleviate them, and helped me make decisions on changes to my gib.

He is frankly one of the nicest and most open knife and tool makers I've ever met, and seemed to treat everyone with the same courtesy and respect so I have no clue what all this is about.

He's also returned all my calls and emails, even though he knows all I'm not likely to buy another grinder ever again when I can build one fron scratch.
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I wasn't at BLADE, so I can't comment to anything in that regard.

When Chris first drew his version of the EERF grinder, we emailled a lot. Some of it's changes came from what is now the GIB, and some of the features in the GIB came from him during our emails. They are a little different, but the similarity is obvious. It was a good conversation and there was an agreement about me selling the kits.

During the entire conversation, he was always helpful and courteous. I've witnessed his aid to others on a number of forums.

I have to agree with javand, I have no clue what this is all about.

Jamie
 
nse. The guy at the booth kept saying how the GIB was a stolen design and that Polar Bear has no right to sell it....even t
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Chris Williams here from Wilmont grinders. The EERF grinder was a community effort and build that happened right here at Bladeforums awhile back.
Jamie at Polar bear forge is a friend and even helped in that effort and had very good ideas that made the grinder much better IMO.
Jamie asked my permission and of course received it to sell the GIB (Grinder in a box).
I love my grinder in a box, picture of it below.
If anyone is considering getting a GIB, you will not regret working with Jamie nor polar bear forge.
I have talked many friends into purchasing this design and then help them to make it the best grinder they can.
I hope this clears up this matter.
CW
GIB4.jpg
 
Good on you both Jamie and Chris, both for your work and postings to this thread! Can't get any clearer than that.

Now, what about the OP re info about Copper -1 (if I got the model name right?)? :)
 
I was skimming over Wilmont's web site looking at their 5 tool arm grinder, and the more I look at it the more I really like it. Their web site says it will be/ was at the Blade show a couple days ago. Is there any videos of it up yet or more detailed specs out? Or is this grinder still vapor ware?
Click to expand...

The five arm grinder at this time is just a science project, I do some cool stuff with it but am attempting to take grinding to a whole new level. I am reworking the tracking on this grinder and still do not quite have it where I would like it yet. I had it at the show but it was on the back table and not many saw it. The cooper is just a nickname for it at this time. It is not available for purchase and probably will not be for quite some time.
fag1.jpg
 
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