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knifemaker.ca & Simple Little Life

PeterT

Ultra Member
Premium Member
There's been some recent discussion on our forum about belt grinders. They are spendy & I'm in no rush so just Googling around kits & commercial ones led me to this supplier in Sundre who also has some goodies & services of potential interest (no affiliation). The web page https://www.knifemaker.ca/ has an imbedded Youtube link where a fellow picked up his KMG, but also some side discussion of a Bee grinder (Canuck brand).

The same fellow has his own YouTube channel called Simple Little Life which shows more on KMG & some neat projects.
 
Thanks for this Peter. I forgot about this guy. Have him bookmark somewhere in the bowels of my "Grinders and Supplies" folder. ;)
Just my 2 cents on the two he sells: I'm sure they are both great, but I find the Bee looks to be much less flexible or all purpose as other designs. Great in a dedicated knife shop where there's a number of other machines, but I prefer the ones that you can add attachments and things like flat platens. The KMG is a real beauty but I don't see the value. It's pretty pricey when you really brake down what it is. I also consider the single slot design to be flawed. A minimum of two slots lets you have your tool rest or fixtures on a separate arm, which to me is too handy to be left out.

In the lead on my list so far is a RPS101, https://reederproducts.com/products/belt-sander. Seems like a nice bit of kit and tips to go horizontal to boot.
But there's also Polar Bear Forges "Grinder in a Box". http://www.polarbearforge.com/tools.html Nice semi DIY kit at a good price. Wish his site had more info as I'm not clear on how many holes require drilling and tapping by me. I'm gonna email him and find out.

I've doodled out a few grinder designs, but I just don't get around/ have the time to build one, hence looking for a pre-built. I loved combing through YT and looking at everyone's take on the 2x72. I think I've watched everything there is on them.
 
Yeah. Given that it's a father/son garage outfit and the thing is CNC'd aluminum and seems quite well thought out, it's a great $.
They've quoted me $1766 usd for the base grinder body, but without any wheels, but including the two tool arms, flat platen, work rest, an extra arm, two indexing levers, a 2hp, 3ph motor and a KBAC 27d VFD, with on/off as well as fwd/rev switches and the wiring kit. Shipping is est. at around $400 usd. So by the time you factor in exchange, and getting dinged at the boarder, it ain't cheap. Ask them for a price w/o the motor and VFD. Will post it when I hear back.
 
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