Grinder Tool Rest help

T

teter09

Well-Known Member
I finished the actual construction of my No Weld Grinder a few months ago (link to the WIP is http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?29564-No-Weld-Grinder-WIP ). Since then I've been doing lots of different projects on things I felt I needed to get in order before I could start to make knives. Even today, I was finishing up my wood kiln, cleaning up the welds on my knife vise, and cleaning up welds on my tool rest.

In that WIP I didn't show the tool rest. I constructed it but as I tried it out, it appeared that the bolt together method was simply too bulky and made me uncomfortable. So I welded the pieces together. Now though, I'm struggling with how the actual tool rest portion should exist. I've looked at many different grinders, NWGs, KMGs, GIBs, Tw-90s and all have different physical plates at the top. Some are simply as wide as the belt and square to the belt. I've seen others that are 3-4 inches wide and have been ground or cut out so that a contact wheel or flat platen can fit inside the rest with a small amount on either side. I've seen others that appeared to be 12 inches wide and simply run in front of the belt. There is tons of information about why people prefer certain grinders, but I have yet to read anything about why people like a certain tool rest style/shape.

So...show me yours and explain why you like it! Do you wish you could change it? Do you have different styles/shapes for different tasks?

Thanks for the help guys!
 
Your rest will depend on your grinding style. Personally, I'm on about my 4th (if not 5th) iteration of a work rest.

It's about 12" long, 4" wide, and is notched in the center about 3/4" to 1" deep by 2.5". I like to have some rest past the belt face so that I can have some support towards the back when roughing out choils and other inside curves. Of course, this assumes that you have the clearance to do so. I usually have to raise my rest above the level of the tool arm to grind on that side.

I recently ALSO made a KMG style rest that just bolts right to the tool arm. This one has a round notch cut out to the drive wheel side so that I can slide my belts off without the rest interfering, but it also comes in past the face of my belt by about 3/4".
 
Huh, ok. So it will change most likely. Question is, what would be better to start with? Something small or something larger? I really have no idea at this point.

Anyone else with thoughts or suggestions?
 
If you are not sure, start with something larger. You can always cut it down a bit. Do you want it to contour around a contact wheel, flat platten and a small wheel attachment? Then had 3sides with appropriate contours to match.
 
I think PT Doc's suggestion is a good one.

The nice thing about the NWGS set up, is that you can fairly easily make different types of inserts for your tool rest socket. Make one with a narrow table, one with a wide, and then make others as you find that you might need them.

I don't remember where I saw it, but one maker had a rest that was simple a 1" diameter (or so) piece of round stock set perpendicular to the face of his platen. This allowed dropping the handle end of the knife down while grinding, where a work table would normally be in the way. Using this rest, you could then follow the curve/belly of the blade as needed for grinding and sharpening.

You could easily make an attachment like that to work with your tool rests as well.
 
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