Recommendation? looking at grinders.. newbie...help

[Fletch Helical]

I pulled the trigger on a Pheer a few weeks ago. Your best bet is to just call the number over email it's basically a one man operation and he builds them one at a time. I've called a few times and the owner (Jose) has answered every time and had no issues talking with him. So far I have received the motor and VFD still waiting on the body of the machine. I spent a while researching, both threads on here and YT videos. The general consensus I got was the best one, is all of them. All the popular names tend to have the same things going for them, in terms of motor, VFD, little to no vibration. I think the biggest issue most seem to have is the tooling arm size on the TW's because it seems you're pretty much pigeonholed into using just their equipment whereas with a 1.5" you can essentially use any manufactures arms in any machine that accepts the "standard" 1.5". From what I gathered other than a few personal preferences, they're all going to get the job done and pretty much going to serve you for many years. Just seems to be a matter of what fits your budget the best. I personally don't think the difference between spending 2K on a grinder or 4K on a grinder is going to make much of a difference in how it makes a knife. Maybe for someone who is a professional smith and makes their living off of making knives there might be. But for a first grinder I don't think there is much of a difference as long as you're going with a relatively well known brand.

 

[JRB Blades]

I have the Ameribrade setup. I think the quality is top notch. The guys over there are super responsive for customer service and to answer any questions you may have. The number/quality of accessories is really good as well. I have their flat platten, large wheel, small wheel, and surface grinder. Give them a look. The whole unit will tilt to make it a horizontal grinder as well. For the $$$$ I think it's a solid option. IMO

 

[Harley Boatman]

I have the Ameribrade setup. I think the quality is top notch. The guys over there are super responsive for customer service and to answer any questions you may have. The number/quality of accessories is really good as well. I have their flat platten, large wheel, small wheel, and surface grinder. Give them a look. The whole unit will tilt to make it a horizontal grinder as well. For the $$$$ I think it's a solid option. IMO

I was looking at Ameribrade just the other day. The price point on their equipment is a lot more appealing to me than the 3k+ I see on a lot of other popular grinders. I'm waiting on an email back for their recommendations as to what HP motor I should order. Glad to see a positive review on a thread like this.

 

[Harley Boatman]

going for best I can get from the get go... buy once cry once.

I sure wish I would have done my research and gone all out right at the beginning. I bought a Grizzly single speed... now I'm out ~$600 and still crying months later.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

I have a TW-90, but a Northridge will probably be my next grinder.

There is nothing really wrong with the TW-90, but I think the Northridge is a slightly better design.

 

[Sharpco]

KMG-TX is my vote. They have evolved over the KMG classic and made a superior product to a lot of what's out there. Ratcheting tension, axis neutral tracking, horizontal/vertical grinding, dual slots, STEEL wheels, etc.. Don't judge the TX by the classic. The classic design is over 20 years old now, and the TX is a different beast altogether.

I own a classic and TX, and would say I am biased. But I own a TX because of research I did, and Beaumont's incredible customer service.

If not KMG-TX, get the Northridge Pro Package and don't look back.

I agree. I believe KMG-TX is one of the best 2x72 belt grinder.

 

[Black Cat]

Of the bunch ive used only garbage one was kmg. Definitely dont look into OBM. Garbage company with zero ethics.

I thought KMG was one of the original knife grinder companies with reliability. And I haven’t heard anything bad about OBM (Origin Blade Maker, formerly Oregon Blade Maker). All reviews I’ve seen on this site and others shows that they make very high quality grinders and accessories. They actively support local businesses and are made in America. What’s not to like about them?

 

[C.Kelly Custom Knives]

With family expenses constantly taking first priority, it took me 3 LONG years to finally save enough money to buy my first high-end knife grinder and I agonized over every little detail for months trying to decide what to get. I had saved about $4000 and had basically enough to get any grinder on the market. I was almost ready to buy the TW90, but found that I could get everything the TW-90 offered with the new KMG-TX plus it came with the industry standard 1.5" arms. Since the price was also a little lower I was able to get the flat platen, the 8" wheel, the small wheel holder, the extreme tilting table, separate 1.5" arms for everything and the complete set of small wheels for less than the price of a TW-90 without the extra tool arms and with only 3 small wheels. For me the added value mattered ONLY if there wasn't a reliability issue. Quality isn't my only priority, but it is my biggest priority.

Of course I worried about committing to a choice that was going to take up all of the money I had saved, and meant so much to me in my daily life as well.

After committing to one grinder and sending off all my money I worried about my choice until the day it arrived. But, damn! No...HOT DAMN! Even after all the research I was surprised by how well built the KMG-TX was when i unboxed it. Now that I've been grinding on it for a year and a half I can report that it has been a flawless daily workhorse and continues to make me smile every time I use it. I could not be happier with my investment.

Happy grinding!
CK

 

[Kentucky]

So many great choices now. I remember when we had like 3.

 

[Tin.Man]

I thought KMG was one of the original knife grinder companies with reliability. And I haven’t heard anything bad about OBM (Origin Blade Maker, formerly Oregon Blade Maker). All reviews I’ve seen on this site and others shows that they make very high quality grinders and accessories. They actively support local businesses and are made in America. What’s not to like about them?

well for one obm blatantly stole the mod e grinder design from a cad drawing from Northridge before he could patent it. Take a look. They also stole another makers tube designed grinder that he puts the plans out for free, they claim they designed it and gave him no credit.

kmg was the gold standard or the only ones making a modular 2x72. They used to make great grinders, then they rested on their reputations and started putting out Friday afternoon specials. When I buy a brand new belt grinder and every single bearing is bad out of the box yeah not impressed.

