my new Bush Hawg Grinder

[Dave Budd]

A while ago I ordered one of Owen's new Bush Hawg grinders and I had the chance to see bits of it at his forge-in, but didn't get my grubby mits on it until the knife show last week (thanks to the nylund boys for droppin it off). So, after nearly 8 years as a fulltime knife maker, I finally have 'proper' grinder but don't expect me to make lots of stock removal knives now!

Here is the shiny beast




Its running a 72" belt and the motor I have on there is a second hand 2HP that Owen had lying about. it's got an 8" contact wheel on it and a flat platen (I think Owen made it from EN45 rather than soft mild, but might be thinking of something else). Footprint is about 13" wide and 26" deep. I've got the motor hanging under the bench on a hinge mechanism that keeps the tension on the drive belt. I've got a 3 stage pulley on the machine, rather than having the added electrical issues of variable speed motors. I have to run this with my dodgy genny as my inverter from the PV array won't handle the 2hp motor (well, not when it has to overcome the added inertia of a grinding belt under tension!)

The prototype for this was shown in this thread and as you can see there are a few changes. I really like the tensioning system, much neater than a spring and keeps the footprint down nicely. Tracking is courtesy of a leafspring and is very easy to adjust with a slight turn of the handle. The platen can be removed of course and the whole front end can be swivelled to bring the contact wheel (or the top idler wheel) into full exposure. The arm that the platen etc are mounted on has enough length to it that I could run a much longer belt if I wanted to. It also has a couple of pre-tapped holes on the top of it to take a work rest/table, though I'll have to make that bit when I get around to it

I got it mounted and set up yesterday afternoon and had a quick play with it. First impressions, well obviously it is heavily built just as it should be. This really is a grinder made for a smith not a clean-shirted machinist! It's not polished and milled, it has forged and welded parts that are bolted securely to precision parts where they are needed for the machine to work properly. The belts are easy to change (at least they are until I have to build the required guarding ). Tension is automatic and reliable. Tracking is steady and easy to adjust. The way I've set the motor up means speed changes are easy enough and I can always get different pulley sets in the future if I decide to get more variation there.

I ground the flats of a 6" blade that had been forged already and I played with a small hollow ground section on a bit of bar as I've never had the facility to do that before. Very easy to use this grinder and very smooth running too (much quieter and smoother than what I'm used to). The only wobble in the set up is my the motor as it bounces a bit due to the loose hinge, but I can sort that out if it causes a problem. Also the motor that I have, despite being 2HP (3 times what I'm used to) was a bit too easy to stop whilst grinding the small 1"x 6" blade on it. I guess if it gets too much of a pain I can replace the motor Is this one of those 'wrong type of motor' things I've heard about? To be honest I've used small motored machines for so long I really have no concept of what this should do, but it was easier to stop this than my 550w axminster linisher

All in all, very pleased with it so far and I shall have to get some more belts and a few bits together and then really give it a proper go Thanks for building this for me Owen, I can thoroughly recommend it

[jamiemackie]

Ah so thats what that thing was! I was impressed with the use of the piston instead of a spring.

So does this mean we will see some shiny stuff from you then?

Jamie

PS I know its very unlikely but dont let me catch you making woodie clones!

[MeetTheGeeks]

I only saw it flat packed mate that looks the dog soft bits that does!! Show us what you can do with it mate

[Chris the Cat]

If Dave makes shiny woodie clones I am gonna pull his beard!
( that not 'code' by the way!!)
C da c.

[Webber]

Good to see the finished product, especially as I'm hopefully about third in line for one!

Nice one, Dave.

[lukebarran]

Nice grinder! When you say it's a bit easy to stop, is it the motor that's stopping or is the v belt slipping?

[MeetTheGeeks]

If Dave makes shiny woodie clones I am gonna pull his beard!
( that not 'code' by the way!!)
C da c.

you tried that on with me mate lol Did you want a woodie clone?

[jameswood]

Good to see the finished product, especially as I'm hopefully about third in line for one!

Nice one, Dave.

and i have the second

looks like im going to buy an inverter too

the tensioning system looks good, and as you say will lessen the foot print which is good. how tall is the bench that it's mounted on?

do you think it would be possible to replace the top idler with a teeny tiny contact wheel or would i be better off just swapping hte bottom one over?

like this

[Underhay]

That's going to make life a lot easier for you

I suppose you need the guards for students to use it.

but it was easier to stop this than my 550w axminster linisher

Is that because you were grinding on the platten rather than the wheel. It's much harder to stall it when your pushing against the drive wheel. (NB. I'm no expert!)

[Ken_Lau]

Looks like a top bit of kit! I was really impressed with how well it tracked at Owen's Forge In. I'm sure you'll be enjoying using it Dave.

[Dave Budd]

I may do some more shinies, but they will still be far between Most likely combined with my recently built gas forge and my lovely flypress there will be a few more damascus blades popping up again (not made any for a few years on account of the hard work and stress of using coke and hand hammers).

as I have to run the genny to use this I'll still do a lot of my grinding with my old grinder and just use this for times when I need the extra facilities that this offers or when I have the genny going anyway. I really got it for some of the other tools and things I make, where the contact wheel and cooler running will make life easier for non-knifemaking jobs. I'll probably get a few other contact wheels as time goes on so I can see what they do and do doubt I'll find jobs that require them just to justify having them I think a small contact wheel would be handy but I don't know enough about this type of grinder to know whether replacing the idler would be wise or not (i guess it would wear out fast so would be something to put on when needed only)

I didn't pay any attention to the stopping of it the other day, but I think it was the motor rather than the belt slipping. I'll have a look next time I use it and if it's the belt then that's easy enough to sort out

As for making woody clones... I would rather polish my penis on it than sully my name with such makings! stupid boy

[RoyalM]

Nice looking grinder, and you're right the piston does look a lot neater than a sprint for tensioning.

I like the juxtaposition of the shiny new grinder and the worktop table leg made from a branch.

[tenderfoot]

I would rather polish my penis on it than sully my name with such makings!

Is that code for something?

[Ken_Lau]

Dave, is the tension provided by the piston adjustable? And what grit belt would be suitable to polish your old fella??

[jameswood]

?= and what grit belt would be suitable to polish your old fella??

24g