New Project - Makers, Hobbyists, Tweakers, Knife Nuts with Garages - You NEED to Read This!!!

Hey folks,
I am spilling the beans.

I teamed up with a guy who builds grinders, to bring a few grinders for KKF pros and hobbyists alike. The project is in works, and in about two months, I will have three or four of prototypes grinders. I won't share any pictures yet, but I will give you a little heads up of what's coming.

There will be an 2x72 universal belt grinder, that can be used in vertical and horizontal position. This one is NOT a copy of TW-90, a completely different machine, the only similarity is the functionality. There will be a regular 2x72 grinder, that can be modified to run up to 20" contact wheels. There will be a universal 9" disk grinder, that can be used in vertical or horizontal position. There will be also a special 2x72 grinder for grinding integral bolsters.

2x72 belt grinders will be offered with 2HP (115v or 220v) or 3 HP (220v only) TEFC Leeson or Baldor motors, and KBAC drives. Disk grinder will come with 1HP Leeson TEFC motor and KBAC drive. 9" Universal disk grinder will have a table with a miter attachment for horizontal and vertical position.

Grinders for the most part will be made of aluminum and built like tanks.

If you are a pro, a tinkerer, or a hobbyist, and were looking to get a grinder of sorts for making knives, fixing edges and thinning, polishing, re-handling, and other tasks, this might be for you. Universal grinders are great when you don't have a lot of room, and a regular grinders are great addition to any knife maker's shop to make work more efficient.

Also, these grinders are built with kitchen knives in mind. I specifically requested that they include features that are tailored for kitchen knives. The first two universal grinders (belt and disk) and a regular 2x72 grinders will go to Devin for testing and feedback after I play with them and make some videos.

Price will be considerably less than comparable machines in the market, with comparable quality, great support and service. That's all I can say right now.

Stay tuned.

Well, you certainly got my interest:thumbsup:

This is extremely interesting. What a great thing to do for the community (and hopefully a good profit/work ratio for you!). As someone that just finished building a 2x72 flat grinder, I know you'll be saving people a surprising amount of work. I look forward to seeing how you orient these towards kitchen knives specifically.

buttermilk said:

This is extremely interesting. What a great thing to do for the community (and hopefully a good profit/work ratio for you!). As someone that just finished building a 2x72 flat grinder, I know you'll be saving people a surprising amount of work. I look forward to seeing how you orient these towards kitchen knives specifically.

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I don't make other knives than kitchen knives, and I almost never grind knives on a contact wheel (just profile), so when I look at any grinder, the first thing that comes to mind, how well it is suited for making kitchen knives. One can adopt to any grinder, but there are things that make life easier. For instance, I had to make some changes to my TW-90, so I could grind a scimitar.

There are also some ideas that I would like to implement, that prolong life of the belts and reduce a possibility of "burning" the blade.

I also find my current grinders a bit under-powered, when I am grinding tall blades, so for a pro use, 3Hp motor would hit the spot (provided you have 220v available). The are some specialty grinders that I could use, but what's on the market, doesn't meet my expectations, so these will be designed and built from scratch.

Folks who thin their own knives by hand (think Kato), would appreciate a setup that I have in mind that will allow them to quickly thin and polish any knife. Also, folks who would like to try their hand at making knives for themselves, family and friends, I will have a setup that will allow them to hit ground running, with minimal hands on experience - there will be videos and workshops down the road. Also, I will offer knife blanks in all popular steels, custom heat treating and bevels/distal taper pre-grinding, so all it's left for you is to grind, polish and make the handle.

To save on costs, I can wire two machines to one Variable Frequency Drive (to be used one at a time), and that's a pretty big saving as KB Electronics KBAC drives cost a good chunk of money. All grinders will come fully assembled and wired, just plug and play.

So, to summarize it in one paragraph, the idea here is to make grinders that are geared toward making kitchen knives, that address things that came short on other grinders, that include recent innovations such as cooling platens, offer some customization such as heat treated platens, radius platens, and are reasonably prices.

I know it's a long shot, but I am pretty excited and I think you will be excited too, once you see the real thing.

Thanks,

Marko

Marko , will you be offering any radius platen by it self ?

I am not sure at this time. All platen will be built to fit flat platen holder on these grinders and we are still working on the length of the platen, leaning toward shorter, as it will reduce wear of the belts.

I'm not in the position to upgrade any of my tools unfortunately, but would love to see pictures or videos of those new machines. Sounds like a great project, Marko!

Good news Marko, thanks for sharing. I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled for this.

You have my attention for sure.

This is a standard 2x72 grinder before changes I requested. It will be made of aluminum, tweaked, equipped with Leeson/Baldor motors and KB Electronics VFD.

Universal grinder (works in horizontal/vertical position) will share a belt tracking system and other features with the standard 2x72 grinder, but for the most part, it's a new design.

