Super Cheap Belt Grinder...I'm Shocked!

hey Walter sorl back with more tips for the knif maker today reviewing an ultra cheap belt grinder for knife [Music] makers want to get into knife making but you feel like you need to buy a bunch of super expensive gear not so fast there are ways to get started that don't cost an arm and a leg so virtually every knife maker uses a belt grinder as one of the core pieces of knife making gear I mean maybe the core piece of gear today we're going to see if this grinder right here the $179 Buck tool 2x 42 grinder is part of that equation or if it's just a piece of junk that would waste your time hang around to find out all the answers if this grinder looks a little bunged up there's a reason normally I review gear that either I buy or that sent to me new in the box from the manufacturer but in this case my buddy Jared Baker just handed me this grinder he just bought a new big pro model and said hey why don't you review it so that's what I'm doing knife makers especially beginners are always looking for a reasonably priced way to test out the Hobby and see if it's for them the belt grinder is absolutely the Central Tool of the modern knife maker and Pro Models run well into the thousands so a lot of people are looking at this sort of machine as a budget friendly alternative so how does this stack up for the knife maker let's start with the facts and figures this is the buck tool BG 2600 2x 42 combo grinder meaning it has a belt grinder that runs a 2-in wide by 42in long belt along with a bench grinder that runs a 6in wide grinding wheel the motor is rated at 3 amps which has a horsepower equivalent of probably a third to half half a horsepower single speed you turn it on you turn it off it's got a flat platin a drive wheel and a tracking wheel up on top the buck tool comes with two grinding tables one larger and one smaller more of a tool rest sort of thing I see Zero use for the small one it's just something that'll clutter up your shop the table is adjustable to different angles angles I found this fiddly and hard to do but then I don't change the angle on my tables much so for me at least that's not really a draw back the only place it's annoying is when you're changing belts more on that later so for me set it and forget it there's a tracking knob up here that allows you to keep the belt centered it actually works much better than tracking knobs on a lot of cheap grinders there are various safety covers which Jared removed long ago that's what safety covers are for to take off and throw away I've known hundreds of knife makers in my life and I've never yet heard of one getting body parts sucked into the belt not saying it doesn't happen but it's low on the list of safety concerns for knife makers especially for a low powerered model like this you change belts with this knob here which detentions the belt allowing you to change it very easy to do with flexible belts but a bit of a pain in the neck for belts with hard backing especially ceramic belts sneaking past the corner of the table is no picnic if I were using this all the time I'm sure I'd figure out a technique that was a little easier but honestly I'd be tempted to mod this thing by cutting a little piece off the corner to facilitate belt changes which introduces probably the single biggest problem with this grinder the clearance between the grinding wheel and the frame is insufficient to allow thick belts like 36 grit Ceramics which I basically use every single time I make a knife to pass through this little Gap I'm not sure but I think Jared may have done a little grinding to it to improve the clearance maybe with a Dremel or something I'm not honestly sure about that but still I found that I had to do a little power assist with my hand to get it going because of the friction at that spot when I was using fresh 36 grit belts that said I did get it going and once it starts operating it's fine over time I'm sure it'll naturally just grind that little clearance so that the belt spins freely but it's a bit of a rookie mistake on Buck tools part hey if you're enjoying this video or the other knife making videos I've been making for the past 14 years yep that's right please help this channel by supporting us on patreon all these cool cameras and lights and stuff cost money and the time I spend on on these videos just doesn't begin to get covered by the tiny amount of money that I get from YouTube as a way of thanking you for your support I make plans for most of my builds including this one available exclusively to patreon subscribers patreon.com Walter soral speaking of drawbacks I put the machine through its Paces working on a couple of knives from an electrician friend who helped get my new CNC machine wired up video about that coming soon by by the way but what you'll notice here is that when I put a reasonable amount of pressure on the grinder it kind of stalls out the motor won't hurt anything but it just means you can't really lean into this grinder and get the full advantage out of this 2in wide belt as I said I reviewed the buck tool 1X 42 grinder recently and didn't remember this being as much of a problem turns out when I checked it has a significantly larger motor something to think about if you're considering getting one of these two machines so more on that in a minute so uh one thing I should mention here is that I'm going to be doing a big overview of belt Grinders in a month or two and when I do I'll leave a link here if you're thinking about buying a belt grinder and you're just kind of overwhelmed with the big range of choices I'll get you sorted out if there's no link here yet subscribe to the channel and then keep your eyes peeled I really think this will be one of the most valuable videos that I've ever done for knife makers so the overall point I'd say after testing this machine is it works fine my feeling is that you do well to use a jig when grinding bevels on this table in fact for me I'd probably remove the table Al together I like grinding freehand and so that would work fine for me but everybody's not in that same boat also I found the grooves in the face of the table a bit of a distraction they have a tendency to kind of Channel your blade in ways that you didn't intend but once you get used to them that's not really a big deal you adapt to every machine and this has got plenty of capacity for basic knife making you can make a really nice knife on here if you want to so let me quickly mention the other Buck tool belt grinder the 1X 42 it's a little more powerful but it's also a hair more expensive and your belts do less work and therefore wear out faster because they're only one in wide if I were going back to back and trying to decide which one to buy not really sure which one I'd choose probably the one by 42 because of the more powerful motor but having the 2-in wide belt is definitely nice so I think it's a close call either way so how does this Buck tool grinder shake out look we have to start by being honest here it's $175 tool it does not have the grunt the rigidity the flexibility of professional 2 x72 2 in you know big boy type Grinders but did you expect it to I mean most of the time the old saw that you get what you pay for is true and you didn't pay much for this sucker but look let's think about who this machine is for it's a starter machine meaning that it's for people who are just dipping their toe into knife making or you know maybe you're thinking hey I'd like to make a knife every 3 four five six months but you know it's not something I'm going to be out there in the shop every single weekend doing in other words it's not really a permanent solution for somebody who's super serious about knife making but like I said if you just want to dip your toe into the water or you're figuring on making a knife you know every 3 four five six months uh then buying a Bader or an amerid or wartz or something like that might be Overkill depending on what your budget is so a machine in this class is probably about right for a lot of guys so key question how does it stack up against other Grinders in this General range well one thing is for sure it is a huge step up over the $60 1x3 Harbor Freight belt grinder that I reviewed I don't know 6 months ago or so so you know for what you pay to me this is a lot of grinder on the other hand it is a major step down from say an amab braid 2x 42 which costs a lot more but has a lot more strength and performance bottom line you know it's a good solid choice for guys who are just trying out the knifemaking Hobby and don't want to throw a ton of money at it little underpowered yes little rickety yeah probably so would I have preferred that they had gotten rid of this right here and put in a little bit more powerful um motor yes I would have but still for what you pay lot of value for the [Music] money thanks for watching guys if you like what we're doing here please subscribe and make sure that you click on that Bell so you get notified of all the latest videos want to buy a knife from me check out my modern blades at tactics armory.com diing the channel you can support our video making efforts on patreon you know I've been banging away on these videos for like 10 years so I hope you'll show some love for all that hard work Link in the cards and descriptions finally if you're interested in making Japanese swords check out my full line of Japanese sword videos where I show how to forge Japanese swords as well as how to polish them and how to make fittings handles and scabbards Walter sorl blades.com [Music]

Channel: Walter Sorrells

Views: 63,283

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Id: R_n4ZuruaIY

Length: 10min 53sec (653 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 19 2023