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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 06-04-2016, 07:52 AM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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The KMG

Ray, and anyone else.
Okay, I've decided to take your advice and go ahead with the KMG. After saving, selling another knife yeasterday, and a Smith & Wesson (revolver, not knife) I've saved enough to get the KMG.
Now the question is, should i just wait a while longer and get it with the flat platen AND the 10" wheel? I dont want to regret not getting the wheel now as it is cheaper than adding a wheel later. But it adds a little over $200 to the package price.

Just want to make sure the 10" wheel can be reasonably used for hollow grinding. I really only forsee hollow grinding narrower blades on bird & trout knives. And that is a maybe.

So I dont want to pass up the opportunity to get the 10" wheel at a reduced price, but also dont want to spend extra now and realize I need a 12" wheel (or something else) instead of the 10".


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Last edited by WNC Goater; 06-04-2016 at 07:56 AM.
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  #2  
Old 06-04-2016, 08:23 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Probably 98% of all the hollow grinding done by knife makers is done on an 8" or 10" wheel. For bird and trout knives it is very unlikely that you would want/need a larger wheel than 10" although you could use a larger wheel if you wished. If you only intend to hollow grind small knives you might be better served by the 8" wheel. Wheels are also very useful for profiling and shaping handles and other tasks although the diameter of the wheel isn't so important for those types of duty.

I'm all for saving money but if it causes a significant delay in your ability to get the KMG then I'd say go ahead and get the grinder now without a wheel. Use the grinder to make a couple of better knives, sell them, and you'll have the money to buy the wheel later even if the price is a little higher....


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  #3  
Old 06-04-2016, 04:18 PM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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WNC Goater...hey i can finally give you some advice this time....i have had the kmg for a while now and i gota say i absolutly love it deffinitly my favorite piece of equipment that being said first i agree with ray if you have the money now to get everything get it if not and you can only afford the platten right now just get what you can trust me you will be happy with the platten. i am not sure what machine your using now but i am sure you know there is a learning curve on whatever you do....trying to learn to use the platen effectively and the wheel at the same time might be a little much or maybe not it would be for me...i got it with the platen then got the wheel later (still trying to get hollow grinding right) what i did was get the one with the platten learned how to use that the i got the wheel...the wheel i got was one of the 10in POLY serated from usaknifemaker.com they are a little cheaper than the rubber and some say they are not that good but i have had it for a while and i cant find anything wrong with it and if you want to save money all ya gota do is buy the bushings from them to tthen just take a 1/2 in bolt and a bunch of washers (from hardware store) and mount the wheel right onto that it will save a few b ucks instead of buying a spindle. As far as what ray said about using the wheel to profile and things like that...yeh its ok but so is the platen personally when i go to profile i knife i just use what ever happens to be on the machine at that time i dont see much of a difference between the 2 they both get the job done. either way what ever you decide to do trust me you will love this grinder
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  #4  
Old 06-05-2016, 12:06 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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Okay, thanks for the thoughts/advice. Frankly if I'm going to spend extra I can see an immediate need and usefulness of the small wheel attachment and a couple small diameter wheels. I believe that would be more reasonable for further up front investment before the extra cost of eventually learning to hollow grind.


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  #5  
Old 06-05-2016, 03:20 PM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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Aha! i didnt even think about that and yes the small wheel is very usefull and i took rays advice on getting the 1/2in one....certain things may be easier with different sizes but i havent found anything that i couldnt do with the 1/2. the biggest use i get from it is its perfect to dig a lil front finger groove and some curves on handles...but yeh your right on that one since your getting tthe platen regardless i am sure you will find much more use with a small wheel than a 10 in one at least it will get you going if you really want to hollow grind like you said that can come later ....get what YOU will have the most use for
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  #6  
Old 06-06-2016, 08:46 PM
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ATalley ATalley is offline
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Forget the 10", get the 8" the flat platten and two toolong arms along witht the small wheel adapter with the 1/2 wheel and a larger of your choice. I've had my KMG for several years and like both Goater and Dtech I love this machine!

