hey guys, after grinding a few knife by hands i realized that i am probably going to need a knife grinder. lol after looking around these things are expensive and big part of it is because we import them from the US. Bee grinder is Canadian but its more like the (Cadilac) of knife grinder. and comes with a price tag attach to it for a reason because its great . so i was playing around with design to try and make my own and i think i came up with something that may not be to hard to fabricate. i wanted to make something that bolts together and did not need any wrench to adjust once assemble. i did not completely finish the design yet. still a pile of details to be done on it. I am wondering about if i should use a spring or a gas cylinder for the idler wheel and also what kind of pressure is to be applied on the belts i made the motor mount fit a 56H C face motor so it could fit a cheap Princess auto Motor 1.5HP on it. for the wheels i will probably get them from Ebay. One thing that is hard for me to design a grinder is that i have never actually used one and i am afraid to overlook something but there is always things to improve. anything you guys are seeing that may be better a different way let me know. once i'm finish designing it i will send the .DXF to a waterjet company to cut my parts then i will assemble it weld some piece and drill and tap it here myself Let me know What you think thanks
Looks nice but you asked for input so here's a few things, Your tracking wheel is to low it should be higher put your handle under it and move it up so then your belt will track more to the left. Go with at least two slots.One for your work rest and when for you flat platern . On you right side you have two set screws to hold your flat platern you only need one and I would have them on the left side. You have two rolls of 5 bolts over kill three will do. Now this is just my ideas. But I have put a few of them together . It's basically a TDM design with only one slot.
Thanks for the input very much appreciated. i will address that tracking wheel issue it makes sense. for the work rest i was going to make one like on a KMG that bolts under the arm i think it is simpler to make. any idea on what kind of force need to be applied on the belt from the tracking wheel ?
tracking wheel and belt tension is 30 pounds pressure. Here is a production idler http://conarubber.com/backStandIdlerMachines.htm Two bolts for locking the arm might run into uneven pressure problems and make the arm twist. If the arm slot is snug enough this will be less trouble but for ease of use one bolt is sufficient. It is not common to see but on my off brand there is a belt cover along the top and when in use it keeps debris from hitting me in the face. It is separate from the tensioner and mounted to the frame. A static discharge brush is a good thing to have right on the original design so users do not have to add one. Also a magnet under the belt at the rear pulley catches tons of metal from grinding operations. You could add in a sheet metal tab near the rear pulley for holding a magnet.
One bolt for locking the arm is definitely enough, imo. Especially if you're making the body to fit the arm. I used 1-1/2" and 2" steel tubing for my arm and body and only one bolt to lock it down. I barely have to turn it to snug it down. I'm not sure if you were planning on using a gas shock or a spring. But, I started with a gas shock (from an hatchback car) rated at about 30lbs. It worked fine in the summer but in the winter, it applied nowhere near the tension and the belt wandered all over the place. I switched to a spring and it's been fine in all temperatures. Maybe you're lucky and your shop is warmer than mine but it's worth a mention. Man, even your drawings are super clean. I think you put more effort into your design plan than i did making my first grinder in total : )
Work rest like a kmg is simple but for me and how I make knives it's not what I would have. But each is own. North ridge grinders makes one beautiful workrest that slides into the second slot.
Hi ET, Some suggestions. I can't see the dims, but NEMA 56C, 143TC and 145TC all have 5.875" diameter mounts for their faces so one size cover them all. Consideration must be given for up to a 6" drive wheel which works well on a 4 pole motor. As Kevin alluded to, I'd go with two or more receivers (ala Wilmont Little Buddy). You never know what kind of attachments can be dreamed up later on. ;-) I use the second receiver for the tool rest. But imagine a surface grinder attachment or lamp and magnifying lens. LOL For the spring, I'd suggest a mechanical spring over a gas spring as gas springs change force with temperature (what Todd said).More of a Canadian problem than in warmer parts of the world. If you can make arrangements for compression and tension and gas you'd be a God. Also, put all your lockers on the left side. The belt side gets so horribly dirty after a while. I'd considered a few designs like this. Instead using fancy machined plates for spacers, I was thinking off-the-shelf stand-offs or coupling nuts. Love to see how it comes together, Dan
I'm glad i shared my pictures lots of great idea got trown at it i will have to make a list and try to incorporate all these design change in Version 2. i went into it as keep it simple and easy to build but what the heck lets make a super grinder doesnt cost nothing to draw it anyways lol
Thanks Todd i had that thing drawn up in 3 to 4 hours its not so bad i go no more steel to grind so im working on that instead lol
Very nice design. The only thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned is adding some hinges so you can turn it horizontal but that is more of a preference and not necessary at all. I'm hoping to get a new grinder going for myself also. Mine is still fine but I would like a more permanent one. I still have little C-clamps holding my platen. lol
I just thought of something else. It's not on your drawing and I don't know if you're using a vfd or what you had planned for speed control but, i use a stepped pulley. It cost me $30 and it works very well. Good luck with the grinder. Can't wait to see what you do with it. (given your first knife i'm sure it'll work out great)
Sarted to make some of the changes yesterday. here is the main body with added tooling arm and i changed the motor to a baldor 2hp. now im going to redesing the tooling arm and tracking system i also spread out the spacing on the bolts holding the center spacer and i only used one adjustment knob per tooling arm and raised the motor center point you could install a 6" drive wheel if needed too.
looks good. Only, beside that maple leaf you need to put the model number. Something like the "Tremblay 2000" or something. The "Tremblay Supergrind", which sort of sounds more like a strange dance move you might do instead. The "Tremblay Metal Master 2000"... I dunno, i'm just spit balling ... (not very well either)
i like the maple leaf lol i try to fit "Make Canada Great again" under it but i fugured that phrase was already used to win a country over so i was afraid of being sued lol
Definitely, keep the leaf. Out of curiosity, are you going to have these pieces cut for you? Please don't tell me that on top of having top notch grinding skills, you also have a waterjet too? (i can only get so envious... )
i could only wish i had a waterjet i dont have much tools just couple basic stuff. im going to get the parts lazer cut and send out to me and then i will finish them here myself. i will get some parts powder coated there a guy who does it here in town
Cool. If you don't mind, can you let me/us know what that runs you? I'd be really curious about getting custom grinder parts made. Only if you don't mind sharing that info of course.
For sure i dont mind at all. I dont plan on building them and selling them for profit so i can give anyone the build plans to make it and the parts list i would be more then happy to do so
Thats looking very good . Looking forward on seeing you tracking arm onto it. There is already one grinder called the super grinder. That's what Terry calls is new 5 slot grinder.
