Grinder choice: North Ridge vs Ameribrade vs Brodbeck

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matto6

Joined
Jan 30, 2017
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I'm looking for a belt grinder for making knives (kitchen knives and machetes mostly) and so far I've narrowed it down to these.

North Ridge Tool:
By far the most expensive, but also a reputation for being the best based on how they do the machining to ridiculous tolerances. Plus George is hilarious to talk to on the phone.
If you ignore price, are there any reason not to get the North Ridge? Does it have any design choices that limit you moving forward? Only 2 tooling arm slots maybe? Anything else? I see Ameribrade sells a 14" contact wheel... is there something specific about the Ameribrade that allows larger wheels or would they work on the North Ridge? (they sell them with 1.5" arms)

For the price of the North Ridge I could get a full kit with lots of attachments from either Ameribrade or Brodbeck. I can potentially get behind the idea of starting with the best platform and growing over time, but if I do that I really don't want to find out that I picked the wrong platform.

Ameribrade
I've had Ameribrade recommended to me by other grinder manufacturers. "If you don't buy mine, you should probably buy theirs.
The main concern seems to be in compatibility of the tooling arms. Am I correct in understanding that if I buy an Ameribrade I'm pretty much limited to their accessories? Can I buy other accessories and mount them on Ameribrade's 2" arms?
It also has a sprint-based tensioner which isn't as fancy as the North Ridge ratcheting system. Is this something to really concern myself with?

Brodbeck
I spoke with Vince and he's awesome. I'm ready to buy just based on how helpful he was and how much time he spent with me. I also like that I can assemble it myself. Save a few bucks and create a project out of it. They also have a lot of attachments.
I've read a few negative comments about the tensioning system, and that a gas strut really isn't the way to go there. The Brodbeck also doesn't sem to have reverse. I also don't really understand how to gauge whether the quality of the machining and tracking stability is up to the level of the first two choices

Input welcome.
 
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I've had my Northridge for a year now. It's simply awesome. I haven't tried the others you are considering.
 
I got the full pro package with a 10" wheel, flat platen, small wheel holder. I got three pyro glass platens (still on the first one). It flips horizontal and has the rest with a million angle adjustments. I have set up some precise angles and made clips and little handle parts come out perfect like I know what I'm doing. I've done lots of different grinds this year from straight razors to Bowies. The only non Northridge attachment is the OBM fuller grinding attachment. For convenience I got the entire arm so I don't disassemble any of my normal setups.
 
I have a Northridge. The thing is built like a firearm, everything clicks precisely in place. It's very satisfying to use. It's also built relatively compact and the tilt is an effortless one handed operation. The arms are mostly but not completely interchangeable with my KMG Classic, which would probably be the case with other grinders as well. The arms are a little shorter and the distance between the arm and where the belt sits is a slightly different. And yes, George is a hoot.

I have lots of accessories from Ameribrade. They seem really nice and innovative. They release a new accessory every couple of months it seems. The arms are not compatible with other grinders. But you can still disassemble the wheel/platen and put them on other grinder arms. They can also track in reverse, which my Northridge can't do.

Brodbeck seems fine. I'm sure their grinder works great. I find all the YouTubers who have "joined the Brodbeck family" a little weird.

I think when you price out the packages with the same accessories and capabilities (tilting, 2hp motor, VFD, adjustable workrest) they come out about the same.
 
I think some of the appeal and why you see a lot of YouTube people using brodbeck grinders is they are the little guys, they are a small shop operation and they care about their customers. It’s like when people buy a handmade knife from us over a major supplier. I have had both a AmeriBrade and brodbeck and my current grinder for daily production work is a Brodbeck. I have liked both for different reasons, I didn’t like the 2” tool arms on the AmeriBrade and always felt trapped into their attachments but the grinder was super heavy which can be nice or bad depending on preference. Things I like about the brodbeck since switching to it is actually the lighter frame, it’s easier to move and if I need to take it to events it’s not as big of a issue, I love the tilting feature that is built in standard and they way they have it setup to tilt is really smooth, lots of attachments and you can use industry standard attachments. Brodbeck also happens to be 40 minutes from me and it have been great being able to pickup parts or attachments and like I said earlier their customer service is top notch. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of those grinders though.
 
Thanks everyone.

Does anyone have an opinion on the importance of the following?

1. Tensioning mechanism. One has a ratchet, one has a metal spring, one has a gas shock.

2. Running in reverse. Only the Ameribrade runs in reverse.

3. Having 3 tool arm slots. Only the Brodbeck has 3.
 
Joshua Fisher said:
Things I like about the brodbeck since switching to it is actually the lighter frame, it’s easier to move and if I need to take it to events it’s not as big of a issue
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Thanks for this insight. I will have it on a rolling cart to use it outdoors so light is good in my case.
 
