Need advice - belt grinder or bench grinder?

[ScrapMetal]

Back in July my little shop got broken in to and they made off with a brand new bench grinder, all my cutting tools, a "like new" mig wire-feed welder, and a lot of other misc. stuff.  Now that I'm through the holiday season and have a couple of extra pesos in my pocket I am looking to get a replacement for the bench grinder.

What I would like to know, is a belt grinder more useful in a "hobby" metal working shop than a regular bench grinder?  I don't think that I'm prepared to buy both at them moment and I really don't have the room for both if I was.

What is your take on this?

Thanks,

-Ron

[wawoodman]

That's a tough call. I have more than one of both kinds, and I'd be hard pressed to choose.

What would you use the grinder/sander for, most often?

[Hawkeye]

I have seen some with a 2" belt and a grinding wheel instead of a sanding disk.

[Roadracer_Al]

First off, thieves suck, and I'm sorry they took your tools.

How often do you grind HSS tools?  If you're an insert-only shop, you might not miss the bench grinder.

If you use only HSS tools, I'd get the bench grinder first.  Then use your tools to build a belt grinder, I'm sure Rob Wilson's build will be inspirational for all.  :)

This ought to make you feel better:

[Highpower]

I vote for the belt grinder. You can do a whole lot more with it than you can with a bench grinder. I've got a 2" Kalamazoo that gets used more than anything else. A lot more clearance to work with for doing odd angles. And you can grind on aluminum, plastics, wood etc. Just a much more versatile machine IMO.

I do have a "carbide tool grinder" for lathe tools, but I still use the belt grinder for roughing out new HSS blanks. When I got the Kalamazoo I put a set of cardboard wheels on my pedestal grinder and use it as a dedicated knife sharpener.

[TomG]

It's apples and oranges. A bench grinder is best for tool and drill sharpening, but a belt grinder is better for fabrication. It just depends on what you do more of that would be the determining factor.

A bench grinder almost fits the "no more than one moving part" rule at Harbor Freight, so you may want to pick one up there, for $40. With the money you save, you may be able to get both.

Tom

[DaveH]

I would go for the belt grinder because I think it is more versatile. Since I got my belt grinder I haven't used any of my bench grinders.
 
DaveH

[ScrapMetal]

Thanks guys.  (Al, the vid didn't work for me but I tried.)

Sorry I wasn't a bit more specific as to how it would be used.  I use mostly HSS cutting tools so the primary use would be for making/sharpening those tools.  I do tend to do a good bit of fabrication work and the bench grinder has been a bit "limiting".   I have never used a belt grinder for metal working but it does seem that it would be a little more fab friendly.  With that in mind, I think the general trend in these answers is leaning towards the belt grinder.  I could always pick up a less expensive bench grinder if I really, really need one for something but I don't want to dink around with the stuff I see at HF for this as one moving part is one too many (JMHO been burned there before.)

What I am thinking of/looking at right now is one of the KMG belt grinders -  Beaumont Metal Works, specifically the 3-speed KMG-10 (the variable speed seems like over-kill).

There are a number of plans out there to make one but by the time I source all the materials (no "salvage" to speak of here and I don't have enough or the right kind of scrap) I'm probably within spitting distance to the price of a pre-made one.  The time I spend in the "shop" is at a premium so I don't really have the time it would take for me to make one and I need to have a grinder in place so that I can get back to working on my backlog of projects that NEED to get done. 

And yes, I have alerted the wife to the fact that our credit card bill may come in smoking from the purchase.  She's sympathetic to my loss so I only get a couple of gasps, rolled eyes, and clutching of the stomach.     Next I need to replace the welder but I'm trying to space the purchases out a bit to give my wife a little time to recover.

I'm still probably going to stew about this for another day or two before I pull the trigger so if I'm making a huge mistake or there is a better option be sure to let me know.


Thanks guys,

-Ron

P.S. I'm still as pissed off as I was the day I found my shop broken into.  There is a choice piece of hell for those that steal others' stuff.

[DaveH]

(01-29-2016, 04:46 PM)ScrapMetal Wrote: What I am thinking of/looking at right now is one of the KMG belt grinders -  Beaumont Metal Works, specifically the 3-speed KMG-10 (the variable speed seems like over-kill).

-Ron

P.S. I'm still as pissed off as I was the day I found my shop broken into.  There is a choice piece of hell for those that steal others' stuff.

That is a good choice many of the knife makers feel that belt grinder is the "bees knees".

The variable speed can be a really good asset, to be able to turn the speed (say down) at the turn of a knob can be invaluable for fine finishing.

DaveH

[Highpower]

(01-29-2016, 04:46 PM)ScrapMetal Wrote: What I am thinking of/looking at right now is one of the KMG belt grinders -  

.... specifically the 3-speed KMG-10 (the variable speed seems like over-kill).

Yeah, I'd say you are looking WAY beyond Harbor freight there Ron.