Coote grinder users?

A

akey

Well-Known Member
Hello KD. I have a Coote grinder on the way and wanted to see how many other Dogs have one. How hard is it to set up for someone with minimal experience with this kind of thing? I plan on going with step pulleys vs. vfd due to budget issues. Any advice would be appreciated!

Aaron
 
A friend knife maker had one. He made hundreds of straight knives with it, tried another make he thought might be better and then went back to it. His knives were all first class.
The step pulleys can work well. I recommend a 2 HP. motor as well to go with those. 1 HP won't do it for you. I'm sure you will be pleased once you have it operational. Frank
 
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I have mine mounted on 3/4" plywood. It has a 10" drive wheel so I find it needed just a little more clearance so I mounted it with the wheel over the side of the board. Other than that it's just mark the mounting holes for the grinder and the motor and drill them. There was a mounting plate use to package the grinder which worked very well as a template to mark the holes fore the grinder. With the three or four step pulley sleeve you will need to restrict the motor speed to about 1750 rpm. One horse power is minimal and it's hard to have too much. Mine has a 1.5 hp motor which, unfortunately spins at 3600 rpm so I can't use a step pulley and the pulley on the motor has to be small and the one on the grinder has to be small to cut the speed back. One of these days I'm going to replace it. Make sure it's enclosed so that crap doesn't get inside it and short everything out and that it's listed for continuous use.

Doug
 
Aaron,
Good to hear from you!
Great Machine. Step pulleys are fine and get some link belt. Bossdog here at Midwest Knife makers supply sells it.

I also recommend at least a 1 1/2 hp motor, at the 1750 or 1800 RPMs You want torque, not just speed.
You want a stable platform to minimise vibration. One trick is to build the Coote in your shop right up against a reinforced stud in the wall. This help make things solid.

Get you height correct and your distance from the stud by adding a 2x $ or 4 x4' and then use the bolt hole in the aluminum tower that joins the two pieces to bolt the tower to the stud. Then you will build a shelf of sorts to bolt the bracket at the bottom of the machine into.

Did that make sense?

Any questions, I and am sure Doug, will help all we can.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
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I love mine! I'm running a 1.5 HP Leeson with 3 pos. step pulleys. I pretty much agree with everything that's been said here... especially getting the Fenner PowerTwist belts!
 
Well, I did make a correction on my comment above and that my friend had and used the Coote not " I "
He's a possible starting point for height to the center of your wheel or platen. Hold your arms out at about 90 degrees from your body and have someone measure that distance to the floor. This should allow you to get a good pressure on anything you bring to the grinder. Frank
 
I used one for years (hobby, not full time) and was quite happy with it - I agree on the comment about mounting the contact wheel overhanging your bench if you got the 10" wheel. 1-1/2 hp worked fine for me but more would have been better. My *only* issue ever with it was some cheap belts did not want to track and would slide in and grind at the frame - - - until I ran several wraps of painter's tape around the center of the tension wheel to make it really domed - that fixed the tracking with cheap belts. Good machine.
 
The Coote may well be the best of the two wheel grinders, but its still a two wheel grinder. They wil magnify vibration, much like a fishing rod does because the top end is so far from the mount. As already mentioned, clearance is needed between the 10" wheel and the bench. The contact wheel is your drive wheel and each revolution drive over 31" of belt. Pulleys will slow it down - small on the motor and large on the machine end. The tool rest is not adjustable. This is a big safety flaw. Basic grinder safety dictates minimum clearance between tool rest and platen, so workpiece doesn't get sucked in between them. Some of the features require tilting the machine forward or backward. Get a long T handle hex wrench for this and be sure there is enough room behind to tilt back. (Better access to the contact wheel.) If you got the 9" disc, it is useful and solidly built. Caution! Do not try to run the machine in reverse with the 9" disc attached. You'll get a fast spinning, aluminum frisbee screaming around the shop. Your two primary work positions (contact wheel and platen) are at different heights. If you mount it for the contact wheel to be centered at belly button height, the platen will be near chest height.

the Coote is a nice machine, but helps to be aware of the challenges
 
Here are a couple of photos of mine. I used a link type belt to reduce the vibration. Also, I like the glass platen. It is a pain to remove the platen in order to take the rest on and off. It helps a little to drill a hole in the rest to be able to use a long allen wrench to access the platen. It is a sturdy machine, I have had mine for 7 years and only changed the idler wheel bearings a couple of months ago. coote 1.jpgcoote 2.jpgcoote 3.jpg
 
Wow thanks for all the advice guys! The post man should be delivering it today. I can't wait to get home! I built a workbench over the weekend and I am going to mount it on some steel plate and bolt it to the workbench. I am sure I will have a hundred other questions. It's going to take me some time to get it fully operational as buying the grinder completely wiped out my budget. I may have a motor for free. It came off a boat hoist and it is old and ugly but runs perfectly fine which is all I care about. So I will be saving up for a step pulley and belts, etc.

