# KMG shoppers guide?



## Chef Niloc (Jun 28, 2011)

I thought that a KMG grinder buyers guide thread would be useful here as I think it's the grinder of chose? I was looking at there sight trying to find out what a rotary platen was for and I noticed that they make it kind of tricky for a 1st time buyer to get everything they will need, IE no all included packages. So how about you guys post a shopping list?


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## sudsy9977 (Jun 28, 2011)

he sells packages on his site colin....with the motors and different attachments.....ryan


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## l r harner (Jun 28, 2011)

I have the flat pattern kit wi th vfd then added wheels but they have many kit options and even some you don't see on the site like 3"wide wheel option


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## Dave Martell (Jun 28, 2011)

It's a bit confusing but after you visit his site like 38 times dreaming of what you want it all starts to make sense.


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## Dave Martell (Jun 28, 2011)

Colin, also take a look at the TW-90, this one's getting some rave reviews. 

http://www.twuertz.com/


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## JMJones (Jun 28, 2011)

I think the basics would be:

The grinder body
a motor with steep pulleys or speed control (these motors are not interchangable).
Flat platen attachment
8 or 10 inch contact wheel
small wheel attachment with a small wheel

Things that are not necessarily essential to starting knife making but nice to have

A tooling arm for each attacment. I made all of mine out of 1.5 inch square tube
Work rest for some or all attachments (I only use one with the large contact wheel)
Base plate
tree to hold tooling arms close by and out of the way. 
Different diameter contact wheels, (this is more critical if you do much hollow grinding)
Different diameter small wheels for small wheel attacment
Rotary Platen
Contact wheel in place of one of the metal wheels on the platten attachment allow doing some contact wheel grinding without the need the switch from the platen attachment.


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 28, 2011)

As opposed to a contact wheel, couldn't you make curved platens with an eased top edge so you can run regular belts on it, and get the same effect as a contact wheel, or even a huge water wheel?


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## Dave Martell (Jun 28, 2011)

There's a guy on Bladeforums who makes a 36" & 48" radius curved platens for hollowing grinding that bolt right up to the KMG.


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## JMJones (Jun 28, 2011)

johndoughy said:


> As opposed to a contact wheel, couldn't you make curved platens with an eased top edge so you can run regular belts on it, and get the same effect as a contact wheel, or even a huge water wheel?


 
I dont really do many hollow grinds so the large wheel is mostly used with the work rest to do profile grinding. Profiling with this setup is fast, easy and often quicker than using a bandsaw to profile. Profiling on a platen with the work rest is more difficult and much harder on the belts, which reduces belt life. Using the flat platen and work rest for profiling and using a convex platen for bevel grinding is definatly doable but not the easiest or most efficient. To save on cost, poly contact wheels can be bought from us knife maker supply for alot cheaper that he kmg wheels. 

For doing hollow grinds on a platen the curved platens


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## Delbert Ealy (Jun 28, 2011)

Kmg's wern't around when I started, but a little company in NY was and my first serious grinder I bought from them, a Bader. I upgraded a couple of years ago to a second bader with variable speed. 
I got a bunch of stuff with mine;
A combo platen with a 2 inch wheel on top and a 5 inch wheel on the bottom
a long platen with the 2 inch wheels on top and bottom
an 8 inch wheel with arm
a small wheel atachment with wheel
with the variable speed and these atachments I can do pretty much anything I want as far as blades go, and in creating many other things as well.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jun 28, 2011)

Dave Martell said:


> Colin, also take a look at the TW-90, this one's getting some rave reviews.
> 
> http://www.twuertz.com/


 
It's basically two grinders in one - vertical and horizontal. I have it and love it, to tell the truth. It was a bit pricier then from KMG and Bader, but I use it for knives, handles and sayas, so it wasn't difficult for me to justify the purchase. 

Travis keeps coming with modifications and new attachments. Latest is a surface grinding attachment. I don't think I will be buying it, but it looks very impressive.

M


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## Dave Martell (Jun 28, 2011)

I just got a flyer in my order from Tru-Grit that is for a new slick grinder design by Hardcore called the Maximizer. Looks like a mix-mash of few grinders all put together - goes vertical and horizontal and offers small wheel changeup from 1/4" - 2 7/8"


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 28, 2011)

Wow, that surface grinder looks really cool.


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 28, 2011)

Is the lesson here that real knifemakers make their own grinders?


