Buyer beware.

doomtooth

doomtooth

Well-Known Member
This is the first belt grinder that i've purchased and I have regretted it since day one. I have had several mods made but to no end. The pole design is just a bad idea.
[video=youtube_share;fR8mpbSben8]https://youtu.be/fR8mpbSben8[/video]
 
While not as powerful, I recommend a Craftsman 2x42" sander to those looking for an alternative to the 1x30" sander most beginners buy. They can be found use for a very reasonable price. With less than $10 in YouTube modifications you have a very usable tool for basic knife making.
 
I agree that the craftsman belt sander is a much better designed machine. Its belt change and tilt seem to be much more user friendly than my kalamazoo. The only way that my model would be functional would be to remove that cursed pipe and rebuild using 1/4 inch thick channel and plate. Unfortunately with christmas on the way my three childrens wish lists are going to empty my pockets quickly. I will keep looking at different designs that might work for me and maybe I will find someone to help me with this. I'm no great shake at layouts for such projects and being without my sander for an extended period of tine would drive me nuts. Working steel keeps me sane.
 
Have you seen the "$50 dollar knife shop" by Wayne Goddard? It has some ideas for making a belt grinder in it. Not a bad book for other reasons. With your grinder you have a great head start to building a good working grinder. The way I figure get the book now and by the time you get ready you will have figured out what you want to do. Hope this helps. Ed
 
I've decided to go out on a limb and buy a nice new pheer model 454 grinder. I will be totally rebuilding the kalamazoo grinder when I have the time and funds.
 
I looked at Coote, Grizzly, you name it- just like every broke newb looking to get into knifemaking. It seemed to me that there were financial tiers. For something ready to go, for about $300 I could get a Craftsman or the like and mod it. For $600 you get into Grizzly and Coote territory. Then for a tad over a grand you get into 3-wheel machines, and then the sky is the limit after that. The more I laid in bed every night looking at the ceiling and doing mental math, it seemed like each tier needed some kind of upgrade which pretty much put you at the next tier up, which already had that upgrade built in. Ultimately I saved my pennies until I could go the KMG route and saved quite a bit because my background allowed me to source the electrical and do that part myself which got me into a VFD. It was a massive investment. Buy once, cry once. I'm so happy I did.

Now with a year under my belt and a lot more confidence that I understand what a grinder should feel like and do, I'd be all over a GIB or a Sling. They are screaming good deals.
 
One of the most diffcult parts of becoming a knifemaker, is understanding the necessity for a "good" grinder. Its the center hub of just about everything you do in the shop. When I started out I had the same "I can't afford that" attitude that most folks do. I can tell you from costly experience..... save, beg, borrow, or whatever you have to do to buy one of the "top tier" grinders. I went through several attempts at homemade grinders, then purchased a 2x48, then a cheaper 2x72, and finally, after having spent 3x what a "top tier" grinder would have cost me, finally started saving my pennies. It took me a couple of years to save up the money, but I finally ordered my first "top tier" grinder. That one was a Wilton Square Wheel (this was LONG before anything like the KMG or its clones came along) and its still working in my shop to this day. My favorite grinder is my KMG, and I also built a modified version of the EERF grinders.

I know I've made many similar posts to this one, but let me try to say it another way...... Its not that you can't afford one of the top tier machine..... the fact is you can't afford not to have one of them, and you'll be money ahead if you just save up and purchase one. Another fact is that you can spend $200-$500 on the lower end grinders, and that money is GONE...... you will never recover any of it. However, with one of the "top tier" machines, its going to hold it's value, and even a decade down the road, if you decide you want to sell it, you will get very close to the money you spent out of it.
 
I concur good sir. This will be the third sander that I have spent money on. If I would have just saved my money I could have bought the pheer 454 in the begining and actually saved myself a little money. If my sinus's wasn't infected id be pacing back and forth. As it is I am super stoked.
 
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