Hi guys, Im new in the game, and have never made a steel knife so far. Im thinking I may make 5 or 6 knives a year. Looking at the price of the 2x72 grinders seems a little high for me, Or even the time to build one myself may be a over kill. I looked at the 2x36 Princess Auto grinders, but hear the belts are hard to come by, I may only need a few belts. Is there another option for a grinder to make a knife once in a while?
I have heard many people use a 2x42 before. I know there's a craftsmen model, a jet and a palmgren (never heard of this one before finding it on amazon). They should run only 3 or 4 hundred I think and the belts aren't that hard to find. I've not used one before but i have read about a lot of mods available for them and many people seem to use them extensively.
Also, i should add, I originally got into knife making sort of backwards. I was just trying to learn to weld really. I had been thinking about making a 2x72 grinder of my own (for future use) but I needed to learn to weld so i started making a grinder. It wasn't pretty but it worked. From there i had to test it and once i had something that looked remotely like a knife, i was hooked. Dan C. has a site that has plans for a diy grinder that was very affordable to make. I bought a motor and the contact wheels and the rest was scrap or small parts. Check it out here: http://dcknives.blogspot.com/p/2-x-72-belt-grinder.html
Many a find knife has been made on a 2" x 48" (Google "Brian Dolim knives"). I started with a 1" x 30" and a 4" x 36" combination disc/belt machine. The little machines helped in making my first 2" x 72". I haven't checked what the supply is like for 2" x 48" belts recently, but I love the fact that I can get a huge variety of low cost belts for the 2" x 72". Ceramics, conditioning belts, leather belts etc. With a little planning and some fabrication skills, I made my latest machine: http://www.canadianknifemaker.ca/index.php?threads/new-2-x-72-grinder-build.2791/ Super smooth and versatile. I am currently fixing up a 2 hp Baldor motor with VFD and a 4" aluminum drive wheel. I plan on selling it when the weather breaks. What part of the country are you from? Dan
Thanks Todd...That Pamgren from Amazon looks like a good machine for me to get started with. Even if i fall into the knife making vortec I could always still use another belt sander/ grinder in the wood shop. I Did Read Dan C posts on his grinder build...Nice job! Im located in Guelph, Ontario. Thanks for chiming in Daniel P
Guelph?! Cool. I lived in/near Waterloo for years before moving down this way. I know Guelph rather well. Small world.
Look at it like this, if you love it and stick with it, you'll always use it. I have a buddy who's a semi well known knifemaker and he has been using two kmg's for decades (same ones he originally bought). If you don't like it or don't stick with it, you can sell it in a heartbeat. If I don't ever actually finish assembling my Sayber I may end up being somebody on the market for a kmg : )
I ended up ordering a kmg This way I can start with a great grinder and start making knifes right away. I’m pretty excited about it. Next will be figuring out what size flat bar , belt grits and pin stock to order. I have no shortage of figured wood, so handles won’t be a problem.
I can't help too much with some of these questions but I would say to not start too thin. Most good cutters are obviously thinner blades. Problem is that when you're just starting out, 1/8" doesn't give you a lot of room to practice or make mistakes on. 1/4" is huge. Like "is this thing an axe or a knife" huge. But there's lot's of room to practice grinding bevels on it. I'd say maybe 3/16" is a decent compromise. You may end up with knives that are beefier than you'd like but, to start, practice is what you need more than anything. The other thing I'd hightly recommend is to practice on mild steel. Much cheaper to learn on. It gives you essentially the same experience and you have to do all the same steps (well, you don't have to ... but you can... obviously you can't harden mild steel either). It's really tempting to just want to jump in and start making something but it's much better to start with some practice. Also when you're ready to start with the first "real" knife, keep it really simple. A nice short EDC knife with a basic shape and a simple handle. I tried to do too much to start and it was a bit discouraging. Everybody here was telling me "practice practice, practice" but would i listen? : )
Thanks I do have lots of 44w flats in my shop I started cleaning up a old knife with a broken plastic handle I have been using for many year cutting kindling. It’s got a slot type handle So I’m going to make a dato cut on a couple of blanks and play with that first It’s hard steel from what I seen from the sparks. I also set up my bandsaw for resawing... made some nice Spalted maple and figured black walnut blanks today. Anyway thanks for the tips Todd
