Best grinder for knife making?

[jojo]

Hi Everyone. I am new here and am trying to find my way ! have started making knives and its hard work cutting the steel with an hacksaw and using files! also I have a trapped nerve in my neck at the moment and it hurts to do anything! Good excuse for buying a new toy I was looking at the catalogue from Axminster and was wondering if anyone had experience or ideas regarding using their vertical narrow belt sander? Or the wide belt for that matter. Would it be any good for grinding blades? I have made a few knives now and enjoys it greatly. If and when I work out how to put a photo or two here i'll do it I'd appreciate your comments. Thanks

 

[Snufkin]

It would probably work well enough. I just use a handheld belt sander that I clamp upside down to my workmate. I don't use it much as it is a noisy beast though.

 

[Tony]

To a point it's the one you can afford You'll have to get belts for it etc and there might be a difference in slack and aspects like that. Some of the members on here will have a good knowledge of this and they'll be along. You can have a look at this forum on British Blades as well as there's a lot of info there. If you're going to get into your knife making it would be worth joining the forum as there's a huge amount of knowledge there on knife making etc and they're a great bunch.

Hope it goes well for you

 

[Longstrider]

I bought myself a rexon BD46A belt sander like the one you can see near the bottom of this page, http://www.toolstation.com/shop/PowerTools/RexonTools/d40/sd430 for general workshop use and for doing a knife or two from stock 01 steel. It works a treat but for the fact that you cannot angle the blade enough to get the belt to cut into the plunge cut properly. Doing this bit witha file is not much of a problem though and the tool has proven so useful for so many other jobs that I'm really glad I spent the money on it.

There are better tools for the job I have no doubt, but from what I have seen they are all a good deal more expensive (Weigh up the price of a Coote belt grinder against what I spent and you'll see what I mean!).
As Tony says, if you are really into the idea of making some knives of your own, British Blades is the place to ask and learn from. You may well recognise a few of the names there too....

 

[Shing]

I use this style of belt sander for all my knfe making. Its very verstile, I grind all my blades on it. http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/4/product-Axminster-AS408-Belt-and-Disc-Sander-21337.htm

If you are having problems with plunge lines, raise the platen up 10-12mm using a flat sheet of metal or better still ordinary window glass, about 50mm wide, 12mm thick and 150mm long.

Round all the edges of your new platen. Use the tracking to feather the belt so its goes over the edge of the platen by a few mm so you can get rounded plunge lines.

You need to split your belts in half by using a scriber to cut about an inch down the middle on the inside of the belt then pull it carefully apart.

 

[Longstrider]

Thanks for the tip Shing. I had cosidered taking a semicircle out of each side of the existing plain flat platten of my machine to make it easier to get into plunges but was concerned about weakening the structure of the machine by doing so. I'll have a look at ways of fixing a "false" platten to my machine and use 1/2 width belts and see what I can come up with. Brilliant plan!

 

[jojo]

Thanks gentlemen for the advice and info. :You_Rock_ I don't like belt sanders much for the same reason, the noise is appaling! It is a really good idea lilfing the belt from the plate, did you glue it on? Another question if I may: do you use the blank free-hand or do you use some sort of jig to cut the bevel and keep the bevel flat and regular?

 

[Shing]

I always grind freehand, you get the hang of it quite quickly. I use double sided sticky tape from the stationers to stick it on, I used 2 pieces of aluminium to increase the thickness then stick the glass on top. The aluminium helps to conduct heat and stop the sticky tape from melting during extended use because the platen can get quite hot. The 2 pieces of plastic on the top and bottom of the platen are Tufnol epoxied to act as a frame to stop the platen moving but you can use other things like plywood or metal.

One thing i would highly recommend is an small angle grinder like 115mm to rough grind the blade bevels before the belt grinder, its much quicker and cheaper as discs are cheaper than belts.

 

[Longstrider]

Shing, do you not find that the belt is a little too tight due to having to go that little bit further to get around the extra platten ? On my machine the belt tensioner is a lever like on yours but feels like it works on a cam, so it's effectively either On or Off. I once made the mistake of placing the belt on the machine with it running outside the guard at the back of the platten and the belt was so tight that the motor couldn't even move it. Do the belts, having been cut to half width, stretch to accomodate this or is the extra platten not so big as to affect the tension all that much?

 

[jojo]

Hi Longstrider. I have looked at a belt sander similar to the one Shing uses, the top roller is spring loaded and it would be no problem at all doing what he is doing, I pulled the belt away from the plate it sits on and we could put 1/2 glass easily there, the only thing to adjust would be the fence at the bottom of the belt plate. As soon as I can afford one, I will! Thanks for the info, Shing.

Having said that , the one I looked was made by Draper, it maybe that other makes are different, I do'nt know.

 

[crazydave]

not so good for shaping but exellent for finishing down is a normal orbital sander - I rescued a decomposed khukri and golok that way and it even does a grand job of putting an edge on them using the red sheets or even wet and dry - a rub down with autosol afterwards gives you a matte rather than a brushed finish.