Flat grinding on a steel platen is difficult when you switch to finer grits because you get a pop when the belt spice rides over the hard surface. One solution is to pad the platen with leather or graphite. This will work, but I was looking for a more elegant solution. What I came up with was a timing belt assembly. The timing belt has the same durometer rubber as my contact wheel and since it is in motion, it virtually eliminates the belt pop. You can grind with any grit belt and get a clean surface with no gouging.
I made this up to fit on my Burr King, but had two problems: tracking and tensioning on the timing belt. As with all good ideas they seem to occur simultaneously and I was pleased to see that Beaumont Metals had come up with an attachment for their grinder assembly that incorporated this design.
This was displayed at the Blade Show 2002 and drew quite a bit of attention. My only concerns with this design was with the thickness of the timing belt and whether it would roll when you are grinding off the edge. This would occur during plunge grind and during polishing. What I like about his design is the tension adjustment and the various relative distances between the pulley wheels. This would set up different convex grinds because of the give in the belt relative to the distance. The whole assembly pivots and it is very cool.
Uncle Al's Knifemaking Supplies showed his version of this idea at the Mesquite Show in Dallas this month.
These ideas are what keeps this business
moving and growing. If you hear of any new ideas let me know.
