Last Modified on Jan 2, 2023
Grinding is an art, and not everyone is perfect in this as it takes lots of practice and time to master. But apart from practice & time it also needs some tools like belt grinder or bench grinder which gives you the best grinding result.
A knife grinder needs to be robust enough to grind bevels and grind the general outlines of knives, hopefully without going through millions of belts or grinding wheels and hopefully in a reasonably short period of time. Not just knife blades, they are used to grind handles, woods, pins, pretty much every other material in the shop.
You have to consider lots of points while buying the best knife grinder, such as the belt size, motor, speed, noise, vibration, dust collection, and much more. And as a beginner, most people probably are not even aware of these points because of which sometimes they make mistakes and buy a bad grinder and regret later. So it is better to do a little research before buying anything.
In this blog, we are going to discuss everything about knife grinders, their type, size, weight, price, etc., and suggest you some of the best knife grinders for beginners.
For those looking for an affordable and decent knife grinder, this WEN 6515 Belt Sander/Grinder with sanding disc is for them.
This 1x30 belt sander for knife making is very compact and lightweight and weighs just 16 pounds, so you won't face any problem while
carrying it. Not just knives, you can also sand, smooths, and deburrs jagged edges and splinters on your wood and lumber if needed.
The grinder comes with a 2.3 amp motor which allows the belt to go up to the speed of 3160 feet per minute and its disc to the speed
to up to 3450 RPM. Although knife grinding doesn't create much dust, it still comes with two dust ports you can use to grind wood or
other hard materials.
In the price segment of under 100 bucks, you cannot expect much from a two-in-one sanding machine, but this one
comes with all necessary to help a beginner in knife sharpening. The 100 grit sanding belt performs very well, and anyone without having
any grinding experience can easily use it and sharp the knife.
This complete grinder kit includes a belt disc sander, 100 grit sanding
belt, miter gauge, and an 80-grit sanding disc. Lastly, this WEN product is backed by a 2-year of warranty.
Pros
Cons
The next product in our best knife grinder for beginners list is used and recommended by professionals, and also, it is one of the most
selling 2x72 inch belt grinders. This is Shop Fox Knife Belt Sander/Buffer, W1843.
This 2x72 inch grinder kit weighs around 59 pounds
which I know is not lightweight, but this weight gives this machine great stability and allows you to works with any type of material.
If we talk about its size, it has 29.5 inches of length, 39 inches of height, and width. This grinder uses a 14A 1HP, 110V, single-phase
motor, which can go up to 1725 RPM, and it has a belt speed of around 4500 FPM, which makes this machine completely heavy-duty.
The
all-ball-bearing construction and cast-iron body make this tool highly durable which also boosts its overall performance. The tool
rest it includes is adjustable and very stable, which works perfectly fine to give you consistent results.
I must say that this is
not a cheap belt sander and not most people can afford that's why it is recommended only for those who are serious about knife grinding
or have a shop where they get lots of order of knife grinder or grinding other stuffs. This 2x72 inches knife grinder also comes with
2 years of Shop Fox warranty.
Pros
Cons
The next knife grinder in our list is the Rikon Power tools 1x30 inch belt with a 5-inch disc sander. Most belt sanders create lots of
noise which sometimes irritates the users and makes their grinding experience awful.
Still, this belt sander is very quiet and allows
users to work for hours even without using any hearing protection. However, still, we don't recommend using any power tool without
using proper safety gear.
This compact 1x30 inches belt sander is compact and weighs only 18 pounds, and with its small footprint,
it can be stored anywhere, even in tight spaces. It also includes two dust ports.
One is for the belt, and the other is for disc sanding,
which you can use to make your working area dust-free by simply attaching it with a vacuum cleaner.
One problem with this Rikon belt
sander we found is that its user manual is not easy to read. So, As a beginner, you may face difficulty in assembling it, or you can
take someone's help who is already into grinding or has some knowledge about grinders.
Where most belt sander comes with only one or
two years of warranty, this one comes with five years of huge warranty, which is extremely good.
Pros
Cons
Jet is a famous brand in the woodworking industry, and I think most of you might have heard this name before. This Jet J-41002 is a 2x42
Inch belt and disc grinder.
If you don't want to buy a 2x72 inch grinder for any reason, then your next choice should be a 2x42 inch grinder
if you are serious about knife making. Its rubber feet provide stability while working, increasing the working efficiency and helping
you get the perfect finish you want.
It includes a deluxe miter gauge that can be locked at different common angles with ease. One of
the toughest things about knife grinding is doing the bevels, and without the bevels, it's really hard to get a good edge on your knife.
With this Jet J-J41002 grinder, you'll be easily able to make sharp edges. It can also be used for other purposes like sanding and
finishing of outside curves.
One thing you must keep in mind that this machine is quite loud, so you'll need to use hearing protection
even for small works. Like most other grinders, this one also comes with two years of warranty.
Pros
Cons
At number 5 we have the most portable and compact knife grinder, which comes under an extremely affordable price range so that
anyone can buy it. This is Work Sharp WSKTS-W Knife & Tool Sharpener.
