Grizzly Sander

I am just starting to learn to make knives and I am looking at the Grizzly 2x72 grinder.
Is it worth having?
I know I need a 2x72 and the Grizzly is the right price for now.
If this works out, making knives, I will move up to the high dollar models.
Right now I have a $100 Sears 2x 42 sander.

Thanks for the help,

Larry Reese
Kenney, TX

I've been using a Grizzly for about 5 yrs now. It was given to me as a present, so price and such had no bearing on my getting the grinder. I have noticed some things over the years.

Grizzly has a problem with quality control. Some of the parts had to be worke d a bit to get them to fit (ie...the shaft with the upper wheel was to large to slide into the lower base).
The rubber coated wheel was not uniform. It's slightly convex and has a few blisters. I don't know that it was intended to be a contact wheel, but I've used it as one. Having a non-flat surface makes hollow grinding a pain!

The tracking is difficult to line up, and often has to be re-adjusted (more-so than usual). The lock down screws never seem to lock things down.

If you're going to do hollow grinding, the motor housing gets in the way.

It's heavy and difficult to move. I've moved shops four times in the last two years and re-organized beyond that. I guess if you don't move it around this isn't a factor.

Now, the good points:
It's affordable.
It's a strong running motor. I plan on building a new grinder set-up and using this motor.

I have one of the grizzly 2X72 sanders. I am just beginning to make knives to and have been pleased with it overall.

Only one problem with it which is anoying, the belt tracking. It will run slightly to the left or slightely to the right. The only place it will NOT run is centered. Anyone have any idea how to cure this????


I have several pieces of Grizzly equipment (in a wood shop), there value for the money is OUTSTANDING.

If i had it to do over, i might have waited until i could have purchased a top of the line 2x72 belt machine. But then i might have had to wait a long time to start trying to make knives.
Good Grinding,
Pup

Pup, regarding your belt tracking, try putting a couple of thicknesses of 1" wide masking tape around the circumference of your idler wheel, right in the middle.

This will create a slight crown, which should help keep the belts running on center.

Larry,

Check out this thread . This is my personal recommendation if you're going the Grizzly route. If you have any questions, let us know.

Pup, if the tape doesn't help, you're going to need to make some adjustments to the idler and idler support arm. The idler head has two adjusting points and the idler support arm is adjustable (at the pivot) by moving it closer to/farther away from the motor. The latter makes a surprising amount of difference in tracking. Both of my Grizzly's track very well, but they didn't until I figured out how to adjust them properly.

Brett

Hi Larry
I started out with a Grizzly and it still serves me well for hollow grinding and profiling. Two major things I had to do to make it servicable:
A 10 inch wheel [I think about $50 from Grizzly] to allow room for grinding the other side of the blade without changing your grip to clear the motor, and
A heavy frame mounted to the belt assembly and bolted down to the bench. This eliminated the side to side wobble. I bolted mine to the adjustment bolts that allow the arm to move up and down, and added a spring from the heavy frame and connected it to the rear of the housing at the top. This steadied it right on down.
I later changed out the motor and used it for a buffer with lots of horsepower. The new motor runs to a new shaft with a step pulley to vary the speed when needed. I also added a disk grinder plate to the other end of the same shaft.

The grizzly got me started without breaking the bank- I think they still go on sale sometimes for $275.

It allowed me to start grinding, improve my skills, and decide if I even wanted to make knives.

When I grew, it didn't go away- it just gave new life to some other equipment, and I still use it every day in the shop. I bought two more of the Grizzly motors that work as buffers.

I bought a KMG a while ago for flat grinds and finger grooves, and there is no comparison. This is a top-quality machine that I would not give up. But it was paid for with knives made on the Grizzly.

You can go back a long ways here on the CKD threads- read all you can, and learn what you want.

The Grizzly is a great starter grinder that will work itself into the ground for you with only a couple of modifications.

Good luck!

Dave

Texas, I am curently grinding on a modified 2x42" Craftsman also, replaced the motor about a year ago.

I was planning on upgrading to a Coote, but with a recent lay-off, I won't be able to anytime soon. What I am thinking is to remount everything and turn it into a 2x72". It already has a 1 horse inclosed motor, and looks like all I'm going to have to do is chop some of the cast gard and move the motor back.

I'll post a pic if and when I finish, I'm curently waiting untill I use up all of my curent stock of belts.

If this works, maybe I can get by untill I can afford a top of the line with varible speed.

I looked at both the Grizzly and the Coote, and although the Coote was a little higher priced, I like the desighn and consturction better.

William,I am still using a Sears 2x42 that I mounted to a base added short legs and a piece of rectangular tubing to stretch it out to a 2x72,I left the platen on and can still use the 42" belts to do my platen work or do angle work.Hoping this will hold up till I can get the money together to get a better motor.Prefferably a Var. Speed. Good luck,Mike

Thanks Mike, I am planing on buying a good grinder eventualy, just want to get by with what I got for now, If I had the time I'd probly build a whole new grinder from the 2x42" parts, nothing wrong with the wheels or motor.

There is a wealth of info on making your own grinders here on Tool Time. Check out some of the old threads, OK?
Nothing wrong with buying one, they are just SOOOOO costly, ya know?
What to look for,
Plenty of power
Good tracking
Smooth operation(vibration and bounce)
Easy set ups(changing for different operations)
Just points for considering.