You could save a bit by using the pulless and skipping he VFD but you won't be disappointed if you spend the $ for the vfd. Rob builds a fantastic machine! ☆☆☆☆☆ from this guy. (charge neighbors to sharpen lawnmower blades to buy more wheels later on!)

Alex


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  #7  
Old 06-08-2016, 09:36 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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Atalley....i think getting all that would be over his spending limit since he was contemplating on waiting just to have enough for the big wheel....add on 2 tool arms big wheel and small wheel and attachment to the platen i would think that would be too much .....but if he did have the money your right on....i have a 10 in wheel and it works great but i havent used a 8in so i cant say anything on that i guess the only difference would be the height of the hollow grinds right? also i have the 3 speed pulleys and it works great 90% of the time its on the medium speed rarely do i change it. i went the way of the pulleys to save money and i also had read when doing research on the kmg (before i got it ) that some people were having problems with the variable speed because if you dont keep it clean the metal and the handle material dust gets in there and can ruin a part of the motor....there was more than one person complaining about this when i did all my reading so i stayed away from that. The tooling arm isnt needed all though i think its a great thing to have....right now i only have one so yeh if i want to switch attachments (big wheel/ platen) i have to take one of the arm and put the other on....yeh it can be done i have been doing it for a while now but it is a pain in the *** i actually thought about getting another last week and i think i will once i get paid again...but if your on a budget i think the money would be better towards small wheels first then big wheel then maybe another tool arm (after the platen of corse) but again everyones style and technieques are different and the attachments and tools should match the work that will be done most often....this is a great grinder no matter how you kit it out!
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  #8  
Old 06-08-2016, 02:12 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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dtec1, I cannot vouch for this outfit and their products, obviously, but someone on this forum posted a link. They make parts that fit the KMG and for less than the cost from KMG. I realize, quality could be an issue, but how difficult can it be to machine a bar of aluminum or steel into a tool arm. So if you're interested, their tool arms are considerably less.
http://www.knifegrinderparts.com/collections/all


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Old 06-09-2016, 09:27 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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wnc goater.....awesome thanks man...i took a quick look, what my plans are i have a square tube that is just a little small and also the thickness of the wall is a lil thing, yeh i could tap it but i think it would only have a couple threads wich would be fine for light work but probilly not so good to hold the weight of the wheel and hold it steady so i am going to weld some thicker bar onto the sides and see how it works but if it doesnt that link seems good yeh quality might be a lil off on somethings but the way the arms are made just as you said there isnt many ways to mess it up...either way i am going to take a better look at that site when i get a min...thanks!
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Old 06-18-2016, 07:52 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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Look what came a few days ago! Happy Fathers Day to me!







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  #11  
Old 06-18-2016, 08:31 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Nothing can put a smile on a man's face like a bright new shiny grinder!

Congratulations,
Doug


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  #12  
Old 06-19-2016, 08:50 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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Awesome man your going to love it!....the day i got mine and the day i got the even heat oven were GREAT days. now you get to play i would suggest using scrap first just to get the feel for it no sense in ruining expensive steel but ....well for me anyway it proved very easy to use yeh there are some things that take a lil practice but for the most part its very "user friendly"... i see you got a vacuum set up. did you have that or get it for this? i wish i had one i gota start looking around and find a good price or maybe just buy some tubes and hook up a shop vac under it now all i use is a bucket of water grinding metal doesnt make TOO much mess but doing a couple handle's in a row and everything within 5 feet is covered a inch deep. i see a belt in the box with the grinder did it come with a belt ...mine didnt did you get any wheels??? have you played with it yet (probilly stupid question) let us know how you like it....ohh and also i know its only one pic but in the background you shop looks very clean i wish i could keep mine like that go mess it up! JK oh one more thing just noticed this in the picture and you may have realized already but i didnt realize this right away when i did made a big difference being more comfortable ....you see where you have the table bolted to the top of the arm....you can also bolt it underneath the arm it give you a extra inch or 2 above the table on the platten....i guess it also depends how high the whole thing is mounted and whats comfortable to you just saying i used it with table on top for a lil bit untill i thought about moving it under and for me it was more combtorable have fun!
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  #13  
Old 06-19-2016, 04:04 PM
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Andrew Garrett Andrew Garrett is offline
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Look at the 8" polyurethane wheels from Tracey Mickley (USA Knifemaker's Supply).