Here is a picture of my workbench. All of the lumber either came off of an old boat house or was left over from a boat house being built. That's what my step dad does for a living so I have access to building materials.

workbench.jpg

Also, here is a picture of my future "Knifedog", Finn Patrick Key. Having an infant in the house makes it hard to find the time and money to pursue knife making but I would NOT have it any other way!

finnwalk.jpg

Thanks again for all the advice. I am sure I will have questions as I go about getting it set up and having this great forum to post on and knowing you guys are willing to help means a lot!

Aaron
 
I found knife making to be a great hobby when having kids. I was into fly fishing, shooting sports, and hunting before the kids. I just don't have to time to take a whole day away on a regular basis for those activities, but I can go into the shop after their bedtime for an hour or two.
 
Aaron,
Cute little future knifemaker you have there!

Get any motor you can if it's free or cheap enough. A Totally Enclosed, Fan Cooled, known as a TEFC motor of 1 1/2 -2 HP is ideal, but I have used many open motors and some burned out from the grinding dust and some haven't.

Laurence
www.rhinoknives.com
 
JMJones said:
I found knife making to be a great hobby when having kids. I was into fly fishing, shooting sports, and hunting before the kids. I just don't have to time to take a whole day away on a regular basis for those activities, but I can go into the shop after their bedtime for an hour or two.
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John, that is exactly my plan although I haven't had to completely give up the hunting and fishing. We have an 11 year old boy as well and he lives and breathes hunting so while my role is more "guide" than "hunter/fisher" these days I still get to enjoy the outdoors. Plus watching him be successful is infinitely more rewarding.

rhinoknives said:
Aaron,
Cute little future knifemaker you have there!

Get any motor you can if it's free or cheap enough. A Totally Enclosed, Fan Cooled, known as a TEFC motor of 1 1/2 -2 HP is ideal, but I have used many open motors and some burned out from the grinding dust and some haven't.

Laurence
www.rhinoknives.com
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure I can get what I need. He literally has a room full of motors that were taken off of boat houses that were demolished. He salvages anything usable. I happened to spot a broken motor in his scrap pile yesterday and it was a 1 phase, 1HP, 1725 RPM motor that runs on 110 current. If that is indicative of the working ones he has I should be good to go. :biggrin:
 
akey said:
John, that is exactly my plan although I haven't had to completely give up the hunting and fishing. We have an 11 year old boy as well and he lives and breathes hunting so while my role is more "guide" than "hunter/fisher" these days I still get to enjoy the outdoors. Plus watching him be successful is infinitely more rewarding.



I am pretty sure I can get what I need. He literally has a room full of motors that were taken off of boat houses that were demolished. He salvages anything usable. I happened to spot a broken motor in his scrap pile yesterday and it was a 1 phase, 1HP, 1725 RPM motor that runs on 110 current. If that is indicative of the working ones he has I should be good to go. :biggrin:
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Aaron,
Due to the corrosion factor etc on boats I am sure many will be TEFC motors. Look for a Frame/Type 56 on the tin plate by the Hp etc rating.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Looks like a may be getting the motor today. I plan on getting step pulleys set up but for now I wanted to "test drive" it so to speak but I am not sure what pulley sizes to use.
 
rhinoknives said:
Aaron,
Due to the corrosion factor etc on boats I am sure many will be TEFC motors. Look for a Frame/Type 56 on the tin plate by the Hp etc rating.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
Click to expand...

OK so I actually ended up with two motors. One is a Marathon 1HP TENV 1725RPM PH1 V115/230 and the other is a Magnetek 3/4 HP 1725RPM PH1 V115/230 that is drip proof. So I think I am going to hook the Marathon up. Still not sure what size pulleys to go with for now. The motors both have a 2 inch pulley already on them. I am not looking to move metal very fast at this point.
 
Akey,
I went to the hardware store when my Coote arrived many moons ago and bought two step pulleys with 2" 3" & 4" and used the old fan belt off of my truck, then I found the speeds I like.
If you want to be more scientific and exact about it? Call Norman. He will gladly tell you what size will give you what speeds?
He also sells the pulleys too.

The 1hp will work for smaller knives, I used one for a while but really noticed the difference when I went to a 1 1/2 hp and then a 2hp. Its the torque you want, not the speed.

Have fun!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
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