Thanks David. I will spend some more time looking for a better machine, new or used.
Happy to help, JC. Here are some other comments and a question:
1. Is there a specific reason you feel you need a surface grinder? I've been making knives for 29 years, and folders for 18. I don't have a surface grinder. I do have a small mill with which I can cut down stock, then hand surface it on my belt grinder.
2. Cliff is very much correct. You can get away with a lesser drill press and band saw in some cases if you have to, but a surface grinder is supposed to be a precision machine tool, and if it's worn out or just poorly made it won't do you any good.
3. About cheap equipment in general. I'm a big believer in the philosophy that it's the man doing the work or deed or whatever, not the machine. That was attributed to Chuck Yeager when he shot down an ME262 jet fighter with his P-51. It's true that he was a great pilot when he flew inside the German's turn, but there was also an element of luck when he got off a burst and actually hit the plane that was flying 100 MPH faster than his! My first few knives were made on bench grinders and a crummy 6x48 belt sander. There was only so much that could be done, even with personal skills, on poor or cheap equipment. My knives improved immediately with better and the proper machines. Good tools (the right ones of course) will free you up to let you maximize your personal skills, but poor equipment will hold you back.
4. I'd find it foolish and just poor business sense for me to buy a machine or tool that is cheap and then say just toss it away if it breaks sooner than a good machine would. My $950 Square Wheel probably paid for itself within the first year that I had it. I bought it in 1990 and it's been going with just minor maintenance since then. Aside form the initial expense, you have to figure in the maintenance time and the down time. If you get a good surface grinder you'll probably have little down time over several years, but if you buy a clunker, which I believe the Harbor Freight model would be, your down time will be greater and you'll spend more time just fiddling with it and your blades to get them to where they will work.
5. Always remember, you get what you pay for.
David