For those who want a knife sharpener for daily use knives,
it can do a great job for them. This small knife sharpener allows you to sharpen any knife with minimum effort.
Unlike other powerful
and large grinders that require regular maintenance to function properly, this one doesn't require anything from you. Its
lightweight design also allows you to sharpen your splitting axe or mauls.
So, to do that, just pick it up and use the belt to
sharpen them. It allows you to easily replace its abrasive grit belts, which saves your time and gives you the well-sharpened knife
quickly.
It comes with colored belts, which indicates the grit type. A coarse(P80) grit having green color, a medium(P220) grit
having a red color, and a fine(6000) grit having purple grit. This Work Sharp WSKTS-W Knife & Tool Sharpener comes with the only
year of warranty which I think is very less for a power tool.
Pros
Cons
The last best knife grinder for beginners in this list comes from Grizzly. This is a 1x42 inch belt with 8-inch disc sander. This comes
with a 1/3 HP, 110V motor that I know is not very powerful but can easily handle different types of small to large knives.
If we talk
about its weight, it weighs around 60 pounds, making this machine slightly heavier than other grinders of its category. The 1x42 inch
sized sanding belt can go up to a speed of 3000 FPM, but you don't get any variable speed option with it.
The disc measures 8 inches
in diameter which can go up to the speed of 1725 RPM, is large, and good enough to handle different types of sanding or grinding materials.
It comes with dual cast-iron tables with miter slots which are easy to adjust and use.
Its instruction is pretty straightforward, so
you can easily assemble this grinder by simply reading the instruction book once or twice, even if you don't have any knowledge about
grinders.
It includes an 80 grit belt and a disc with it. This grizzly grinder can stay longer with you, obviously, if you use it carefully.
Grizzly offers only a 1-year warranty on this Belt/Disc grinder.
Pros
Cons
The grinders are called by the belt size they use. The most common type of belt size used is 2x72 inches, and almost every professional
prefers to use a 2x72 inches belt over any other belt. Their reason behind this is that the smaller belts wear out very quickly and they
also don't grinder as efficiently as a 2x72 inches belt does.
You can use any belt size you want but keep in mind if you want excellent
performance, then your first priority should be a 2x72 inches belt, of course, if your budget allows.
Variable speed is an important factor you should consider while buying the best knife grinder for beginners. Most knife grinders do not have
variable speed option, which makes it quite tough for the beginners to grind something on it because most beginners don't know that how much
pressure they need to apply on their knife while sharpening it for the first time, which sometimes makes ruins their knife blade.
That's
why if your knife grinder has a variable speed option, you can slow down the speed according to your need and then increase it again after
being comfortable.
Any time when you work with high-speed rotating tools made for removing metals, you have to deal with something called chatter that's the tendency
of workpieces to vibrate against the cutting or grinding surfaces of the device.
The vibration makes it harder to work accurately. The more massive
and the more rigid the frame of your grinder, the better it will operate. When you're evaluating the overall quality of the knife grinder, remember
that a good frame is a heavy frame.
The best knife-making grinder always comes with features that are easily accessible use any user, especially beginners. A tracking wheel plays the most important role that makes a belt sander easy to use. This tracking wheel doesn't allow the belt to fall off the machine.
Belt sanders come in different sizes, and the most famous and most used belt sanders used worldwide are the 2x72 inches belt sanders.
If we talk about the best 2x72 inch belt sander, we can suggest you go with Shop Fox W1843 Knife Belt Sander/Buffer.
These 2x72 inch belt sanders give you efficient and accurate results than any other belt sander, due to which they cost more than 1x32 and 2x42
inches.
A belt sander price can start from 50 dollars and can go up to 800 dollars. The main factor responsible for the variation of belt sander price
is their type. The small the belt grinder, the less work it can do and the less you'll need to pay for that.
The popular 2x72 and 2x42 inches
belt grinders can cost up to 500 dollars, where a decent quality 1x30 inches belt grinder can come under a price segment of 200-250 dollars.
If you are serious about knife making, then your first priority should be to buy a 2x72 inches belt sander. If you can't afford a 2x72 inch grinder, we recommend you go with 1x42 but remember no other belt sander can compete with a 2x72 in terms of performance, so it is better to start with a 1x42 but move to a 2x72 inch as soon as possible.
Yes, you can use a bench grinder to sharpen any of your knives but remember a bench grinder removes material quickly than a belt sander, and it also heats up the knife's blade too hot, due to which your knife can lose its hardness which can make it useless. This is why most professional prefers to use a belt sander over bench grinder especially for knife sharpening.
These are the best knife grinders for beginners, or you can say best belt grinders for knife making, which you can buy without any
doubt. This list doesn't contain any bench grinder, and the reason behind this is their power.
Like we mentioned above, they heat up
the blade quickly, and for a beginner who only wants a tool for knife grinding, we don't think a bench grinder is a nice choice. This
list contains belt grinders for every budget. So just order a grinder that you can afford and grind your knife with ease.
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