Thread: Purchasing a belt grinder

Hi guys,

I've been trying to find a good belt grinder in Athens.

Well, I found this.

Would that do for razor grinding/regrinding and initial bevel establishing?

The things is that it cost about 1/10 of the price of others I've found online in the States, UK and Germany.

Why do you think that is? Is it a matter of size, quality or use?

Thanks a lot.

When looking for a grinder there are many questions that come into play. The main one I think is do you want a grinder that you can "make it work" or one that will do what you want it do going forward. Personally I would suggest getting a grinder in the 2x72 platform, belts are going to be easy to find and it's going to be able to do all the things you want it to do. The trouble with some of the grinders like the one you posted is the contact wheel wont always be what you want, belts will be harder to find and its going to be one of those machines that if you continue down this path pretty soon it will be just something that is going to limit you.

Don't get me wrong there are guys that do amazing things with much less, but I think investing in a good grinder will go a LONG way. Personally I built my own grinder because buying one outright is just expensive. While building one I still spent a good amount, but it was for about a third of buying a KMG or something similar.

There are hundreds of different sanders and grinders out there, but I think the key things to ask are, what are my options with contact wheels (because you'll want multiple sizes), belt sizes, and can it fit all the needs that I will want out of it.

You may be able to do some things with it, but I think the one shown will greatly limit you to what all you can do with it.

A grinder is better than no grinder. That being said, that grinder is far from ideal for any serious stock removal.

My experience with small belt grinders is that they lack power and are often much too fast, so you are either overheating the steel or stalling the grinder. If you are just messing around tinkering and not sure you will stick with making or modifying razors, it can be a inexpensive route to see if you like it. If you are pretty sure you want to continue into the future, you are better off buying a quality 2x72 grinder. The money spent on the little grinder will be lost, as resale is not great, however the resale on quality 2x72 grinders is typically very good. The quality jump that I experienced when going from a little grinder to a quality 2x72 was very significant.

How about these belt grinders?
Which one would you recommend?
Which attachments and/or contact wheels would I need?

Production

Thanks again.

The grinder you pictured is more of what you will need if you plan to get into knife and razor making for the long haul. You can get by cheaper as I did on razor or knife here and there, but having slow speed for finishing is paramount. After a bblade has been heat treated, heat is bad & high speed belts are a ruined blade in the making. My first razors I used a high speed grinder for stock removal and then used a slow speed grinding stone that was about $50. It was so slow that there was no way I would ruin the heat treatment. Look at some of my first threads I started here and you will see that you can do it cheap, or you can go all out and get the proper tools to make life easier. All you "really" are limited to is your mental capacity. I've seen some really cool home-made belt grinders.

I always forget that this forum has many members from all over the world silly american...

That link you provided seems to be a very good option, I wish we had a maker like that here in the states! The prices for what they have are about what I spent to build mine, and that's dirt cheap here. It seems any model would do, wheels i would get the yellow (if you went this route) the 65 ShoreA, thats a good hardness. I would definitely get a 4 inch, I have a 5 inch one and its almost too big to do a hollow grind on anything less than a 6/8 razor. I also have some wheels in the 1 and 2 inch range, they make some of those profiling tight areas easier. But like any tools, the more always seems the merrier. A flat platten is also very nice to have, but I never have a use for slack belt attachments.

For knife making it will do, razors, not so much.
The big problem is, to make a razor you need to work on the wheel, with full access from the sides. And you need to be able to make it run slow for final grinding, or you are going to burn the edge to a crisp as soon as it starts getting thin.

A good belt grinder is an expensive investment. However, while you can skimp and make do with many things, a good belt grinder is really a must. If you're just going to make 'your own razor'. Or even make only a couple of razors, then it's a crazy investment. But for actually making blades as a hobby, it is the best thing you can buy. And wwhichever brand you'r going to buy, a 2x72 grinder with contact wheels, a flat platen attachment and some sort of variable speed drive is going to cost more than a thousand dollars easily.

Originally Posted by ssg1

How about these belt grinders?
Which one would you recommend?
Which attachments and/or contact wheels would I need?

Production

Thanks again.

If you're in the EU, I recommend Home
That is where I bought my grinder and wheels.
Good service, and a bit cheaper.
I got the model 2S. Worth every penny.