Grizzley belt grinder

[yblood187]

HI,
New here, and I was wondering has anyone had any experience with the "Grizzley" belt grinder? Either good or bad. I'd like to upgrade, I have a very small belt grinder that I can bog down with my knuckle... Yep... I know this for a fact... I'd like to get one that I can actually do something with. As of now I'm using all hand tools, and I want to try to speed things up a bit. The "Grizzley" is much less expensive than any of the other larger knife grinders that I've seen. Is it usefull for the money?

Any help will be much appreciated.

[Ray Rogers]

The simple answer to your question is 'yes', the Griz is useful and worth the money. The best help you could ask for is the Search button at the top of the page. The Griz question is quite literally likely to be THE most commonly asked question on this forum and has been discussed in many, many, many threads. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that at least half the knife makers in the country either have a Griz (including me) or have used one....

[DiamondG Knives]

Yblood

I too have a Grizzly Grinder. I will say that with out a doubt, its one of the better deals for the price.

Ive had mine for a little over 5 years. No complaints, although I can bog it down, it takes a bit to do it.

As Ray said, use the search, there are many tutorials on Knifenetwork where folks have beefed theirs up, and made extra parts and jigs for it.

Good Luck!

God Bless
Mike

[TexasJack]

For the money, the Grizz can't be beat. It's built like a tank. I have one and I have no qualms recommending it.

It is NOT the equivalent of one of the really good grinders. If you're able to make a full time living making knives, then you'd be better off buying the top-end unit. It IS a huge improvement over not having a grinder, and is vastly better than settling for some smaller size grinder.

If you do a search here, you'll find a number of threads discussing the Grizz and lots of home-made changes or additions to it. One thing that's really a 'must have' is the pyroceram (sp?) platen. There are at least 2 guys on here that sell them (and I have no desire to get in the middle of that tonight.) It's not expensive and greatly improves the unit.

After searching here about the grinder, then search about belts. There are a WIDE variety of belts available from a number of vendors and it will be hard to make decisions without looking at the experiences of others.

[yblood187]

Thanks for the help guys,

I have since used the search (I was just to new to this forum to know how to go about looking up something) and have read a lot of good things about the griz and as a hobbiest I'll probably take that route. I can always up-grade in the future. I think this will help me to "get my feet wet".

Anybody in my area that needs a good apprentice? I dont eat much, and I are pretty smart...

It would probably help me out a lot to see how a "real" knifemaker does it. Is that an accepted practice? To visit the shop of a maker for the purpose of learning something? Or is everyone kind of secretive of thier "proprietary processes"?? lol

Thank you again for the help, I'll try and read the archives a little more before I go and just blurt anything else out.

Have a GREAT day all...
Randall

[KandS_KNIVES]

The fella who moderates this room, in primalfires forum, is in your area.
http://p222.ezboard.com/fprimalfiresfrm9