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Grizzly with 10" wheel or build my own?


KYBOY

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Well my birthday is next week :D and my better half has offered to buy me a grizzly and I think I can sneak in a 10" contact wheel too.Thats the price cap, period..Ive researched all over and I get reviews all over the board on the grizzly..Ive read that the 10" wheel and a good platten really help them..Any opinions on that?
Another thing. I could probably just order the 10" contact wheel, tracking wheel and drive wheel then build my own..Would building my own be that much of an improvement over the grizzly with a 10" wheel? What do you think? Ive been draw filing and laboring with a 2"x42" craftsman for a long time so keep in mind either would be a huge improvement for me..A KMG would be nice but is out of the question for now?

Edited by KYBOY
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i am gathering stuff to build a grinder also....i got a 12" but need a hub and berrings..that cost 167+ i could probably find someone to make one cheaper....then to the tensioning device...more bucks....then an idler...more bucks....motor....more bucks...i want to build one but it is starting to look like a pain in the butt....i ave played on some really nice grinders... i havent played on a grizley i wanna tho ...i get the same as you said some good some not as well...look at this....USAknifemakersupply.com
and look at this YouTube - No Weld Grinder Knife Grinder Walk Through Plans Built Tool

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For grinding knives a grizzly is only a starting point. It does have a couple of large problems. One of the biggest is too fast of belt speed for almost any knife grinding work. Mine has an 8" wheel and that is what I am using to be able to say that. If you change to a ten inch wheel that speed increases and will be more trouble. With an 8" contact wheel if yoiu wish to hollow grind the motor gets in you way for grinding one side of the blade. A Ten inch will help that but tere is the too fast belt speed problem again. If yiu flat grind blades and use an 8" contact it will get you by.
I hollow grind. I use the grizzly alot but not for that part of the blade, I do all profiling after the band saw on it and almost any other shop grinding also. A variable speed grinder, either by that kind of motor or by changing belts will give you alot more options. And take a lot more money. If you can find someone that will demo a Grizzley or any kind of belt grinder in you area and that will help you see wot they do.

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I got my Grizzly with a 10" and an 8" wheel and a bunch of new belts for $300 on Craigslist.

It needs a ceramic platten in a bad way. The factory platten ain't much. Darren Ellis sells plattens that will fit.

That said... if I was going to spring for a new list-price Grizzly and an extra wheel, I would save up a couple more bucks and go with a Coote. You have to supply the motor, but you get a simple, yet quality grinder. It's not nearly as versitile as a tricked-out KMG, but it's not nearly as expensive.

My $.02

Don

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I have a grizzly and overall am satisfied. The biggest drawback is no speed control. I used Jose Gomez' Bader 3 and really liked the ability to slow it way down. There is no way to slow down a Grizzly. Beside that it tracks nice and has plenty of power. When it can be afforded I will replace it with a Bader3 but that is far off.

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To summarize, what you decide to do depends on what you wish to spend, what degree of control in the knife-grinder you plan on needing, how much time you are willing to spend on building a sander-grinder, and whether you will eventually need to upgrade to a better sander-grinder with more features and control.

Personally, I wasted more money trying to unsuccessfully copy a Rube Goldberg type sander-grinder that another smith brought to a demonstration than I would have spent simply purchasing a professionally made sander-grinder. This is the sort of thing that could end up slowly bleeding money out of you over time, if you are not careful.

If you are not sure how serious you are about knifemaking, then purchasing an inexpensive machine and later upgrading when and if you become super concerned about knife-finishing options is a possibility. But going that path could be more expensive than investing the time and/or money in the super sander/grinder to start with.

If you want to have the options to add different wheels, have different speeds, and other attachments but have a limited budget, then perhaps investing your time in making the no-weld grinder is your best bet.

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Knife making is only part of what we do. It would be nice to spring for a KMG up front but being close to christmas, my birthday next week, my wifes next month, vehicle taxs this month and needing new tires before winter etc,etc.....Ill need to spend in my budget and upgrade with money made from current projects.

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Hello:

Ummmm since when is belt speed a problem when you are grinding blades?? I have Frankengrinder moving at about 7000+ SFM on a 14" serrated wheel and it eats steel like a termite in a 2x4...

I love that 14" wheel and I will say that you should get the largest diameter wheel you can for edge bevel grinding and run with it..

JPH

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Rich:

On grips..yeah I can see it being a good thing but for those I have two other grinders that are dedicated to grips only...the belts move much slower..3000 sfm... For blades though I have found that the faster the belt moves, the smoother and cleaner it cuts...of course the down side is it is a lot easier to mess up a blade...so you take your chances...it's all practise ....

JPH

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Well I ordered the Coote with a 10" wheel because I already had a good motor. Looks to be a much better overall made grinder. The way I figured it my motor with a 2" drive pulley and a 4" grinder pulley will do about 1725 RPM's..Ill pick up a 1725rpm motor at the flea market whenever I run across one..Im looking forward to geting it. Sent the money order out yesterday :p

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KYB:

10" diameter is a nice size wheel...I perosnally think that 8 to 10" is a good size for most folks starting out...not too bid like a 14" or too small like a 6"..right in the middle...and for most operations..it will do a god job on most blade designs...

I do love that 14" whell though..the grins is clean ande crisp and look almost like a flat grind...I can grind out a sword in like 20 minutes..of course that is from a forging if it was a straight old bar..probaly would take a bit longer...

What HP is the motor you have?? I stall out anything under a 3 HP Frankengrinder uses a 5 HP...3450 rpm...

JPH

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