Home Built Surface Grinder

To the OP (One Armed?): This is a GREAT thread - Thank you for starting thread. I LOVE making tools..... almost as much as making knives {g}

Marc, please post some links to those items you show. AND Marc please keep us in the loop as you order stuff and build the SG. I think I would like to build one of these also. Boy, I keep getting extra tools for my 2X72 I might have to build another {g}
 
I'm going to see if I can get a friend knife maker involved who is far beyond me in his abilities with thinking and building mechanically. Thanks again and this further bit will certainly help. ( I'm pretty excited about this. I hope he soon gets back from his holidays. Haw, haw.)
 
Teppojutsu said:
Exactly, its one thing to be a guy copying a design for his own use.

But when you.are a Brand Name saying you copied an idea is bad juju and imo rightfully so.
Not like anyone paid travis for using the design right lol.

And also KUDOS for you to be able to make this.
With one arm :eek: i bow down :)
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And to Ken H.

Yes, my left arm & hand are 100% paralyzed from an accident in 2014. But only "bow down" to The One I do....to Christ our Lord. He gave this ability to me. Nothing I did! From the tools & machines I build, to the beautiful knives I make.... He worked this in me. But I do thank you for the kindness.

I'm glad others are talking about building as well! I can't wait to see what others come up with!
 
Bummer on the arm - I really admire ya'll folks who have to overcome physical issues to do what you wish. My hat's off to you sir.

Now, on that SG - the billet the magnets are embedded in, is that a steel billet or aluminum?

Been watching (again) Travis's videos on his SG today - that thing sure is slick! Reading this thread and watching videos makes me wish to build one, so Marc, be sure you provide links and a WIP with your build. I think there are several of us that would like to build one. Here is perhaps his best video explaining how the SG works.


Ken H>
 
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Ken H> said:
Bummer on the arm - I really admire ya'll folks who have to overcome physical issues to do what you wish. My hat's off to you sir.

Now, on that SG - the billet the magnets are embedded in, is that a steel billet or aluminum?

Been watching (again) Travis's videos on his SG today - that thing sure is slick! Reading this thread and watching videos makes me wish to build one, so Marc, be sure you provide links and a WIP with your build. I think there are several of us that would like to build one.

Ken H>
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No bummer on my end man! I am who I am today because of this path. Although I'm in horrible pain every day and disabled, I wouldn't go back to the "old" me even if I could! I like the "ME", now, too much!

The bar stock the magnets are imbedded in is an 6061 t6 aluminum Billet, measuring 1"x2.5"x12". Yes seeing those vids got me excited in the beginning as well. Now imagine my excitement when I test it for the first time and it performed EXACTLY like in the videos!! It works so quickly & easily! Love it!
 
Ken H> said:
Bummer on the arm - I really admire ya'll folks who have to overcome physical issues to do what you wish. My hat's off to you sir.

Now, on that SG - the billet the magnets are embedded in, is that a steel billet or aluminum?

Been watching (again) Travis's videos on his SG today - that thing sure is slick! Reading this thread and watching videos makes me wish to build one, so Marc, be sure you provide links and a WIP with your build. I think there are several of us that would like to build one.

Ken H>
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You got it!! You know me, I like doing WIP's. One thing I noticed on the original cross slides I posted is they say manual. Which I believe they do not feed with the micrometer. I found another item that I think is going to be even better even if the original one does feed. It has more travel. I'm def going to build one that cross feeds because I want to use it one some cleavers in the future. Might be after the first of the year. Got a lot of stuff coming up and Christmas., so think I'm going to build this and the stone tumbler at the same time as well as the other tool arm you posted a video of for hollow grinding as well as a tapered tang drill jig for handles.

Geez, maybe I'll squeeze a knife in there somewhere.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
It can be dangerous for someone to ‘give credit’, for the record. I agree that it’s a good thing to do, but I’ve known people who were threatened with lawsuits (unfounded or not) for mentioning someone else’s design in their own ads. Sad, but a sign of the times we live in, I fear.

Nice work, to the original poster, btw. Necessity AND poverty are the mothers of invention, or conscription.:D
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You are very right, Matt. I had not thought of that.
 
Marc - on the micrometer cross feed.... Not exactly sure which you are referring to as the "crossfeed", but the part Travis to feed the SG into belt is a 1/2" fine thread (20 tpi) feed that Travis mentions as .050" per revolution and uses a dial indicator to provide amount of travel. I think he mentions using 1/2-20 all thread for this part. This part has 1-1/2" travel, which seems to be plenty as it's the fine adjustment, while the coarse adjustment is sliding the bar in 'n out so the magnetic bar is almost touching the belt.

The part that travels past the belt that does the grinding is totally manual with no measurement at all. Just slides on 3 roller bearings with a manual hand feed to slide the fixture back and forth to grind. Seems to work good - I'd be interested in seeing.

This could get interesting - I don't want anyone to think these are being built to sell, but ONLY for personal use.
 