I have an Ameribrade and I like it a lot. Bought the motor and VFD online I think on EBay. I don’t have any experience with the other grinders but I can call and talk to the owner just about any time I have any questions. The only problem I’ve had with it is the latch that holds the tensioner down slips sometimes when I’m changing belts. Not sure how much this helps, but I’d recommend the Ameribrade to anyone looking for a good grinder at a good price.
 
Any vfd worth it's salt will be able to run any of those grinders in reverse (if it has a 3 phase motor).
 
The brodbecks vfd can run in reverse but they don’t design the grinder to track in reverse so they don’t add a switch on the vfd. In the year I had my AmeriBrade I never ran it in reverse. Only thing reverse really helps with that I can think of is sharpening, it allows you to have the knife in a more comfortable position and have the belt trailing the edge which is the only proper direction to sharpen with a belt that can be cut if the belt is running into the edge. That said I use a different grinder to sharpen on. The brodbeck doesn’t technically have 3 tool arm slots as the middle doesn’t have a knob to tighten a tool arm in so you would have to modify it. I’ve not had issues with the gas strut other than wanting it a bit heavier so I got a 30lb gas strut from brodbeck to replace the stock one that’s 20lb.
 
Joshua Fisher said:
I think some of the appeal and why you see a lot of YouTube people using brodbeck grinders is they are the little guys, they are a small shop operation and they care about their customers. It’s like when people buy a handmade knife from us over a major supplier. I have had both a AmeriBrade and brodbeck and my current grinder for daily production work is a Brodbeck. I have liked both for different reasons, I didn’t like the 2” tool arms on the AmeriBrade and always felt trapped into their attachments but the grinder was super heavy which can be nice or bad depending on preference. Things I like about the brodbeck since switching to it is actually the lighter frame, it’s easier to move and if I need to take it to events it’s not as big of a issue, I love the tilting feature that is built in standard and they way they have it setup to tilt is really smooth, lots of attachments and you can use industry standard attachments. Brodbeck also happens to be 40 minutes from me and it have been great being able to pickup parts or attachments and like I said earlier their customer service is top notch. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of those grinders though.
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Interesting, how is the tilt feature on the Ameribrade? Also I saw where you can get a size reducer so it makes all 1.5" arms compatible so then you wouldn't be limited.

But regarding the tilt, I feel like NRT has the smoothest, best balanced one that I've seen in video anyway.
 
I have the AmeriBrade. I went with it because it was beefier and could track in reverse. I run the belt in reverse when grinding thin kitchen knives on a hard felt platen to get a nice convex edge. It's easier for me to keep track of the edge and thickness running edge up with the belt in reverse and it's good to be able to track the belt properly! I set up a tilting assembly for my AmeriBrade, but I did a bad job welding it (too much heat), so I warped some of the pieces I was welding. One of these days I will do it again, but it works as is. The AmeriBrade tilting adapter looks like it works well in the videos I saw of it!

I ordered some 1/2" thick bars of steel to make my own adapter for 1.5" bars. I run a Combo platen with 2 and 6" rubber contact wheels (magnetic platen with removeable faces with mild steel, pyroceream glass, F3 felt, S2-32 felt, leather and AmeriBrade 36" radius platen), small wheel assembly and a True Tilt table from Housemade on a 1.5" bar. I had to modify the TrueTilt a bit, but it works well. AmeriBrade is getting ready to release their own version of the True Tilt style table.
 
I'm sure you will be happy with any of them......
I was the same as you a couple years ago.

Not to throw more wrenches.

I went with Pheer. Another "little guy"
*Lots of makers here use Pheer.
* I've never heard ANY complaints.
*1.5" Assy Arms two positions.
*Amazing Service/availability
*Superb shipping, Best package I Ever had delivered to me!!! Very secure.
* Lots of accessories
*Actual metal spring tensioner (I wanted that feature)
*Great tracking
*Runs in reverse for convex/slack grinding
*56c bolt pattern (another requirement I had)
* Cheaper...... I was able to buy it without motor and drive
 
Taz said:
I run the belt in reverse when grinding thin kitchen knives on a hard felt platen to get a nice convex edge. It's easier for me to keep track of the edge and thickness running edge up with the belt in reverse and it's good to be able to track the belt properly!
Click to expand...
Interesting. I would also like to be able to run a felt platen for convexity. Can you describe how running it reverse works here? Don't the sparks fly in your face?
 
I am going pretty slow and wetting the belt, so there's no sparks at that point. I do a full flat grind then start the convex with the belt running normally and when I get close to the end I switch over to edge up in reverse.
 
Taz said:
I run a Combo platen with 2 and 6" rubber contact wheels (magnetic platen with removeable faces with mild steel, pyroceream glass, F3 felt, S2-32 felt, leather and AmeriBrade 36" radius platen),
Click to expand...
That sounds pretty cool. Who makes that magnetic platen?
 
I did. Took the regular platen, attached rare earth magnets to it and put mild steel backers on the non metallic platen faces.
 
The Northridge is the only one with ratchet tension. Go for the Northeidge
 
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