Sargos Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I will have the chance to have one of the benchtop models purchased for me by my employer. (I will be merely sharpening mild steel blades for a ride on floor removal machine with it for my employer) I will have full use of this machine while I am not at work.... my biggest question is ... is there a better machine in the $2,500 range I should be aware of? Will this be suitable for finish work for a smallish home forge? Looking for some feedback from people that have had good or bad experiences with this product. Thanks for your time. Sargos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Bader was what the swordmaker I worked under used for US$13000 swords. You might like a different kind, back then Burr King and Square Wheel were other "professional" belt grinder manufacturers. I haven't kept up with what was available after I got my Bader with a 10" contact wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sargos Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Thank you for the info ThomasPowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 One other consideration--how much do all those nice extra fixtures cost in addition to the basic machine? If it's stuff you believe you will need to add later (rather than fab yourself), you should at least look into that pricing too. Sometimes those little adders can run up the effective cost of one machine brand over another--"extras" are sometimes where the money is actually made on machine tools. One gross example is on CNC machining centers--on one brand, it's cheap to upgrade to something like rigid tapping and on another, it will cost you thousands. In both cases, the machine is already built to have that function and the cost is for the maker to allow/switch-on that upgrade in the firmware. IIRC, Mazak used to charge about $ 10K just to flip that "switch" for you, a 2 minute job. Just an example of the need to consider more than just the base machine price when comparing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 If you're talking about planer blades you want a surface grinder, NOT a belt or wheel grinder. The downside of course is they aren't a lot of good for general grinding say knife making but they will do a proper job of sharpening planer blades. Oh sure the right kind of surface grinder can do an enormous number of grinding operations but you're talking special clamps, vises, etc. I've seen 2nd. hand planer blade sharpeners for sale in the $100-300 range but I haven't looked in years. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sargos Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 We have tried several planer blade sharpeners... the real trouble is we aren't using them on a planer, there isn't really a specific use blade for this... but that is the only type of blade available from the manufacture. We have 40 or so planer blades that don't last much more than ten minutes. The surface grinder we already own isn't adequate to remove the back bevel and resharpen them in a timely manner. The surface grinder is perhaps under powered for our needs and we need to look into upgrading there instead. We have the option of sending them into a professional sharpening service but his prices to sharpen them rival purchasing new blades. Which brings in the slow shipping times getting the blades from Florida.... The Bader option was, in part, my employers attempt at sponsoring my hobby... but if it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense. @Kozzy That is a very good point as well, when I discussed pricing with them over the phone I believe that price was with all the extras and they could bring down the price if we didn't want them. Thank you for the input guys, Sargos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiack Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I recently got to try one of the Outlaw grinders and it would be well worth your consideration. I have not used a Bader but have used a KMG, Squarewheel, Coote, as well as several others and I really thing the Outlaw was the best for the bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I love my Bader B3. read through this section and you will see many people have them and love them, tooling is very fast to change so no interruptions to the work/thought process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdaleh Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 My Bader B3 has been running fine for 15 years plus . They are very easy to change from small wheel, flat platen, or large wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sargos Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Thanks for the continued feedback, as a few days have passed... it seems my employer has more than a passing interest in forging as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfall Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Northridge Tool 2x72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santisandreas Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Hello everyone, I am in the market for replacing my grinder as well so I was reading posts on the forum about different models. I quite liked the bader when I saw it on their website but the problem is that it will have to be shipped from the states to Cyprus which makes it not worth it. Can you suggest a good belt grinder in Europe? is there a dealer of bader in the EU? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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