i have a 4 1/2 and a benchgrinder but there not so good for bladesmithing and i was wondering if ether of theses would be good for a start ( i cant get a high end one) ShopMaster 1" Belt / 8" Disc Sander

or 4" Belt and 6" Disc Sander

Backyardsmith,

Use whatever you can afford or is available. I bought a Delta with the 1 x 30" belt and 5" disk on it several years ago when I was assembling handles to pre-made knife blanks. Worked like a charm for shaping handles. Also these tools are great for regrinding hammer faces and cleaning up mushrooming on chisels, or even sharpening chisels, for that matter. Just watch the heat buildup.

The one you are interested in should work for a while. Be aware of availability of the belts, as the 30 inchers were hard for me to find local. You should not have that problem with the 42 inch length. I recommend Jantz supply for belts, they are reasonable, have quite a selection (including felt for polishing) and ship quickly. Check them out at Jantz Supply - Your source for knifemaking!
Beware of eBay powersellers for belts, as they may not sell as high quality belts as what is out there.

Also, hook it up to an old shop vac to pull the dust away, they create a lot of fine particle dust, especially with wood or composite materials.

Most of all, don't fret about what you don't have available, use what IS available.

Good idea on the shop vac KK, I'm always covered in muck after sanding, etc

Backyardsmith, I used one of those for about 10 years, till I wore it out, the platten is a little small and flimsy for flat-grinding so you may find you need to beef it up a bit or get a low friction ceramic glass platten liner from Refractory & High Temperature Tools - Ellis Custom Knifeworks But the number one secret is: Get good belts !!! Bargain abrasives are NOT a good deal !!! Cheap belts can make a good grinder go bad. I get my belts from Abrasive belts from many name brands from TruGrit.com

Hope this helps

Jens

thanks for the replys but witch one would be the better of the two

BYS , I was thinking of the 1 x42" grinder, its a bit more usable for knife making than the other. IMHO

Jens

That seems like a good deal on the 1 x 42 its got my vote.

Do U really need a grinder to make a knife ?

Lol Ron, NO but it does make the rough grinding a bit easier once you learn how to use it. Personally I still hand sand anything after 220grit.

Jens, understood, but do you need to remove stock to make a knife?

Seems one can be forged without stock removal, so Ron's point is well taken, I think.

I purchased a $400 belt sander from grizzly recently, and it is wonderful; however, you don't need to fork out a bunch of $$$ to make knives. My uncle bought me my first 4"X36" belt sander, and it worked great for starting out. Before that I left the blade rough after forging and just used a bench grinder to put an edge on it.

If you really want to make knives more than anything else, I would reccomend saving up for a good belt sander. If you just want to tinker with knives on the side, get a 4"X36" belt sander from your local hardware store along with finer sandpaper for getting a nice shine/edge on a blade.

Also see if you can hook up with knifemakers that live near you, and soak up all the advice you can get from them! :)

You can also forge, file, and hand sand. You won't screw up near as fast with a file compared to a belt, bench, or hand grinder.
I also use a grizzly and hand sand. Saving up for KMG, someday maybe.

i know that i could do it by hand but i rather have a belt grinder (too lazy todo it all by hand ):p

YOu can indeed forge a knife and do no sanding or grinding at all on it. History again in action. Or you can do a bit of both. Check out the works of Daniel Winkler...he grinds part and leaves part forged.. really a nice look. For me I like a clean,if not forged traditioanal look. Knives are a big part of what I do in the shop so I use a pricey belt grinder,,and every surface is finished even if I forge the blank,..to each his own.

I can't remember who started this topic. So, grin . I will add my 2-bits.

When I started making knives I did not have any equiptment. You can forge to shape and using a piece of angle(bedstead) iron, cutting the angle iron down one side till you have enough room to place a blade on the flat of the angle iron. Line(angle iron flat) it with a piece of skirting leather(heavy). Use a C clamp and fasten the angle iron down to the edge of your table or bench. Using a rough bastard file take all of your forge marks out. After establishing your flats on the side of your blade go to a finer file, working this down to what you would want before heat treating.

Fold some sand paper around a 1/4"X9" flat piece of steel and use 220 to get your file marks out. Heat treat then using finer grits take it to what ever you want. Making sure you establish your corners for your guard before you heat threat.

You will be suprised how fast you can work a blade up , using these methods.

Chuck

Backyardsmith,

The first 20 or so knives that I made I used a Rockwell 1 X 42 belt sander. Back in the 80s when I first started that was all that I could afford. I used an old washing machine motor to drive it and it did an adequate job.
I bought a Grizzly 2 X 72 grinder and the difference was like night and day. Grinding a blade that didn

Tim Lively -- Handmade knives since 1974



He surely doesn't use any power tools at all, and makes QUITE BEAUTIFUL blades.

Whether you remove stock is a personal decision. Many knives are forged and not ground, that gives a bit of what I call a traditional look with just the edge cleaned and sharpened.

Yes, you can forge a bevel on a knife, then just sharpen it. I've known people who make knives like that. The next few knives I make are gonna have forged bevels shined up with flapwheels.

to support the claim that you dont need a grinder to make a knife


I used a grinder to make putting an edge on that knife quicker, but otherwise all you need is a file, vise, sandpaper, and the tools to actually forge a knife. You can also try wrapping your handles with paracord/leather and epoxy, it makes for an easy knife and you get practice in forging/grinding knives.

I vassilate all the time between feeling like I need to use my 1x42 belt grinder and then feeling guilty when I do, like I'm not doing it "the traditional way". But then I remind myself that if I was able to ship this thing and a generator back to any culture that made weapons on a mass scale (Celts, Vikings, Romans, Greeks- possible exception: the Japanese) they'd probably think it was a gift from their gods... and then they'd burn me at the stake for being a witch or something, but still. This is a tool that would have been used. Production has always been about numbers. More widgets per day is better. Look at the historic evidence that sandstone grind wheels (some of them huge) were used for shaping all manner of tools and weapons.

I use what I feel will give the best end result. Most days that's hand filing and sandpaper because I don't ruin perfectly good blades using those tools (and I'm not good enough with the grinder for it to be really any faster or cheaper than files and papers). I usually save the grinder for polishing handles and such. I don't say our use of machines is not "traditional" but I will say they're not in keeping with the neo-tribal/primitive movement.

Edge sharpening is technically stock removal, just to stoke the flames of the "you don't have to remove stock" argument :P

wow i forgot about this post but i already bought the 1x42 grinder and i use it alot