I've been using one for years. Its the same durometer as rubber (70) super durable, and much more affordable.


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Old 06-19-2016, 04:12 PM
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Andrew Garrett Andrew Garrett is offline
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At USA knifemaker Supply

8 x 2 60 durometer rubber contact wheel (smooth) $270
8 x 2 60 (or 70) durometer contact wheel (smooth) $112

All bearings included.

I have wheels from 3/4" all the way to 12" in rubber and poly.
I have never noticed a difference except price.

Yes, it can take the heat too. (Everybody wonders about that)


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  #15  
Old 06-19-2016, 07:07 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dtec1 View Post
Awesome man your going to love it!....the day i got mine and the day i got the even heat oven were GREAT days. now you get to play i would suggest using scrap first just to get the feel for it no sense in ruining expensive steel but ....well for me anyway it proved very easy to use yeh there are some things that take a lil practice but for the most part its very "user friendly"... i see you got a vacuum set up. did you have that or get it for this? i wish i had one i gota start looking around and find a good price or maybe just buy some tubes and hook up a shop vac under it now all i use is a bucket of water grinding metal doesnt make TOO much mess but doing a couple handle's in a row and everything within 5 feet is covered a inch deep. i see a belt in the box with the grinder did it come with a belt ...mine didnt did you get any wheels??? have you played with it yet (probilly stupid question) let us know how you like it....ohh and also i know its only one pic but in the background you shop looks very clean i wish i could keep mine like that go mess it up! JK oh one more thing just noticed this in the picture and you may have realized already but i didnt realize this right away when i did made a big difference being more comfortable ....you see where you have the table bolted to the top of the arm....you can also bolt it underneath the arm it give you a extra inch or 2 above the table on the platten....i guess it also depends how high the whole thing is mounted and whats comfortable to you just saying i used it with table on top for a lil bit untill i thought about moving it under and for me it was more combtorable have fun!

That dust collector I've had for years and is specific for woodworking. I shudder to think of using it for grinding steel and those hot sparks mixing into that swirling sawdust!!
It is great for all wood sanding and it is handy for sanding the edges of leather sheaths before finishing. I have a bucket of water hanging underneath the table on the belt grinder. If I don't think that is sufficient I may add a shop vac.

Yep, I've already played with it and not being one to dink around the first use of it was to grind a blade I had profiled in 1084. Can I say "BLOWN AWAY" by the speed and ease of grinding with this thing! I'm in love already!

Yes, they threw in a belt, but not just any belt. A nice 60 grit ceramic! I've already bought some others, 60, 120, 220 in ceramic and a couple of 400 & 600.

I bolted the table on the top and have used it but realized it could be bolted on the bottom as well to give extra platen surface area if needed. The whole thing is mounted on a rolling stand, as is all my power tools, so I can roll them out of the way when not in use or position them where I want them in the shop. I don't have enough room to leave everything in a dedicated spot.

As far as a clean shop. I get fed up and disgusted with it occasionally and spend a few hours vacuuming and straightening up. I'm a little OC but it IS a woodworking and now, knife shop as well. Around the perimeters, dust is on everything. I can stand the dust but get overwhelmed at times with leaving tools, scrap wood and other things laying about and have to put them back in their spots.


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