Ken H> said:
Marc - on the micrometer cross feed.... Not exactly sure which you are referring to as the "crossfeed", but the part Travis to feed the SG into belt is a 1/2" fine thread (20 tpi) feed that Travis mentions as .050" per revolution and uses a dial indicator to provide amount of travel. I think he mentions using 1/2-20 all thread for this part. This part has 1-1/2" travel, which seems to be plenty as it's the fine adjustment, while the coarse adjustment is sliding the bar in 'n out so the magnetic bar is almost touching the belt.

The part that travels past the belt that does the grinding is totally manual with no measurement at all. Just slides on 3 roller bearings with a manual hand feed to slide the fixture back and forth to grind. Seems to work good - I'd be interested in seeing.

This could get interesting - I don't want anyone to think these are being built to sell, but ONLY for personal use.
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Yes I know that, I just don't have the equipment to make a fixture with a dovetail like that. I've found something that will work but also add cross feed for wider material.

Also not building this to sell, just personal use, but will do a wip. Prob gonna cost in the $350-$400 range when it's all said and done as I want to beef it up some after watching his vids when he's setting the sine and has to hold the fixture from torquing.

Hope your grinder goes horizontal or you're going to get a workout.
 
Marc - can you send me an email? My email is listed in profile and since you are a vendor status you should be able to get to it. if not, I can post here in thread.

Yes, my grinder does go horizontal -
 
Mine is vertical only. But it's really not bad at all. And it works SO QUICKLY....your not putting out any exertion whatsoever. I set it at a 45 degree angle to the tooling arm. Perfect position! Also, my bearing block slider is a 4 roller. And the adjuster I built uses 3/8"-16 ALL THREAD. I may switch to 1/2" all thread at some point. But it really is moot. The 3/8" makes adjustments equally minute. Which is what matters in the end. The all thread isn't bearing any load. Oh, and I couldn't easily find a 1/2" threaded turn knob, LOL! Another thing guys- I was doing some measuring, and if you are using a 12" block for the magnetic chuck, 16 of those magnets seems perfect! This gives approx 3/8" between each magnet. Honestly, mine with 11 holds the blades EXTREMELY tight. But I would say 11 is minium. 16 would have a tremendous amount of holding power! Reach out if you need any help guys. I'm always at home, so..... And I'm pretty good at figuring things out.
 
One Armed, what part of the world are you located?

With your 12" magnetic chuck, how long is the slide bar? Travis looks like his is almost 3 times as long as his magnetic chuck, but doesn't seem like it would need that long. Perhaps a tad over twice as long as the slide bar?

I think Travis uses the 1/2X20 all-thread so it would give .050" per revolution of knob. Your 16 tpi would give .0625" per revolution so that's pretty good also.
 
Ken H> said:
One Armed, what part of the world are you located?

With your 12" magnetic chuck, how long is the slide bar? Travis looks like his is almost 3 times as long as his magnetic chuck, but doesn't seem like it would need that long. Perhaps a tad over twice as long as the slide bar?

I think Travis uses the 1/2X20 all-thread so it would give .050" per revolution of knob. Your 16 tpi would give .0625" per revolution so that's pretty good also.
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I'm in the States...Philadelphia. The slide rail was listed at 500mm, so almost 20". Originally I wanted 1 meter, which is what I believe the SGA-1 uses. But after building this, I am very happy with the length of the rail. It's about perfect.
 
So I think I struck up some interest in my friend still on holidays in Mexico.
Could be we'll get something going when he gets back.
Frank
 
One Armed said:
And to Ken H.

Yes, my left arm & hand are 100% paralyzed from an accident in 2014. But only "bow down" to The One I do....to Christ our Lord. He gave this ability to me. Nothing I did! From the tools & machines I build, to the beautiful knives I make.... He worked this in me. But I do thank you for the kindness.

I'm glad others are talking about building as well! I can't wait to see what others come up with!
Click to expand...

Sorry being half asian a bow is a sign of respect not worship :)

Either way you definitely have my respect for doing it.
 
One Armed, looking at your photos below, the top photo shows the bearings you use for the slide to fit on. The bottom photo shows the bzr slide that fits over the bearings. I've looked at Travis's setup in his videos - do you have the same type bearing and bar slide he does? If so, do you have a link where you found the bearings and the bar slide that fits over them?

Ken H>

One Armed said:
Absolutely! That would be trick! You can build to exactly what you want from it. I had some other ideas, but in the end I built to the same specs as Travis' original design. Be careful with some of those adjusters though. I looked at several, and you really have to look at their size and adjustment travel. Some of them are micro, which wouldn't work. And they can be pricey. This is why I chose to build my own slider.

Here are some better pics (maybe). Showing the construction of the unit.

HyHZJPf.jpg


Dlb7B5I.jpg


uqrbVIV.jpg


haQqV1D.jpg
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Natlek said:
Yes , mine as well :) And I think the next step / upgrade / of this tool will be automatic feeding/movement for even more better finish .
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That's interesting, but I want to be able to track the wheel across the surface of the table, or table across the wheel. Burr King has theirs where the whole motor slides side to side, with the surface grinder attachment under the drive/contact wheel. It works very slick.
 
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