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Hey all,
So, here is the short story…
I have been working metal since I was a teenager; machinist and welder.
As I have started turning gray, I have also become pretty skilled in the kitchen.
I’ve spent 1,000’s of dollars on kitchen cutlery, and have never fell in love with any knife I have purchased, regardless of price.
So, my solution, is to make my own kitchen knives, the way I want them.
I have a fair amount of tooling, but, missing a good belt sander.
Here is the plan:
I’ve purchased some O1 tool steel — 1/8” x 3” x 18”
I’ve made cardboard templates for shape of blade and tang
Planning on a slow convex from spine to edge, with an 11 degree 1/2” secondary bevel, which leads to a 16 degree primary bevel.
For this experiment, I was thinking I would just get a cheap $50 belt sander from harbor freight, and make any mods I need to make. Not sure if that is a good plan, but, sanders go up in price pretty damn fast.
I have a nice Lagun vertical mill and plenty of carbide tools to throw at the rough shaping. And a plasma torch if needed.
I’ve have a heat treating shop down the street willing to do the hardening and annealing/tempering.
I figure I can get the steel to 60-62 HRc.
If anyone has any advice, I am open to it!
Thanks.
TW.
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Hello! Welcome to the Bessex forum, it's great to have you here!
You're no stranger to design and engineering, especially with that mill! I don't think I'd call you a green horn. 
So first of all you're looking for a belt grinder. I don't recommend the $50 hobbyist woodworking sanders for anything. The minimum would be a Kalamazoo 1x42. They are industrial duty machines for about $250 delivered, when they're on sale from Enco. Otherwise, I think they're about $300 delivered. I use them a bunch, even with three 2x72s and other grinders.
You've got a good plan working with cardboard templates. I hope you stick around and tell us how it goes for you!
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+ 1 on the Kzoo 1SM 1" belt grinder. I have one that I got on sale from Enco. The little guy has been a trooper. Nice Baldor motor.
It's fairly slow (good thing), 1750 rpm if memory serves correctly, so heat is generally not a problem unless you really get into the belt.
Depending on how hard the steel you are grinding is, and sort of in general, it might not be the best choice for hogging off large amounts of metal, but it works great for general bevel grinding and sharpening. A great little, tough machine. I'd be lost without it.
It would look nice sitting next to your Lagun. 
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(03-15-2017, 12:02 AM)grepper Wrote: + 1 on the Kzoo 1SM 1" belt grinder. I have one that I got on sale from Enco. The little guy has been a trooper. Nice Baldor motor.
It's fairly slow (good thing), 1750 rpm if memory serves correctly, so heat is generally not a problem unless you really get into the belt.
Depending on how hard the steel you are grinding is, and sort of in general, it might not be the best choice for hogging off large amounts of metal, but it works great for general bevel grinding and sharpening. A great little, tough machine. I'd be lost without it.
It would look nice sitting next to your Lagun.
I am far from an expert on belt grinders. My first belt grinder was a wobegone $25 yard sale Dayton. It was missing the disk and table. The motor had been rewired with lamp cord; the belt and pulleys were shot. With $30 in new belt, pulleys, and cord, it worked quite well.
Influenced by Steve Bottorff (sharpeningmadeeasy.com), I bought a Viel and donated the Dayton to my grandchildren's school. I have found the Viel very flexible and rugged. I would recommend it.
I have no idea how the Viel might compare with the Kalamazoo. I suspect the K. might be a better choice, although I have no experience with it.
My point is a belt grinder is a very useful long term tool. I would highly recommend spending more to get a long lasting quality tool.
Keep us posted.
Ken
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Thanks all.
I walked into H. Freight, took one look at that little (tiny actually) belt grinder and promptly left the building!
The old proverb of 'buy good tools, cry once. buy bad tools, cry often' has always stuck with me, and I have a hard time buying crappy tools.
I ended up with a porter cable, 4" x 36" from H.D. Has a disk as well.
After taking all of the plastic off (after I figured out what that burning smell was), it works okay. It is surely running too fast, and I have to go pretty slow.
It is not an ideal machine for grinding a blade for sure, but, I can always use it in the wood shop.
I've been reading what feels like the 'whole internet' on a decent grinder.
The grizzly, the coote, the NWG, the Kalamazoo, the KMG.... oh my!
So, at this point, I am looking at the Kalamazoo's.
Here is the question, 1" or 2"?
I can mentally see the advantages of either one, but, not having used either, which would be the better choice for a beginner?
Most of my knife plans are on the larger side for kitchen use, so the 2" seems like it might be easier to control over a wide blade.
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Instead of becoming confused by the vast number of options espoused on the Internet, I would hone in on the advice of a real deal expert in what you want to do. Mark Reich is a knife maker; he recommends the one inch Kalamazoo; you want to make knives. You may certainly make your own choice, however, I would give Mark's advice serious consideration.
In my case, my interest is sharpening, not knife making. I was fortunate enough to meet Steve, a real deal sharpener and instructor. The Viel he recommends works very well for a sharpener. Sharpening and knife making involve different but related skills.
Ken
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03-15-2017, 04:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-15-2017, 04:48 PM by Mark Reich.)
You did the right thing, Wade! No cheap tools!
I totally agree that 2" machines are better for grinding knives, but belt speed is almost as significant. For a lot of guys price is a big consideration, and it just so happens that you can get high speed machines cheaper. They're for hobbyist woodworkers, and they're called sanders. The HF 1x30, and all other high speed belt machines I'm aware of are made for sanding.
The things that make the Kally 1x42 worth considering are low cost and low speed. It's a grinder!
I've looked at the Kalamazoo 2x48 many times, and I believe I've seen three configurations. For $300, you get a grinder with a 5" contact wheel, with no motor. It has a shaft with a v-groove belt pulley, so it could easily be multi-speed with step pulleys. You get to choose your motor too, so you aren't limited. A 1 hp slow speed motor would make this a nice grinder.
For about $550, it comes with a 5" contact wheel, plus a 1/2 hp Baldor high speed motor. It's a sander.
Tru-Grit offers the Kalamazoo 2x48 with an 8" contact wheel and a 1/2 hp high speed motor for $850. I can't believe they introduce a 7200 SFPM machine for knife work. I would much rather have a Coote 2x72 for my money.
As a final option that you might see suggested elsewhere, Sears sells a 2x42 (not 2x48) with a high speed, 1/3 hp motor. The best thing about it is the price, but that should be expected. It's not an industrial machine, and I would never suggest buying low cost equipment.
Hope this helps!
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Mark,
Thanks, that makes more sense out of it all.
I like the idea of picking my own motor because I would like to put a DC motor with a speed controller on it.
Thinking an optional foot controller could be pretty sweet too.
Those DC motors get expensive pretty fast though, at least once you start getting into the .5 - 1hp range with a speed controller.
But, I have a buddy that works for a motion control distributor, and he is cool about brainstorming different configurations.
Wait a minute, I haven't even finished my first knife yet 
Is this knife making a disease, do I have it?
Me thinks so.
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Here's what I have found to be a real time saver when it comes to tools:
A 3.5" hole saw works most excellently for creating a nice hole in the side of your wallet which you can easily adapt to attach to your dust collection system. Just turn it on and instantly it sucks all the $$$$ out! Fast & easy!
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Touché, Grepper! I have seen your humor before......
Ken
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