Multitool grinder?

Anyone out there actually tried one of these for knife work? www.americanwoodworker.co...in/sander/

For 170$ or so this thing might be nice, you could have a small rubber covered contact wheel, platen, 2x36 belt, 6 inch disc sander and a buffing wheel all on one tool. For those of us with VERY limited space to work (read: NO SHOP) this looks attractive.

Interesting....
Derek Melton
Clinton, MS
www.derekmelton.com/knife.cfm

I've seen them at "Woodcrafters" store, they look Ok to pretty good. The only drawback is the belts are an odd size around here and the only place to get them is at that store. I don't remember exactly but it seems they were pretty spendy and the selection was limited to fine, medium and course.
If I bought one the first thing I would do is modify it to use 2x48 belts. They would last longer and you could buy metalcutting abrasives for it. The belts at Woodcrafters were made for wood.
Moldy

I agree that 2x36 could be hard to find but what about 4x36 and splitting them? Isn't 4x36 a more readily available belt size? Would more grits be available for it and then just split the belt for a 2 for 1 deal?

Derek,

Look at Texas knifemakers Supply online store. They have everything to need for the multi-tool system.

www.texasknife.com/store/...eStore.htm


Alex

I have been looking for where I seen them applied to knifemaking,HUM,right under my nose!
Thanks ALEX!

They have them in Koval for 164 and they have belts for them up to 400 grit.I can take a worn 400 spray it with rem Grit or
TFL 30 and it puts a finish on a blade class to what a 800 grit will do I can go from the 400 worn belt to the buffer
and be real close to a miror finish
Couple passes with a 1000 grit hand finsh and you can see
your face in it.
The one in Koval has a serated wheel on it which will stop
excess heat build and your belts will last longer.

Hey Folks, I've had one of these little hummers since they first came out. First thing I noticed when all put together and you turn it on for the first time is, the belt goes the wrong way against the platen. It goes up instead of down. It's fine if you're going to do all your grinding with the platen being horizontal, but that won't cut it in my book. A quick and easy fix, though, is to mount the whole attachment on the left side of the unit. Works like a champ. Must say though, it screams. I use it mostly for hoggin off slag on my billets, a little final fit and finish profiling, and several other sanding tasks. It goes way to fast, in my opinion to do any serious flat grinding. Yes, belts were hard to get at first, but Tx. Knifemaker Supply has what you need. I did track down some SUPPOSED muky muk, there in Australia about a year or so back, and told him of the problem. He appreciated my input, and I told him it would be a quick easy fix and would do well in the knife market. Apparently they took no heed, but who am I? He also said they had plans to come out with a bigger one this year, but as of yet, haven't heard a peep from anywhere. It is a tough little machine, I must admit. And, I can honestly say, that out of all the smaller machines (cause I couldn't afford the high $$$ stuff), that it is well worth the money. Regards, Charles

First impressions with no basis for comparison (useful, no?)
Received as a gift with a Jet 6" grinder.

1) Well built, heavy plated stamped steel and machined aluminum; fluted, quality contact wheel (about 3 " diam?)

2) Goes together in minutes and pleanty of hardware to make it fit leaving a good handful of left over bushings etc.

3)Screaming fast on the Jet (quick slopy math, if I remember the values correctly at 3450 rpm, 6" diam drive wheel: 6" x pi = 18.85" diameter / 12" = 1.57 feet per one revolution x 3450 rpm = 5,419.24 feet per minute/60 = 90.32 fps or, going the other way - 61 mph??!!! YIKES). That is faster than my 14 yr old Subaru can move. Puts out enough breeze to keep you cool working. Not noisy by the way.

4) Belt and disk sizes not "standard" at 2x36" and 7" but abrasives can be had (Texas has best assortment)

5) Difficult to get the drive wheel running exactly straight. Mine still has about 1/32 or less wobble which is not good in the long run. Can get things almost squared up with tapping with a soft face hammer in the right places (as instructions tell you to do)but may need to surface face of the spindle nut.

6. Steel face plate on disk mounts with self tapping (short) screws into cast aluminum recesses. Got most screws in straight but a few are a bit skewed leaving an edge of their heads above the plane of the face plate. This makes "bumps" on the sanding disk and is not nice. Will sand down the heads flush with the plate. The idea of a 2 - 3 degree sloping face (from center)is cool and I may try make and put one on the disk plate.

7. Ran like a charm for 30 min while I reprofiled the damaged ss blade of an old lockback. However, had to dip the blade often to keep it cool and got some red before I learned.

8. Orientation of the machine can be changed but with sufficient fuss that you won't want to do this often.

9. Neat and easy belt alignment cam. Can hang a soft edge off either side for contour work in seconds.

10. Platen is adjustable with a couple of bolts. Set just a whisker below the belt it also is just below the surface of the drive wheel so you need to restrict lenghtwise movements to avoid dishing the ends of your work. Or raise the platen so the underside of the belt touches.

Overall, seems like a very good value and just right as a starter machine for the once-in-a-while hobbiest knifemaker and newbie. Would be even more useful if you could slow it down. I will use the left side of the Jet for buffing.

Won't have time to use it again until August but hope to return from the US with some steel and ideas so should give it a workout then.
John