Grinder HELP PLEASE! Purchase advice

[bobw]

Wish I'd thought of using the guard for the wheel to mark the holes. I ended up makeing a cardboard template. Done it twice. I ended up getting hold of some 40 &50mm box section, some skateboard wheels and cobbled together a (proper) grinder. Far from pretty, some issues with motor alignment, belt tension and the fact that my skateboard wheels arn't concentric. Still useing the stock motor as well so completly gutless. On the plus side despite all this it still works, it will run either 1.5 or 2m belts so it runs much cooler, I can adjust the platten angle easily, remove the work table to change a belt then put it back on and it all lines up. It's like a proper grinder to use apart from the power, I plan to add a pulley set to the wheel spindle a drive it from a bigger motor when I eventually find one. Might be able to find some pics later for you all to have a good laugh at if you like.

bob

[grommit]

Hello Andy,
Chuffed to bits ya getting some sound advice.
I was faced with the same thing a long time ago and it was all down to what to buy for the £'s.
well i suffered purely for the fact that the STUPID question was always can i justify spending on a top end grinder set up! well think guys n girls have to say "Am i going to make anymore knifes past my first one and continue?" if so heres the real deal:
cut the crappy set ups out of the water, as they will not be cost effective in the long run.
Your improvement will only be as far as a cheap set up is going to take you.
I started with jus a grinder n few tools, got Ian Bailey's lil green grinder that he made sixty odd knives on.I made nearly 30.

then i done the best move ever, saved and bought a Aly Maxi Grinder and never looked back! (nicely Modelled by Ian himself!)

If we spend all our lives worrying about the cost, n all that Bull we'll never get owt done!
save ya £'s and get ya an Aly grinder or equivelent. you will never look back.
if not you'll do what a lot like myself have and ended up spending more money trying to get the better set up!
Don't suppose this helps ya short term, but it defo will long term.
kind regards,
Bri

[Mr Happymoose]

Hello Andy,
Chuffed to bits ya getting some sound advice.
I was faced with the same thing a long time ago and it was all down to what to buy for the £'s.
well i suffered purely for the fact that the STUPID question was always can i justify spending on a top end grinder set up! well think guys n girls have to say "Am i going to make anymore knifes past my first one and continue?" if so heres the real deal:
cut the crappy set ups out of the water, as they will not be cost effective in the long run.
Your improvement will only be as far as a cheap set up is going to take you.
I started with jus a grinder n few tools, got Ian Bailey's lil green grinder that he made sixty odd knives on.I made nearly 30.

then i done the best move ever, saved and bought a Aly Maxi Grinder and never looked back! (nicely Modelled by Ian himself!)

If we spend all our lives worrying about the cost, n all that Bull we'll never get owt done!
save ya £'s and get ya an Aly grinder or equivelent. you will never look back.
if not you'll do what a lot like myself have and ended up spending more money trying to get the better set up!
Don't suppose this helps ya short term, but it defo will long term.
kind regards,
Bri

That's all very well, but if you haven't actually got the cash to spend in the first place then the choice is taken out of your hands. Much as I would love an Aly grinder (And it was considered when I bought mine) we simply didn't have the cash. I got the best one I could which definitely turned out to be for the best as I then had health problems, got signed of work, so on and so forth and we're now even more strapped for cash. My point I guess is by all means buy the best you can afford but don't lose sight of the fact that you don't actually need a grinder at all to make a very nice knife blade. I've sen some very nice knives made with nothing more than a rotary sanding disc in a drill clamped to the bench! In fact, I can think of all kinds of knives that are very desirable even today that are made completely by hand!

[Relin]

Its on the list Grommit, just at the moment would require me selling my Serrata and a whole host of other sharp things (not going to happen)

If i can churn out a few more knives on my existing set up, then a few more with an interim hopefully the next step will be the Aly. Did you buy yours assembled or build it yourself?