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jun 28, 2011)

Dave Martell said:


> I just got a flyer in my order from Tru-Grit that is for a new slick grinder design by Hardcore called the Maximizer. Looks like a mix-mash of few grinders all put together - goes vertical and horizontal and offers small wheel changeup from 1/4" - 2 7/8"


 
What's the price on that one?


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## Dave Martell (Jun 28, 2011)

Marko Tsourkan said:


> What's the price on that one?


 

The flyer is one of those company printed jobbies without pricing. I checked Tru-Grit's site and don't see it listed and can't find anything on it anywhere. I searched Hardcore Maximizer but all I get is info on buff guys tanning oil.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jun 28, 2011)

Dave Martell said:


> The flyer is one of those company printed jobbies without pricing. I checked Tru-Grit's site and don't see it listed and can't find anything on it anywhere. I searched Hardcore Maximizer but all I get is info on buff guys tanning oil.


 
Same here. Tanning oil. 
Chris told me he is going to carry Norton ceramic up to 1200 grit, but in about 6 months time.

M


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## Dave Martell (Jun 28, 2011)

They've got a great line up even in my 2x48 size.


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## JMJones (Jun 28, 2011)

I got to use the bader and hardcore grinders at a class with Howard Clark earlier this year. The bader is a great grinder that is easily comparible to the kmg. It seemed to run faster than my setup on 100% (vfd) which was nice. The hardcore (non maximizer, tanning lotion model) is no where near as versatile but was sooooo quiet. I bet you could listen to your ipod instead of using hearing protection like the other models. I would really like to own one as my "bevels only grinder"


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## Dave Martell (Jun 29, 2011)

Marko, I found Hardcore's website but the new grinder is nowhere to be seen. 

http://www.hardcore-products.com/section.php?xSec=11


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jun 29, 2011)

I have the brochure in PDF but can't post it as it exceeds the size allowed.

M


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## Bill Burke (Jul 1, 2011)

I haven't seen the maximizer so know nothing about it. I did just recently get a tw 90 from travis and am very pleased with it. The nicest thing about this grinder IMO is that when you buy it it comes with everything. I is variable speed with a vfd controller all mounted and wired and ready to run. it has a platen attachment a small wheel attachment and a eight or ten inch wheel as well as a tool rest that is adjustable and reconfigurable. the only thing that does not come with the "basic" package is small wheels in for the attachment. this makes sense to me because there is no way that Travis could anticipate what size wheels everyone will want. Also the radiused platens from the other forum are easily adapted to this grinder. the surface grinding attachment is a wonder of simplicity that works very well.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jul 1, 2011)

I have PDF of Maximizer. PM me with your email and I will send it to you. I was told it will be priced in 3-4K range.

M


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## Dave Martell (Jul 1, 2011)

I doubt the Maximizer will compete with the TW-90. It looks cool for some things but as an overall package I think it falls short to what the TW-90 has to offer.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jul 1, 2011)

Maximizer looks overbuilt and complex. Belt changing on it might be a chore. 
I like the simplicity and tracking of TW-90. If I were in the market for a second, it probably would be another TW-90. 

M


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## Michael Rader (Jul 1, 2011)

Just wanted to put up some pics of my KMG for Colin here, as I am working on a little project for him at the moment. Notice the multiple use of the driveshaft to power my double-sided disc sander.











I can just loosen the tool bar on the disc sander to release tension on the drive belt and just let it sit to the side when I'm not using it.





Yes, the link-style drive belts are very expensive, but they are infinitely adjustable and last forever. They also let you be a little more creative on how you set up your pulleys too.






Mounting the motor under the bench is a really cool space-saver:





My sander is slightly underpowered, with only a 1hp motor, but it does work fine for me. Done lots of knives and swords on it. At some point I'll upgrade to a 2-3hp 220 unit, so if you are getting one, might want to start with that. Also, the variable speed controller is nice and I use it lots, but if you can't afford the extra $300+ on the controller, remember speeds can be reduced with multiple pulleys and is much, much cheaper... just not as convenient. 

Also, I believe that the variable speed controllers tap into the torque of the motor, (mine is really old - maybe newer ones are better.) Another reason to get a little more motor than you think you might need.
-M


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## Diamond G (Jul 5, 2011)

Id give Rob Frink a call. He is very customer service oriented. Ive bought a couple of grinders from him, KMG flat platen and a 9"disc.

I do know he has made combo platens for other makers, One being Ed Caffrey, he talks about it on his site.

God Bless
Mike


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