[TheForge] Treadle Hammer drawing dies

[Doug Ayen]

Quoth Barking Crow (mail@barkingcrow.com):
> 
> The workshop was fantastic and I'm just beginning to try out the tools.  I
> also found that I'm gonna have to buy a Grizzly knife maker's grinder.
> 
> Jeff Valentine
> 
> 

I have one of the Grizzly grinders, I'd save my money if I were you and
get a better one. I find it's underpowered and somewhat inflexable in its
setup. It might make a halfway decent entry machine, but if you do a lot
of grinding I think you'll find you want to upgrade quickly.

I've had good experience with the Bader III, and find the extra umph and
flexability to be very much worthwhile. I'm sure others can recommend
other grinders as well. 

Overall, I've found the biggest difference in performance is power. 
The grinder I use the most has a 4hp motor, and even though it's limited
to flat grinding and a 10" contact wheel, the ability to hog off metal
just makes getting knives made a lot easier. The Bader is great for it's
attachments, such as 1/2" and larger contact wheels. Still, if the motor
on the Bader goes out again, I'm hoping to find a nice 3 or 4 hp motor
(hopefully with a variac controller) to replace it with. 

Hope that helps.

--doug