TW-90 has arrived!!

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This isn't really a surprise( based on how this grinder is built) but the way this thing was packaged is AMAZING. You buy one of these and you are definitely getting a semi-custom build from the ground up.

Every attachment was carefully wrapped tightly in foam, then stretch wrap. The main unit came in a triple wall corrugated HEAVY cardboard box.(I've never seen heavier) The grinder was bolted with lock nuts and bolts, washers on both sides, to a 3/4 piece of plywood that was cut to fit the bottom of the box. That plywood was lag bolted to the skids that went under the box and had nice big fender washers under the heads. The attachment were shipped in a separate box. I think to keep damage from the grinder. Both boxes had copper staples and then fiberglass reinforced packing tape at every seam. The shipping pretty much confirmed my instinct on how Travis Wuertz like to do things.

I bought another expensive piece of equipment recently and was horrified by the packaging. It wasn't the precision piece of equipment that this TW-90 is but still.....

So I'm thrilled with how this thing arrived. The only fly in the ointment is the day the grinder arrived a customer of mine place a PO for about a months worth of work. How do I tell him his parts could be late due to me playing with my new toy.....:biggrin: business has been slow the last couple months. Usually when I get a nice PO I'm pretty thankful. This time I was feeling like, "Awwww...man....." Lol! If I was in my thirties I'd just not sleep much for a few weeks. Those days are gone though.....

I'll still get time to play....just not the crash course I was hoping for. maybe a good thing. Knife steel isn't cheap....
 
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Knife grinder.

You probably won't believe this but I am one of the last holdouts on not having a cell phone. nuthin' but a darn shackle. I did in California for business but I got rid of it here in Montana.....
No cell phone no camera..... I'll borrow wifeys after I get this mounted on the bench.
 
Sounds like Christmas, Hannuka and all of your birthdays rolled into this one piece of machinery!

The pics & video's of the TW-90 on the net are true Tool Porn! Glad to hear the packaging is just as awesome. LOL.
 
arock said:
what color is stupid? lol
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Alright so I had that one coming...........................DUH!!!!

So why didn't some one include this link?

http://www.twuertz.com/

Now I know I have seen this machine when it was in it was just a wee baby, someone took it to next generation. Haven't seen one in person but looks like it might be the "Cats Pajamas"! And they are any color the cat wants to wear them before you ask!:biggrin:

There is another one someone in Poland or Czechoslovakia was working on a similar grinder, and it looked as it would be a real nice machine too. I haven't seen anymore about it though I don't know if the guy got it into production or not! In this day and time with the internet once a picture is out there you pretty much lost control of someone pirating it!
That is why I am always saying once you post a photo of your knife you lost control of it! But hey if you don't, you can't sell them!!!!
 
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I really wish I had seen this before I bought my KMG. I am very curious to know how the surface grinding attachment performs.
 
The demo Travis gave on the surface grinding attachment was the clincher for me. He did a real nice job of making it easy to grind tapers. He has a little sine bar set up with two spots to put your block or pin under to set your angle. The second spot on the sine bar doubles your angle. So you grind the first side and then put that surface on the magnet move your pin or block to the second position which doubles the angle and grind the second side. You use an indicator to know how deep to grind. Take half the blade thickness (or less if you want to leave stock) on each grind and you're done. Don't quote me on this but it seemed on about a 7 inch blade that was already profiled and heat treated but no grind on the bevels he was done with the whole thing in the 5-7 minute range.

When I get a little more experience under my belt (pun intended) I'll try to do a video or something.
 
Jon Kelly said:
I really wish I had seen this before I bought my KMG. I am very curious to know how the surface grinding attachment performs.
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I was in the process of building the surface grinder and saw the one Travis was building. I bought one from him. I surfaced a blade blank for a 4" blade and after doing both sides I checked with a micrometer and it held to .1245 every half inch all the way around the blade.
 
Here are the pics you requested.
 

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Congrats on the new machine! It's always "like Christmas" when we get a new "toy" in our shops! :)

I consdered that grinder, but the deal breaker for me is what I feel is an undersized tooling arm (the aluminum tooling arm). I was in another maker's shop, who had one.....he pulled out the arm with a contact wheel mounted, lost his grip and dropped it.....it tweaked the tooling arm to the point where it was unusable.....and was out of business until he replaced it. I know that's not something that's gona happen everyday, but it was enough to turn me away. There's no doubt it's a really great machine, especially the surface grinding attachment, and if Travis ever offers a 1 1/2" tooling arm, it would be a top contender for me.
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
and if Travis ever offers a 1 1/2" tooling arm, it would be a top contender for me.
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for me this is key. get a length of 1 1/2" square thick wall steel tube and let you imagination run wild as you make a custom arm. or go to many sites and buy one already made. if you drop an arm made of 1 1/2" square thick wall, make sure it does not hit your foot, if floor is concrete it will just dig a divot.
 
I think the TW-90 is awesome! I got to see it in person at Blade show and was impressed, only got to talk to Travis for a few minutes though. He was super busy.
 
The one I have is not built of tubing. It is all solid metal. Even the aluminum. I have rebuilt a lot of the mounting. Mine will use 2-1/2 X 48 or 2-1/2 X 72 belts simply by sliding it in and out. The accuracy is better that most full size upright grinders. Just checked mounting steel and it is solid 1-1/4" steel and aluminum and very easy to change
 
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