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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 06-13-2009, 03:38 PM
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Connor Connor is offline
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New 2" X 72" grinder build in progress...

Hello everyone. I've been a member here for some time, but haven't posted in a very long time. I am currently building my first 2" X 72" belt grinder(s) based on the Moby-Dick belt grinder posted on YouTube. I've decided to go with this style of belt grinder to save on available space in my shop. Flat grinds will be the majority of the work performed so I will be using an "anchor" on the floor to prevent the grinder from moving backwards or tipping.

I decided to take photos of the proccess after I had already began the work on the grinders, so please forgive the photos beginning in the middle of the build. The grinders will be going out for powder coating after completion, so there will be some "smoothing" of surfaces before that takes place.





Motor base.



Tracking wheel mounts yet to be installed on the swivel mount.



Coming along...



Tooling arm locking lever mounted.



Began installing the wheels last night. The swivel casters would not work with my application so I fabricated new mounts for the wheels. I should mention these wheels have a 1/4" ID bronze bushing installed in the wheel, making them perfect for this application.



Welded in place.



More photos coming very soon...

I plan on fabricating and installing the tracking wheel swivel mounts this evening. I don't yet have my mind made up on how I want to mount the tension spring, but this will be the next task after mounting the tracking wheel assembly.

Once the grinder is assembled and functional I should have a great many questions to ask as I begin my journey into knife making. I am interested in making liner lock folders and have been using blades from Elishewitz, Emerson and Lightfoot for many years. I find their talent very inspiring and wish to follow this same style, as well as add my own designs and concepts to my work.

Thank you for looking and thank you to all who have added their own grinder build stories and photos to inspire me to build my own and begin my own journey. If anyone has any questions or comments, please fire away!


Connor

Last edited by Connor; 06-15-2009 at 08:13 PM.
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  #2  
Old 06-13-2009, 07:02 PM
DaveL DaveL is offline
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Conner, you have my attention for sure. Please post the finished grinder and just how you are going to flat grind
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  #3  
Old 06-13-2009, 09:29 PM
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Connor Connor is offline
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Will do DaveL. I did a little more work on the grinders this evening...




UPDATE

I fabricated the tracking wheel swivel mounts this evening and drilled for the tracking wheel adjustment bolt. I will pick up a new large plastic knobbed bolt later.



Tracking wheel in place. I had my tracking wheel and platen attachment wheels machined by a talented friend. Unfortunately, I neglected to ask for a recess cut to allow the bearing to rotate once pressed in place. It's a simple fix. Will post pics of the wheels with bearings installed once the reccesses are machined.





Motor base and motor specs...





Starting to come together...



Next I will decide on how I want to install the tracking wheel arm tension spring and get it mounted. The platten attchment will also have to be made.

More pictures to follow...




Connor

Last edited by Connor; 06-15-2009 at 04:42 AM.
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  #4  
Old 06-13-2009, 11:43 PM
CWKnifeman CWKnifeman is offline
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Thanks for sharing, Looks good.
Curtis Wilson


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  #5  
Old 06-14-2009, 05:52 AM
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Shankmaker Shankmaker is offline
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Thats a good looking build.
I will be interested in seeing it finished.
That motor seems a little fast. Are you putting variable some how?
It would be nice to have a friend who could turn me out a wheel when I needed it.


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  #6  
Old 06-14-2009, 08:56 AM
DaveL DaveL is offline
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Yeah, a 3450 RPM motor does seem fast to me. Like I said I want to see it all and sincerely compliment your work. Dave
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  #7  
Old 06-14-2009, 01:16 PM
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Northwest29 Northwest29 is offline
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Thumbs up

Connor,

Wow, that is a really nice build you you have going!! The workmanship is very good, you must be a welder by trade? Please continue to post and provide the details, for there will be some of us that will want to 'try' to follow in your foot steps.


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Last edited by Northwest29; 06-15-2009 at 11:34 AM. Reason: Can spell or type (-:
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  #8  
Old 06-14-2009, 09:04 PM
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Connor Connor is offline
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Thank you everyone for the kind words, it's truly inspiring. I learned to weld through my work many years ago. We were all offered the opportunity to learn to weld and be paid to do so, but I was the only employee who accepted the offer. To this day, it still baffles me as to why I was the only taker. Some of the guys I worked with back then have me do odd welding jobs for them here and there... it's ironic! I have somewhat of a perfectionist personality, so I drove myself to learn to weld as best as I possibly could. I really want to learn to TIG weld now that I have good experience with MIG welding. Maybe the TIG welder will be a "Santa" gift?...

I am very lucky to have a machinist as a very good friend. Jay has pulled my butt from the fire more than once! I'm always sure to compensate him for his time and talent as much as possible.