I took the grinder apart to paint it, I had to deburr every corner and edge and then once I started checking none of the pieces were cut square or parallel. Then I figured out why it would never track correctly because none of the wheels were in the same plane.

do some reading here on the forums both instances are well documented by very respected knife makers and craftsmen

 

[DanF]

Don’t know how so many nice knives were made before sock puppets and fanboys existed to proclaim “the truth”.
Why not let those manufacturers fight their own battles elsewhere and let shoptalk be shoptalk?

 

[C.Kelly Custom Knives]

Don’t know how so many nice knives were made before sock puppets and fanboys existed to proclaim “the truth”.
Why not let those manufacturers fight their own battles elsewhere and let shoptalk be shoptalk?

Hi Dan, my name is Chad.

With all due respect I'm unclear as to who you're pointing that statement at. Considering the proximity to my post I'm unfortunately compelled to ask if you're calling me a "sock puppet" or a "fanboy" for saying I've had a great experience with my grinder? I genuinely mean no dis-respect by asking for this clarification.

Best regards

 

[DanF]

Hello Chad, nope, not you and by the way I love your grinder. I had an original classic for a few years, never had a problem with it and I bet the tx is as nice as it looks.
I think it is a great service to all knife makers here, to hear personal experiences about the grinder they bought. Really don’t see any shoptalk value to someone coming in shoptalk and fighting some manufacturers battle for them in THIS forum. Seems like that should be between those guys and their attorneys if they have a legit, legal beef.
THAT is not what I pay my money for here, I could watch that Crap on court tv for free.

 

[Ron Raducanu]

Hello Chad, nope, not you and by the way I love your grinder. I had an original classic for a few years, never had a problem with it and I bet the tx is as nice as it looks.
I think it is a great service to all knife makers here, to hear personal experiences about the grinder they bought. Really don’t see any shoptalk value to someone coming in shoptalk and fighting some manufacturers battle for them in THIS forum. Seems like that should be between those guys and their attorneys if they have a legit, legal beef.
THAT is not what I pay my money for here, I could watch that Crap on court tv for free.

As much as I agree with your sentiment, I think it's important to know these things as a consumer. And who better to hear it from than the experts on a forum like this? Personally, I want to support those that support the profession/hobby. Not someone getting rich off an idea they didn't come up with, when I can buy it from the original source, nor a product that they are copying without the right to do so.

As an analogy, I was and am still big in the guitar scene. On some of the forums, it's really appreciated when someone warns us of knock offs and how to identify them. Knowing about IP theft is important. For the consumer and for the guy who is being ripped off. The more people know about it, the more protected they are, as consumers, and the more they know to support the real deal. Win/win for everyone. Except the crook.

 

[DanF]

Shovel on!

 

[C.Kelly Custom Knives]

Hello Chad, nope, not you and by the way I love your grinder. I had an original classic for a few years, never had a problem with it and I bet the tx is as nice as it looks.
I think it is a great service to all knife makers here, to hear personal experiences about the grinder they bought. Really don’t see any shoptalk value to someone coming in shoptalk and fighting some manufacturers battle for them in THIS forum. Seems like that should be between those guys and their attorneys if they have a legit, legal beef.
THAT is not what I pay my money for here, I could watch that Crap on court tv for free.

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my question Dan.

My question was born from my own ignorance due to being new to this forum and not having any perspective from interacting with most people here yet.
I appreciate your expanded explanation as well. For what it's worth, I agree with you.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

Hello Chad, nope, not you and by the way I love your grinder. I had an original classic for a few years, never had a problem with it and I bet the tx is as nice as it looks.
I think it is a great service to all knife makers here, to hear personal experiences about the grinder they bought. Really don’t see any shoptalk value to someone coming in shoptalk and fighting some manufacturers battle for them in THIS forum. Seems like that should be between those guys and their attorneys if they have a legit, legal beef.
THAT is not what I pay my money for here, I could watch that Crap on court tv for free.

Implementing that approach would make Shop Talk have a different philosophy than the rest of BF. Support for cloned knives is pretty well frowned on around here - so why would it be okay to support cloned grinders?

-Tyson

 

[DanF]

Implementing that approach would make Shop Talk have a different philosophy than the rest of BF. Support for cloned knives is pretty well frowned on around here - so why would it be okay to support cloned grinders?

-Tyson

“so why would it be okay to support cloned grinders?”

Never said it would be, you missed my point.
And using Ron’s example from the luthier world, the manufacturers there vigorously defend their legal rights and protect their copyrighted material in a court of law (very effectively), not the court of public opinion. Only two people know the true facts here.
In today’s internet world anyone can proclaim anything, and the winner is hardly ever the truth.
Makes me wonder if there isn’t a reason this is being tried in the court of public/popular opinion, instead of where it belongs (but that’s just my opinion)?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Both sides have some merit in what they are saying.

However, we are drifting away from the OP's question -
Looking at grinders ... Newbie... Help.

If you have a grinder you like, recommend it. If you have a grinder you don't like for a mechanical reason, say what the issue is. I think getting any farther afield will just confuse the new guys who only want to know which grinders are good ... or cheap ... or easy to use.

 

[AVigil]

The new grinder from Beaumont Metals looks great.
I have their articulated work rest and it is high quality and increases my grinders ability greatly.
Their grinder probably would be the one I will get next.