Grind Serrations with a Profile Grinder? What'da Ya Think?

MTBob

MTBob

Well-Known Member
Just saw this grinder on CL and thought it might be adaptable to making accurate serration cuts on a blade edge. Has anyone tried using this kind of grinder for that purpose?
It's primarily used for making customized molding cutters for wood working.
1619153475139.png
 
New tools are rarely a bad thing, and that one looks like doozy!

Whether or not I'd pick one up for serrations would depend mostly on the cost of entry, and even then, how often I'd try to use it for serrations would be questionable. I imagine you could do it just as well (and probably faster and more easily) by setting up a similar abrasive wheel on any horizontal shaft and cutting them in by hand. Another option, of course, is to use a 1/4" small wheel on your grinder, carbide burrs, or other similarly shaped abrasives.

Either way, that still looks like a cool machine.
 
I'm not sure if that would work... I use a radius'd cbn wheel on a vfd bench grinder under coolant and grind them one at a time

i-XK9732s-XL.jpg
 
Drew Riley said:
Whether or not I'd pick one up for serrations would depend mostly on the cost of entry, and even then, how often I'd try to use it for serrations would be questionable
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I'm skeptical whether this thing would "earn its keep" in my shop, it may be just too specialized (and take up too much real estate). Though I'm a sucker for mechanical things with knobs and motors, just too intriguing what it could be converted into. I'll take a look at it and see if the Price is Right.
razor-edge-knives said:
I use a radius'd cbn wheel on a vfd bench grinder under coolant
Click to expand...
I was unfamiliar with CBN wheels until your post, thanks. I'm now curious whether these CBN wheels are used much in typical knife grinding, mostly for hollow grinds. Could you share what your serration / grinder setup looks like?
 
MTBob said:
see if the Price is Right.
Click to expand...
I'd be curious as to the price also. If you do end up picking it up, and find it works but that you don't make enough bread knives, I might be interested as I've been wanting to add bread knives to my repertoire, but haven't figured out an easy way to do good uniform serrations yet.
 
billyO said:
I'd be curious as to the price also. If you do end up picking it up, and find it works but that you don't make enough bread knives, I might be interested as I've been wanting to add bread knives to my repertoire, but haven't figured out an easy way to do good uniform serrations yet.
Click to expand...
They are asking $300... haven't seen it yet... but I think my "why not price" is closer to$100, cause it'll take some McGiver'en to do what I want it to do. Not sure where it's built, so I'm curious about quality.
 
Just watched a Youtube video about the Viel AF-5 which looks like that and it looks like it shouldn't take much MacGyvering to get it to do serrations. There might be a better tool for that, though.
 
MTBob said:
Totally agree. I'm skeptical whether this thing would "earn its keep" in my shop, it may be just too specialized (and take up too much real estate). Though I'm a sucker for mechanical things with knobs and motors, just too intriguing what it could be converted into. I'll take a look at it and see if the Price is Right.

I was unfamiliar with CBN wheels until your post, thanks. I'm now curious whether these CBN wheels are used much in typical knife grinding, mostly for hollow grinds. Could you share what your serration / grinder setup looks like?
Click to expand...
I run a 3 phase bench grinder w/ a VFD and mist cooling... the burr doesn't even turn brown so that keeps the edge quite cool. The CBN wheels cost about $300-400 each iirc. You can get different sizes too.

i-GrfXpTk-X2.jpg
 
Last edited:
razor-edge-knives said:
I run a 3 phase bench grinder w/ a VFD and mist cooling... the burr doesn't even turn brown so that keeps the edge quite cool. The CBN wheels cost about $300-400 each iirc. You can get different sizes too.

i-GrfXpTk-X2.jpg
Click to expand...
That's a lot closer to the setup I'd imagine myself using. I am curious how you cut the thinner/smaller serrations. Is there a sharper wheel on the other side?
 
Last edited:
MTBob said:
They are asking $300... haven't seen it yet... but I think my "why not price" is closer to$100, cause it'll take some McGiver'en to do what I want it to do. Not sure where it's built, so I'm curious about quality.
Click to expand...
That price seems pretty reasonable. I'd probably be pretty tempted to pick it up just to play with, if anything.
 
Done, bought it last night, $200, almost new, +4 grinding wheels, couldn't resist. Sells new for about $1,100.
Made in Canada.
It has a diamond wheel dresser to shape the thin grinding wheels. Now to make a blade holding jig and try out the wheels on some HT steel.
 
This profile grinder appears to be adaptable to a number of grinding applications. A Viel machine made in Canada with a Baldor motor.
Here's a little preliminary preview tour:
In this photo I'm holding the plastic template pattern plate (not ground yet) that attaches to the arm that rotates around the lower pivot slide. The pivot slide is controlled by the longitudinal thread that attaches to a half nut. Then on top of the pivot arm are four ball bearings that support a blade mounting trunnion fixture that rotates around an axis perpendicular to the grinding wheel. So, once attached to the fixture, a blade can travel left/right and in/out relative to the grinding wheel and be ground to the shape laid out on the plastic template.
1619296732468.png

In addition to these movements, the grinding wheel can move on an X/Y axis with this assembly. It would seem for simply cutting serrations, there actually may be too many adjustments.
How this all works to simply cut serrations in a knife is yet to be figured out... but the basic guts of a machine to do that seems to be in place.
1619297019689.png

This machine sports a USA made Baldor 1/3HP motor that turns at 3600 RPM. I'm concerned that with that speed it could easily burn a HT'd blade. I may cover the wheel and use a mister to see if that limits the potential heating issue. And, also of some concern, the wheels that came with the machine have a Max 3275 RPM rating...hum... I may try a Variac on the electrical input to see if that will work for speed reduction, without screwing up the horse power.
1619297484089.png
 
My spider senses tell me your onto something with this machine Bob.
it appears to have been made with quality in mind. now if it can be modded.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top