In all honesty, I purchased the Leeson motor many years ago with a 3450 RPM after taking the advice of a Canadian knife maker I used to e-mail daily. His advise was that it was always better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it... Sounded like sound advise at the time. What speed motor is everyone else running on their belt grinders? Should I think of varying the speed? I planned to save the wiring as the last of the build proccess. Opinions and advise is greatly appreciated!

I worked a 12 hour skidding shift today and I am dead tired. I will most likely have more pictures to post tomorrow evening.



Connor

Last edited by Connor; 06-15-2009 at 04:40 AM.
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  #9  
Old 06-15-2009, 08:02 AM
DaveL DaveL is offline
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Conner, most of the grinders come with a 1725 RPM but like many, I went to variable speed some time ago and that solves all the problems. However, I am pretty sure you can't get to 3450 with a variable speed. I think most are from one to 1.5 HP with some, when voltage is available up to three. Hang in there, you are sounding fine!
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  #10  
Old 06-15-2009, 03:26 PM
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ARCustomKnives ARCustomKnives is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Connor
In all honesty, I purchased the Leeson motor many years ago with a 3450 RPM after taking the advice of a Canadian knife maker I used to e-mail daily. His advise was that it was always better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it...
In the case of a knife grinding motor, that's only true if the setup allows for variable speed.
More specifically, it needs to allow for much slower speeds.

You may be able to use a 3 or 4 step pulley based on your motors shaft length, but you're still gonna be running pretty fast at your slowest speed when using your average pulleys.

IIRC, the average belt speeds on your typical knife grinders are calculated using a 1750 RPM motor (give or take 50 RPM). On a 2"/3"/4" step pulley, I believe this will yield somewhere close to the following belt speeds:

3500 ft/min
1750 ft/min
800 ft/min

With a 3450 RPM motor, you are essentially doubling those figures, so that your lowest speed will be around 1600-1750 RPM, and your highest speed will be closer to 7000 RPM, which is pretty fast for a grinding belt (or contact wheels and bearings) to be moving.

You may want to make sure that your belts, wheels, and bearings can withstand these speeds and the resulting tempuratures, as this will heat things up a lot faster. Also, any vibration will be ampified, and parts could be quickly compromised.

You need to also consider that detail work which requires slower belt speeds will be a lot more difficult, if not impossible to do with 3450 RPM.

Ideally, one would have a VFD which adjusted between 0 FPS and 3500+ FPS. In this case, I can see why it wouldn't hurt to have more power and not need it, although you would still need to keep in mind the tolerances of your grinder parts, and the added dangers/difficulties that higher belt speeds can impose.

Just my $.02. Others may agree or disagree.

All that being said, that grinder looks like it's coming along superbly, and I can't wait to see the finished product! Lookin' good!

Last edited by ARCustomKnives; 06-15-2009 at 03:32 PM.
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  #11  
Old 06-15-2009, 03:33 PM
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ARCustomKnives ARCustomKnives is offline
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BTW, can you post a link to the grinder that you're basing this design off of?

Thanks.
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  #12  
Old 06-15-2009, 06:00 PM
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Connor Connor is offline
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Hello Bassthumper, thank you for the insight regarding the motor and it's RPM with different pulleys. I have two 4" 3 groove pulleys I planned to use with the Leeson motor, but if I will not be able to use the Leeson to achieve the lower speeds, I will replace this motor with the appropriate RPM Leeson motor with the same footprint. The bearings I am using in the tracking and contact wheelos are the NTN high friction .500 ID bearings.

I also apologize for not supplying the link to the Mobi-Dick belt grinder I am using as a base for my own grinders. This configuration will work very well for my application. I have not found any plans for the Mobi-Dick, but I am only using it as a guide and have made several modifications on my own grinders.

MOBI-DICK belt grinder link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRUCHNZMwuQ

Last edited by Connor; 06-16-2009 at 08:33 AM.
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  #13  
Old 06-15-2009, 06:53 PM
DaveL DaveL is offline
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Thanks Conner, the link was very useful in understanding what you are building, The grinder looks very capable.
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  #14  
Old 06-16-2009, 10:57 AM
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ARCustomKnives ARCustomKnives is offline
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Thanks for posting the link!

I very much like the tension adjuster on the one in the video. Not a bad idea at all.

This grinder looks like a cross between the NWGS by Tracy Mickley and Rob Frink's KMG in many respects.

I like the mobile base idea a lot too. I finished a NWGS a couple of months ago myself. I got it mounted on some plywood right now, but I'd really like to fabricate a mobile base for it to fit on. I think I will adapt the tilt back roller system in some way.

Very nicely done so far. I look forward to an update!
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  #15  
Old 06-16-2009, 10:53 PM
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tmickley tmickley is offline
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looking forward to seeing it done...I also noticed the nice welds...now I'm going to have to go run some practice beads this weekend...
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