The platen on both grinders turns from 90 degrees to about 150 degrees (I think the range is actually 50-180 degrees), a feature I find very useful grinding single bevel knives (the direction of the belt is clock-wise)

Marko Tsourkan said:

This is a standard 2x72 grinder before changes I requested. It will be made of aluminum, tweaked, equipped with Leeson/Baldor motors and KB Electronics VFD.

Universal grinder (works in horizontal/vertical position) will share a belt tracking system and other features with the standard 2x72 grinder, but for the most part, it's a new design.

The platen on both grinders turns from 90 degrees to about 150 degrees (I think the range is actually 50-180 degrees), a feature I find very useful grinding single bevel knives (the direction of the belt is clock-wise)

View attachment 29015

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A typo, I meant the platen turns 50-150 degrees.

Sounds neat...too bad my apartment building has a noise policy.

XooMG said:

Sounds neat...too bad my apartment building has a noise policy.

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Actually, 2x48 and 2x42" small grinders will also be available, and these can come with 1HP motor, and will operate very quietly. Our main emphasis will be on 2x72, as they are the most efficient, but smaller grinders that can be used in a small space (and apartments) are an option.

Shipping overseas might be a bit expensive, but I can look into it if there is an interest.

This is a 2x48 version of the grinder. There will be some differences on the version we collaborate.

Thanks Marko. I'll watch for updates.

You've got my attention for sure. I'd love to see my local makerspace in Troy, NY pick one of these up.

Nick_Hall said:

You've got my attention for sure. I'd love to see my local makerspace in Troy, NY pick one of these up.

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You haven't seen the universal 2x72 grinder yet)))

The standard grinder (pics posted in the previous threads) is great if one plans to add some more grinding power to the shop. I for instance, need 5 machines to work efficiently and plan on adding 3 of these in the next year.

If one machine is the choice, universal grinder is a better choice. Basically, functionality of horizontal and vertical grinders in one machine. For handle making, sayas, blank profiling, horizontal function is very useful.

Grinders could be picked up locally at no charge, or delivered within 100mile radius for a fee.

Marko

Consider me interested . Like you said...it takes about 5 machines to work efficiently lol. I'm 4 short .

CrisAnderson27 said:

Consider me interested . Like you said...it takes about 5 machines to work efficiently lol. I'm 4 short .

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I am three short, but I would like to have ten, one machine for every operation ))))

Marko Tsourkan said:

I am three short, but I would like to have ten, one machine for every operation ))))

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I like the way you think sir!

Now I need more bench space too, lol....!

I just added another 2 X 72 grinder to my bench and already thinking one or 2 more would be PERFECT! lol This looks like a well made grinder. Ill be watching and waiting for updates

HHH Knives said:

I just added another 2 X 72 grinder to my bench and already thinking one or 2 more would be PERFECT! lol This looks like a well made grinder. Ill be watching and waiting for updates

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Yup, these are well made and the guy who makes them is a nut in his own right (probably that's what drew me to him and an idea of collaboration was born). Also, I think there are too few makers who make specialty grinders, like integral bolster grinder, and others. I so often wished I had a grinder that would do this or that operation... Now, it's possible. )))

And bouncing ideas of each other is a lot of fun. I am pretty sure, outcome will be something quite nice, and geared toward kitchen knife community.

Would be interested in having one shipped to Australia down the track. Looks great.

Ahhhhh......machine envy, such an ugly thing

In a dream world I would have one grinder for each grit

Here is a comparison of 2x48 and 2x72 grinders





And here is a universal grinder prototype, on which the grinder we collaborate will be based (with some notable differences)



I think I would like to have a grinder for each function I use - contact wheel, small wheel, grinding platens horizontal/vertical, etc. I can put up with changing grits)))

Each grinder will be equipped with the following motors and drives.

Will there be an option to specify the Leeson or Baldor motor? In you first post you mention both - has the decision been made?

Any thoughts on having a cool mist/ wet grinding option. That is something that all kitchen knife makers could use and I dont know of anything but Do it yourself options? That feature alone could really set your product apart.

Good luck on the venture!

John

Bill13 said:

Will there be an option to specify the Leeson or Baldor motor? In you first post you mention both - has the decision been made?

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Leeson or Baldor, both comparable specs and both TEFC. Baldor generally runs about $30 more, so the price will be more based on the motor cost.

M

JMJones said:

Any thoughts on having a cool mist/ wet grinding option. That is something that all kitchen knife makers could use and I dont know of anything but Do it yourself options? That feature alone could really set your product apart.

Good luck on the venture!


John

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I mentioned in one of my previous post that there will be an optional platen cooler, with a water tank and pump hooked up to the platen, so it runs cool. Water will be circulating, so no need to hook up to the water lines.

It will translate into cooler grinding and longer belts life. Wet grinding it a bit too messy for most folks to accept.

Thanks