Icebreakers

Hi everyone,
I just joined up after hearing about the website from another forum.

My name is Matt Wilson. I'm a paramedic in Nova Scotia and new-ish to knifemaking.

I have made four knives, stock removal, 5/32" O1 tool steel, using a drill press, files, a vice and a homemade tiny heat treat forge.

I'm working to improve and have been getting better. Currently i am working on repairing a kitchen knife which I ruined the scales on.

While I am at it, I'm looking for canadian resources on acquiring a 2x72 grinder. I'm considering building it, but want to know what my options are. Any input would be much appreciated

Cheers,
Matt

 

awesome Matt , glad you got my message !!
we like pics !!! good bad or fugly , makes us all better makers !! good guys here always willing to help out , so post away
as for 2 x 72 's in Canada they are very difficult to come by.............surprised a fabby techy guy hasn't stepped up and made some to sell here in Canada, the demand granted not as large as in the states but this questions comes up all the time and has for years and years........someone like Cal comes to mind !!! I'll give you a p.o. today !! just don't tell my wife she says 2 is plenty , pfffff , yahh so are purses and shoes........


Paramedic...cool Matt I was firehouse Lieutenant for 7 years, the experience is lifetime and irreplaceable, good on ya bud

 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I will do some looking for DIY grinder builds. Somewhere I got the bright idea to try to sketch up a design for a 2 wheel system like the Coote or Grizzly, despite their limitations, less wheels means less money out of my pocket (or that is the thought anyhow). Please chime in on your opinions on this idea...

Rob, I certainly love my job, and work closely with fire guys, as you would be familiar. Lots of respect from me to you. Yours would not have been an easy job. I love what I do and wouldn't give it up for the world.

To make things a little easier for picture posting I've quickly set up a blog to post at. It keeps the uploading easy and i don't have to worry about max pic sizes and such like that. Here is the link: wilsonknifeworks.blogspot.ca

 

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62944 / i hope this is ok to put this on from another forum .this is where i started to get most of my ideas for mine . but changed some things and used other types of metal.

 

Welcome aboard, This is a great place to be! I built my grinder using ideas from different pictures and videos I collected. If you can make metal stick together with either a welder, or by tapping and bolting.. then you can build a grinder. I was originally going to cut cost by using different things I had acquired for wheels, but that's the one thing I'd suggest ordering from a knife supplier,. a good contact wheel, drive wheel, and tracking wheel. I know it made all the difference in how my grinder turned out.

 

yes i agree with mark . when i made mine i had 3 long board wheels . got rid of the one wheel and got a proper tension wheel . also got a drive wheel made , but it was not snug to the shaft . had the machine company redo me another , works ok but still need to have tape on it to guide the belt ,I will be getting a proper drive wheel with a crown soon .also will get proper contact wheels in the future . cheaped out on wheels . not a good idea . had many head aches over the wheels not aligning the belt . take care and enjoy the ride , as I am also trying to .

 

that's great advice guys, and much appreciated.

I take forever to make a decision, and spend countless hours in research. I hope that annoying habit will prove useful during this project. Who knows, I may end up buying a ready to use one out of the box. There are so many options, it can be overwhelming.

It is frustrating however, at the disappointing options for Canadians. When reading about what other people have used for belt grinders, the harbor freight 1x30 comes up, admittedly not ideal. however, it is not available in canada. moving on to the delta 1x42. Also difficult to find in Canada. Craftsman 2x42....doesn't ship to Canada. Kalamazoo - for the price shipped to canada, i can build a 2x72.

I find it frustrating, and that is what started the idea of building my own grinder. I know those smaller ones aren't the gold standard, but i was interested in pursuing all my options.

The 2x42 is a size that interests me particularly, as the footprint in the shop would be much smaller and it seems it would stay useful after upgrading to the 2x72. I keep my eyes on kijiji, but i searched all of canada with virtually no useful results. Like I said above, I want to know all my options before I bite the bullet on a decision.

I know I haven't broken any new ground here, but if anyone has a bead on where to find some of these options in Canada I would welcome it.

Thanks for listening to me vent about this. (is it still listening if you have to read what I write?)

Cheers

 

Busy Bee tools sells a 1x30 and so does Lee Valley. Not ideal but decent enough for a low cost first grinder.