KMG grinder

[wassomeoneelse]

Just had to post my KMG that I have a had for a few weeks. Felt like I took two steps back for every step forward that I took be it running 220 to my garage, paying for all the dang electric wire, or trying to properly hook up the VFD to the motor and getting it to work. And the sad thing is it was my own fault lol. I learned a lot from running two 220 lines to my garage, wiring the motor, installing an electrical box, installing additional lighting in the garage, wiring the VFD to the motor, and installing outlets. The most horrible thing I did was drill right into the main 6/3 romex wire with my drill while drilling two holes for the 10/3 romex that was running from the box to my two outlets. No wonder only one side of the plugin was reading 110. I redid it and it all works now. I want to thank everyone on this forum who has contributed by telephone or by responding to my posts over the last year.
I can honestly say that at times it was very frustrating but in the end it is all worth having a good grinder to work with. The only thing left to do is to install a bracket to mount the VFD to and to build a rolling table to put the grinder on. :)

[Graham Fredeen]

Congratulations on the new KMG!

I bought myself a KMG around the beginning of summer and I can tell you that you wont be dissapointed. The KMG is one of the best grinders out there and worth the money for sure. It takes some getting used to, especially if you are used to a different type of grinder, but once you get the hang of it, it makes things go super smooth (I am refering to grinding blades of course which takes some practice, otherwise there isnt much of a learning curve if you are using the KMG to grind something else, just walk up and use it ).

I wasnt able to go with the VFD due to available funds, but the step pulleys work sufficiently for me. VFD will only make things better and is on a list of upgrades to be made down the road for me .

Anyway, congratulations again, bet you cant wait to go turn some metal into dust . And glad you got all your wiring and electrical figured out and done.

[David Einhorn]

I built a stand that works well for quick changing the speed for 9 speeds on my KMG grinder. Just lift the motor and move the V-belt. There is a 3/4 inch bolt serving as the pivot in the back, and two springs in the front that reduce the amount of weight on the pulley belt. I sort of imitated the arrangement inside an old Rockwell 20" band-saw I have, and added some modifications of a motor mount arrangement shown in a book by Fine Woodworking Magazine. The multiple holes for the pivot points was recommended by Fine Woodworking Magazine, and was a good idea as it allowed me to find the pivot point that worked best with the rest of the parts. A piece of 3/4" pipe pivots on the bolt, and extra holes on the motor mount and stand allow for adjusting the position of the motor, as well as adding springs and stuff to adjust the tension on the belt.

You will also notice the magnetic motor switch at hand level, the bottom shelf for parts, less clutter next to the sander, and a wheel arrangement that allows easy movement of the stand.

So far, I am happy with the results.

Edited October 31, 2008 by UnicornForge

[Sam Salvati]

Nice setup Unicorn, great work.

wassomeoneelse, CONGRATS and welcome to the club!

[David Einhorn]

Thank you for the complement. I am sharing the setup in the hope that others may be able to save some money while having an easy way to change speeds on their sander-grinder. I would be interested in how others may have solved the problem of changing speeds without investing in a VFD device. I have found myself spending too much time over the years figuring out how to make tooling in order to keep blacksmithing affordable.

[Sam Salvati]

Here is how I solved that problem, similar to yours.

Also included a close up shot of the hammers, anvils, tongs and stars paint job:D.

Edited November 3, 2008 by ApprenticeMan

[David Einhorn]

Very interesting, thank you for posting photographs.

[wassomeoneelse]

Nice to see the photos of how you both solved the problem of mounting it. I bought a base plate for the KMG and mounted the motor right to it. So the motor is flush with the grinder itself. Plenty of room to work around for right now. I will have to post some pics of it.