Surface grinder

[Julie Coffey]

"Splain this to me Lucy..." what purpose or benefit is there in having a surfacing grinder?

I notice some have both milling machine and surfacing grinder (Ray)- some have only the milling machine, some have none.

Thanks in advance for sharing your insights!

Julie

[Ray Rogers]

Well, Ricky, it goes something like this: Waaaaaaa aaaaaaH !!

Surface grinders can be very useful depending on what knives you make and how you like to make them. They are not absolutely necessary but they do extend the 'sole authorship' concept a step or two further.

For making folders they are pretty much essential if you want to do anything that is not based on stock sized material. For instance, with stock materials you can make a blade .125 thick. This thickness, plus the thickness of your spacers, must match the thickness of your back spacer. Without a surface grinder you are at the mercy of your materials suppliers and must buy precision ground materials. Even then, they may be off a few thou here and there. Having a surface grinder means you can make any part the exact thickness you want it to be, even materials that are not offered as precision ground.

Surface grinders are also handy if you forge damascus billets or your blades. Such blobs of metal can be very challenging to clean up into nice smooth bars. Some people like to do this step on a mill but it is very hard on cutting tools. Also, while a mill will do the job well the surface finish it leaves will not be perfect and it is quite a bit more difficult to mill a rough blob to a precise thickness if that's what you need. So, even after milling, a surface grinder still comes in handy. In my case, I skip the mill altogether and just use the surface grinder to clean things up....

[Messinger]

Exactly what Ray said. It saves lots of time. On the last folder I made without a surface grinder I spent 10 hours hand lapping the blade, bushing, spine, and pins to the correct thickness and accurate parallelism (is that a word?). With a surface grinder the same job is done in minutes.

-Ben M.

[Don Robinson]

Hey, Ben,

I'm glad to hear about your surface grinder.

[Julie Coffey]

Thank you everyone for the comments about the surface grinder. I came across an auction on Ebay and needed to make sure it was something 'useful' before bidding. I just won it, not many bids but it was pick up only.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...DME:L:RTQ:US:1

Its not as new as some but from looking at the prices of new ones- I know I can at least get my money back out of it.

Julie

[Messinger]

Looks like you got a good deal to me. Sure can't beat that price. The chuck is worth that much. Hope it servers you well.

-Ben

[Ray Rogers]

I wonder if that's home made? The pictures are pretty dark so I can't be sure but looks like it might be. Definitely worth the price I would think .....

[fitzo]

Julie, one of the inherent hazards of a surface grinder is possibility of "explosive" destruction of the stone wheel. Look at most surface grinders and only a small portion of the lower part of the stone is exposed, covered by a heavy guard.

I've never had a stone go, and I expect it's infrequent. Those I've spoken with who have experienced it, though, usually include some form of "soiling myself" somewhere in the story.

My point is, build some kind of guard around that stone.

Interesting machine. Home Machinist recently had a build-it-yourself vaguely reminiscent of that. I've seen another (can't remember where) that used the carriage off a lapidary wet saw to somewhat the same effect.

If you've never been around a surface grinder before, I'd recommend you do like the welding: find someone to give you a brief lesson and some pointers. Patience and small bites is the key with a surface grinder. Very small bites, especially with stones.....

[Julie Coffey]

Thank you everyone for the comments and suggestions- I don't want any painful learning experiances to be sure. Blacksmith101 is fairly close to me and I have acouple of people in SCA that I think I can 'tap into' for questions if I have to.

On something like this would it be wise to replace the stone with a new one? And where would be a good place to go for that?

I'm looking at acouple of college classes this spring just to give me a better handle on some of these more recent aquisitions, ongoing education never hurt anyone- even me

I'll know more about the machine when we get it this weekend I've been told it weighs about as much as the milling machine I got from Don Cowles. The lady I'm purchasing it from said her father purchased it but couldnt find a name- I'll know more and take better photos when I get there and after I bring it home and get it set up.

Final studio set up is this weekend. Shop work begins next weeeeheeeee!

Julie

Yes Ray those photos were dark and on the small side. I sized them up and lightened them to get a better notion of what I've gotten myself into here, maybe these can help till I get better ones.

[AwP]

On something like this would it be wise to replace the stone with a new one?

If it seems true (perfectly round) take it off and tap it with something small and metal, if the stone makes a sharp "tink" sound it shouldn't have any flaws, but if it's more of a dull "thunk" or it wasn't true to begin with then you should definately replace it.

[Ray Rogers]

It really does look home made now and that would explain why there is no name on it. No reason it wouldn't work just as well as a store bought one though, if it's made well.

You can get stones from MSC, ENco, McMaster-Carr or any other general tools supplier. There are different types of stone for different uses. Do as Fitzo said and add a guard. I never had a stone break either but they still worried me so I converted the stone to a 2x72" belt and have been very happy with it ....

[jdm61]

Originally Posted by Julie Coffey

Thank you everyone for the comments about the surface grinder. I came across an auction on Ebay and needed to make sure it was something 'useful' before bidding. I just won it, not many bids but it was pick up only.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...DME:L:RTQ:US:1

Its not as new as some but from looking at the prices of new ones- I know I can at least get my money back out of it.

Julie

Good score, Miss Julie!!!!! The cheapest new one I have seen is a benchtop model for close to $1300!!!! Now when are you going to post pics of your work, young lady?