Bandsaws and Grinders?

[HillBill]

Hi all.

I'm looking at buying a Bandsaw and a Grinder. For the purpose of woodwork and knife making respectively.

Now, I know next to nothing about these tools other than how to use them, so i do not know what is good or bad.

I was hoping some of our makers on here could point me in the right direction please.

I have seen this which i like the look of

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Tormek-T-7-Water-Cooled-Sharpening-System-656484.htm

Would this grind the bevels or is it purely for sharpening already existing bevels?
If so, could i have reccommendations on a decent grinder please.

Also with regards to the bandsaw, I want a decent one obviously which has plenty of cutting room as i will be turning logs into planks etc. It is not for any specific purpose, more a multitude of different tasks. My mate makes garden furniture, swinging benches etc so i will be supplying his materials rather than him going to the timber yard or B&Q.

Looking to spend no more than £1000 on the lot.

Thanks
Mark

 

[loz.]

Wow !

The tomek is the daddy of all grinders, but you can get a cheaper water cooled Sheppach one.( Tiger 2000 ) !!!! and as i understand all the tomek jigs fit it.

Then spend the rest of the money on a big bandsaw, I have a draper, but record power do great ones also.


Maybe you also might think about dust extraction for the bandsaw !!!! - lungs are expensive and bandsaws are dusty buggers !!!!


Loz

 

[Draven]

IMO belt grinders are the way to go for knifemaking. Firstly, because you can get a flat bevel - a wheel will hollow grind it. Secondly, because you can move the platten (which is behind the belt to keep a flat surface on what you're grinding) and it will give you a bit of slack which is great for grinding convex bevels. A full flat, in particular, will be very awkward to do on such a small radius stone, and even a wide scandi would be very noticeably hollow.

If you're into hollow grinds, they're generally a larger radius than that anyway in my experience. I've seen add-ons for belt grinders that go under the belt to produce a hollow grind over on BB..

I think Stuart Mitchell uses grinding wheels though (perhaps he'll see the thread and confirm/deny this?) and he produces some undeniably amazing work - if British Red is happy with a scandi grind then you know it's flat, after all! I've just found a belt to be much easier, especially other option is a grinder with small diameter wheels.

I have a cheap 1" belt grinder from Machine Mart btw - it works great, but their standard belts are rubbish for working steel so I reckon I'll need another supplier...

Hope this helps mate
Pete

 

[HillBill]

Thanks so far guys.

Pete. The grindstone is actually pretty big compared to other bench type grinders and it is designed solely for sharpening ALL edged tools. Including axes which will not have a concave/hollow grind. The jigs are designed for specific things as far as i can tell. Logic dictates though that there will be a slight hollowing. Belt sanders are only a recently made machine and grinding wheels have long been used before them. I see your point though.

What do other makers use? Whats the majority opinion? Would a combo grinder sander be the better option or a double sander with belt and disc?

Loz. Are the record power bandsaws upto the job then? I have had a look and the large one is on offer at £499.

Worth it? or is there better out there for similar money.

 

[Kerne]

I have a Tormek for grinding/sharpening plane and chisel edges - a wonderful tool BUT - much more difficult to grind knives on as the blades are so long compared to planes and chisels and, of course, they are curved. As a result, maintaining the correct angle of address to the stone is extremely hard. The hollow bevel I find perfect for chisels. I would go along with those who suggest that a belt grinder is better for knife blades.

As for bandsaws - if you are only going to be making knives then a bench mounted De Walt or something like that should do you.

 

[HillBill]

The band saw will be used for many tasks, as i said above, turning logs into planks etc but also for smaller stuff for knife and axe handles and so on.

 

[FGYT]

if you want the best for knives these are it "apparently "

http://www.radiusmaster.com.au/


you can get them in UK and beat them down from the £1500 price

ATB

Duncan
PS after watcing one grind a knife in a few mins including bevels etc I want one but will have to settle for a std 4" belt 6" side disc and mod it

 

[stanley lake]

wow there most be people still left out there with money to Burn i use a 4 inch hand grinder under a tenner. a 6 inch bench grinder a free bee .and a selection off hand files and rubbing down paper at a cost off fiver. up to date i have made 23 knifes off a descent quality i will be posting them i the next couple off days as one lot stanley

 

[rapidboy]

I just bought a second bandsaw last night, fairly cheapo sealey metal cutting bandsaw.
I tried it out today and it works very well, cuts nice and slow (and cool) so no burning - unlike an angle grinder.
My main bandsaw is a Jet

I had a cheaper machine for years before this one but this is in a different league.

If you don't want to spend a fortune check out Aly's grinders over on BB, dedicated knife makers belt grinders and for not a lot of money.

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53596

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77128

For a grand you should get a decent grinder and a good bandsaw.

 

[Gwhtbushcraft]

I use a belt disc sander from axminster (around £90) and a bandsaw from aldi (£40), both work great for the money IMO. I normally grind roughly with an angle grinder first and then go to the belt grinder and alghough i havn't had a go with such an expensive grinder as the Tomak id say a belt sander would be better for your purposes.
George

 

[launditch1]

I second the ALY grinder.You wont be dissapointed and hes a good helpful bloke to deal with.

 

[Draven]

Thanks so far guys.

Pete. The grindstone is actually pretty big compared to other bench type grinders and it is designed solely for sharpening ALL edged tools. Including axes which will not have a concave/hollow grind. The jigs are designed for specific things as far as i can tell. Logic dictates though that there will be a slight hollowing. Belt sanders are only a recently made machine and grinding wheels have long been used before them. I see your point though.

What do other makers use? Whats the majority opinion? Would a combo grinder sander be the better option or a double sander with belt and disc?

It saids 50mm diameter but I presume that's a typo and it's 500mm? That's definitely bigger than I thought, but the hollow will still be noticeable on a knife I think. Grinding wheels have, of course, been used for a very long time and do the job - I'm just trying to make things easier I think I've also seen horizontally mounted grinding wheels so you can grind on the side of the wheel - which I think would be a great tool to have if the diameter was large enough, but then, I don't know where I saw it or if they even exist, as far as modern power tools go.

I think a combo would be great - I still prefer a bench grinder for shaping knife blanks, just because the stone is so much more durable than the sanding belts and I hate wearing out belts unnecessarily. Take a look on BB though - most of what I've seen has been belt grinders, though quite a few people have grinding wheels as well.

Take a look at this:
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35912
That's what I used when I first tried grinding a bevel and still do most of the time, though I've done a couple freehand just out of interest.

The main advantage I see to that wheel is that it's probably slower and it's water cooled, so it will be harder to mess up the temper on a finished blade - it will take longer to grind one, though, where the slow speed won't really do you any favours. IMO the best thing about that system is the leather honing wheel, which I never knew existed but desperately need!

Pete