tilting belt grinder, how useful?

[deerrockknives]

It’s interesting to hear the reputable makers that don’t have it. I have the north ridge and definitely use it on every knife for profiling with smalls wheels, contact wheel, handle shaping, etc

 

[navman]

To make up for my lack of a tilting grinder, I have been using rotary drum sander mandrels chucked up in my drill press...not optimal, and the drum sanding papers don't last very long., but it is what I have at the moment.

 

[vikingGoalie]

Why can't you fix the grinder you built?

i might be able to, but my first one was built out of 2x4's, skateboard wheels, treadmill motor with treadmill controls for variable speed.
It shredded metal at a crazy rate, but the tracking was a little wonky at times. I'd get it dialed in and then it would go sideways at first not a big deal.
But eventually I decided I had enough of it and I upped the tension to see if that would help, and it sorta did and I *really* upped the tension, and I cracked my cradle I used to hold the motor.

So i can rebuild the cradle, but decided that i want to make high quality knives and this is a fundamental tool in the process. I'm better off spending my time getting better at this and making knives instead of making tools. I like to make things but it became a no-brainer. I got a welder and created a fabrication table out of an old table saw, I was gonna get some tube steel from the salvage center and make my own.
But then... I did some math and for under 1K shipped to get a tilting, variable speed grinder with a big contact wheel, little wheel and flat platen, and it runs on 110 and uses a transformer to drive a 220v motor, and it has great reviews.
If I made one myself it wouldn't be as good, and I wouldn't really save much money at all. so better served focusing on making knives...

I also chatted with a blacksmith shop that runs classes, they had one and it is used hard there and they basically where like it's fine didn't stand out negatively or positively compared to the OBM and JET belt grinders they had there, just kinda did it's job.

 

[Lorien]

It’s interesting to hear the reputable makers that don’t have it. I have the north ridge and definitely use it on every knife for profiling with smalls wheels, contact wheel, handle shaping, etc

my dream 2x72

 

[vikingGoalie]

yaay i purchased: https://www.vevor.com/belt-grinder-...her-with-vfd-3-grinding-moulds-p_010615719487

now i await it's arrival. kinda like a kid before christmas lol...

tip for others, vevor has a tendency to replenish stock onsey twosey, you can't back order you have to get a notification and hopefully beat someone else out to clicking the buy button.
so, my day job I've been doing IT type of things forever. i set up a script that checked every 15 minutes and once the page changed to "InStock" it sent me a text message. Did that after missing out twice, I got a notification but took 2-3 hours to notice the email and get on (one of the emails was at 4am, I got on at 8am and it was gone by then). so got my text alert and bought it

 

[vikingGoalie]

I just got the belt grinder. arrived very well packed, no damage in shipping.
you don't get any real instructions with this, but honestly if you can't figure it out you shouldn't be doing this lol....
the only documentation that would be nice is the VFD you adjust the Hz to change the speed but I haven't noodled out the max/min on that reason being that's kinda important to know....

one warning that comes with this is that you should not run it above 70% speed for long periods for the first month or so. reason given that there are "wear-in" bearings that brake in over that period. Never heard of that but meh.

at any rate this thing tracks perfectly, very quiet compared to the pita craftsman 4x36 i was using. The contact wheel is very nice. The overall quality is great, it's a beast of a unit (package weighed ~220lbs) and I anticipate using this for years to come

https://imgur.com/a/g1GvynT

One un-anticipated consequence of getting the tilting model is that it stands a good deal higher then the non tilting model.
This makes sense when you realize that the motor has to have room and it's massive. BUT... it means i have to craft up a stand for it as the spot I had for it it's to high by about 5 inches.
Not a big deal but something people should realize before purchasing.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Some people make a cutout on the bench to allow clearance.

All this brings back an old memory.
I don't have any photos, but my old Bader B3 had a tilting base. It was a hinge that allowed the whole grinder and base to flip sideways. It was pretty basic, but worked.

 

[fitzo]

V vikingGoalie Congratulations on acquiring a major piece of equipment! Protect that PID from any dust getting in any cooling holes in the sides of the case if it's not sealed. Dust is death to these controllers.

 

[vikingGoalie]

V vikingGoalie Congratulations on acquiring a major piece of equipment! Protect that PID from any dust getting in any cooling holes in the sides of the case if it's not sealed. Dust is death to these controllers.

thx! i have it up and out of the way, it does have a cooling fan that is blowing out i think (i'll check again). but regardless point taken, I was thinking I might just cut some filter pieces out from a furnace filter and put it over the holes.

 

[REK Knives]

Op I know you got a grinder but here's for anyone else on the fence about the tilting feature... Super helpful in certain situations

 

[Jeffinn]

I use the tilting table a lot and the variable speed is a must have feature. I started out with a Coote 2 wheel grinder with step pulleys and it worked great. But once I switched to the Ameribrade with all the bells and whistles I wondered how I ever got by without them.
Congrats on the new grinder purchase, you’re gonna love it!
Jeff

 

[Signalprick]

I was on a budget when I purchased my 1st grinder so getting the tilt bracket with an eye toward making it nearly as good as a dedicated horizontal while in that position. It has worked so well that I won't be getting a dedicated horizontal machine anytime soon. I am however getting another machine for dedicated verticle grinding in the next couple weeks.

I run an Ameribrade and I use the combo platen with a 6" and 2" contact wheel on each end. I have the tension set just right on the swivel to quickly move from the 2" to flat to the 6". I also have a work rest for each position. So yes it requires a work rest change when going to each work surface and if your making folders it does require you check for square before grinding but now that this is all part of my process it's literally a couple seconds to go from one work zone to another.

All that said. Make the investment on the tilt bracket. You can do everything all in one grinder right from the get go. It's a worth while option and really shines if your on a budget.

 

[Selfe Made Knives]

My first real grinder didn't tilt, so I fabricated a tilting stand for it that bolted to the grinder and my workbench.
When I upgraded, I knew I had to have a tilting grinder. I go between horizontal and vertical on it multiple times a day. It is very useful to be able to lay it on its side when using the small wheels, and also when handle shaping.

 

[vikingGoalie]

still loving this thing. for any price point (compared to other grinders) it's solid, at 1K shipped it's a steal.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

My Pheer came with a very small work surface.
I quickly made a larger table for grinder.

I don't think I've seen this before, but it probably/should of been thought of, idk....

This might save some of you some money, thinking you need a tilting table. I try to be frugal.

I just drilled some holes in a thicker piece of stock. My intention is to make the work surface Not centered, cause then you can make more use of belts by flipping them.

I might cut an angel on the top surface to make a quick scale bevel reference, idk yet.

The little jig is just quick clamped on.



*I didn't have 3/8" flathead screws otherwise I'd use that instead.

 

[Cliff Carter Knives]

It’s different for everyone, and you get used to what you have, but tilting for me is hugely helpful and a big efficiency booster. I also have a pheer and I built my workbench around making sure it could tilt. Post these pics every couple years in the hopes it can help someone who wants to add titling to their stable!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

That is pretty much what my old Bader tilting base was. But mine cost a lot more