Biggest issue for me with an Aly at the moment is space, plus the fact that when i buy one i want to be the only one that uses it

[dazcon]

I had a powercraft linisher just the same. I removed the belt linisher and mounted it vertically on a bigger motor and added a raised platten and adjustable table. It works good. I'll get some pics taken shortly.

Darren.

[Relin]

I had a powercraft linisher just the same. I removed the belt linisher and mounted it vertically on a bigger motor and added a raised platten and adjustable table. It works good. I'll get some pics taken shortly.

Darren.

Based on your early mods I may have just found a use for those mild steel plates I cadged off of my mates building site

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

[Relin]

Nabbed some bits of L shaped Ali to use to support the mild steel table, think im going to finish a couple of knives this weekend before i start taking the grinder apart as it could all end in tears..

[dazcon]

I got the grinder for nothing.It's only a half-horse power but it's a lot better than the Aldi one.










Like yourself, i haven't got the cash for a good one. I'm getting my pennies together for a garden workshop!

Darren.

[pieinthesky]

I have something similar to Happymoose but badged Erbaur. It is poor quality and was very slow going when grinding. It will do the job though.

You are welcome to come and take it away, saves you wasting some cash (save it for a minigrinder) and clears me some workshop space. Its been sitting around for a while but it worked last time I tried it.

I dont think I have any belts left but you are welcome to them if I can find any.

[Relin]

Hi Mike that is a fantastic offer and i would love to take you up on it if thats ok?

[Relin]

All,

Met up with Mike last night and what can i say, SUCH a nice bloke!! I dont know where the time went, he cooked a cracking rabbit pie, i sat down for dinner with him and his missus chatting about this and that, all in all a really nice evening!

The grinder that he has very kindly given me looks a whole world step up from where the little Aldi grinder was, Mike was saying its a bit low power but im guessing he hasnt ever seen an Aldi grinder We fired up the Ali minigrinder too and WOW, thats definitely on the purchase list!!!

Mike, again, many many thanks for your hospitality and generousity


I was thinking (whilst trying to sleep) about my old Aldi grinder, does anyone know if its possible to mod the left hand side to support a chuck? I was thinking of using it with drum sanding bobbins to shape different curves?

Thanks all

[Mr Happymoose]

All,

Met up with Mike last night and what can i say, SUCH a nice bloke!! I dont know where the time went, he cooked a cracking rabbit pie, i sat down for dinner with him and his missus chatting about this and that, all in all a really nice evening!

The grinder that he has very kindly given me looks a whole world step up from where the little Aldi grinder was, Mike was saying its a bit low power but im guessing he hasnt ever seen an Aldi grinder We fired up the Ali minigrinder too and WOW, thats definitely on the purchase list!!!

Mike, again, many many thanks for your hospitality and generousity


I was thinking (whilst trying to sleep) about my old Aldi grinder, does anyone know if its possible to mod the left hand side to support a chuck? I was thinking of using it with drum sanding bobbins to shape different curves?

Thanks all

Good score

[olliesnook]

I've got a similar grinder to the cheapo ones here, as it was the ONLY option I had that made any sense under about £2000 ( I live in Brazil and everything here is stupid expensive, especially if it's imported.) Looking at the videos of other grinders, I reckon I have to make 10-20 passes for every one by a 'pro' but at the end of the day, I still get things done slowy but surely. If you are going to use one of these crappy grinders, then buy the best belts you can. Ceramic belts make a big difference. In my personal experience, it's made the difference between thinking 'hmm, this file/sandpaper stuff is fine, but do I really want to make knives? and 'wow, if this is what I can do on this very modest stup, I can't wait until I can justify the real thing. I don't see it as a waste of money, because if I hadn't bought it, I wouldn't be able to produce anything, and would have stoppped making knives. It's like the kid that buys a crappy BMX and then realises he is good at it. When he becomes a pro he'll treasure that beat up old thing as much as any of the high tech kit, not because of its performance, but because of the passion it instilled.