Review: $60 Harbor Freight Belt Grinder (1x30)
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- Can you really get a fully functioning, reasonably durable 1x30 belt grinder for just $60 dollars at Harbor Freight? Impossible! Well, not so fast, this little grinder may just surprise you. Keep in mind this is not a professional grade, high quality, precision crafted belt grinder... it's Sixty Bucks! But it's a decent grinder for the price.
Don't think it's small size and low price-tag mean you're getting something crappy and disposable either. This tool is well designed and, despite its faults, has much to recommend it to the beginning knife maker. I've made, modified and sharpened many knives, hatchets and axes with this grinder and it definitely does the job.
With that said, it is NOT a 2" by 72", high quality, professional belt grinder. It's a tool for the DIY/hobbyist knife maker to learn on. Still, if you're careful about how you use it, and you understand it's limitations, you can still make a beautiful, high quality knife with this grinder.
And remember... $60!
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Tried something a little different here. Basically an unedited, stream of consciousness style review. TL:DR it's not a bad little grinder for $65. Not professional grade, but does what I need it to, especially as a beginner/intermediate knifemaker.
Hi there,can’t you fill the plate grooves with apoxy resin you resin.?
@@shadybad9836 honestly idk .i cant see the original comment
*This is exactly what I needed for trimming the edge of oak boards **MyBest.Tools** I also used the disk to round edges while building an oak - walnut cabinet.*
This combat vet at work was showing me some knives he made and sold for 250$ I asked him what grinder he used and he told me the Harbor Freight 1 by 30... lol so now I own one too
I have gotten four years out of mine. Arguably the best harbor freight tool I’ve bought to date.
2:00 that can't happen if you work naked. Problem solved.
Why arent more mnife makers doing this?!
Then other dangly things will get caught in the spinny things.
@@kingearwig thats terrifying to think about
Good review. Just a thought, fill the grooves in the table with resin. That’ll stop any catches. Worked with mine.
Only annoyance with mine is changing the belts. I have to take the table off to change belts as there’s a bracket under it that stop the belt sliding off.
Thank you for the review. I may go ahead and buy this or similar. I’m currently using a carpenters style DeWalt 3x23 belt grinder and file and file jig. The file and jig for me has been better, at least for me.
I like more of your forging and knifemaking shows. Not real big on reviews, but I see why they're popular.
Good review. Ive considered buying a kmg grinder for the last several years but never get around to it. It would have so many uses for me outside of knife making as well. That does seem like a pretty good deal for $60 though. 👍
OUTDOORS55 Indeed! For the price I don't think you could beat it. Still, a 2 by 72 would make sweet addition to my shop.
OUTDOORS55: What ever you do, make sure you throw away the safety cover right away, and let your children play next to the machine while you are grinding metal. Oh,, and never wear safety glasses or shoes while working with metal.... and always wear loose fitting clothes.... just like FargoFX...
@@timhallas4275 i work with some very expensive 2x72 and 2x48 setups made specifically for knife makers and none of them have any dinky safety shields getting in the way. you forget to change your tampon karen?
@@wyrdo1501 Did you actually watch this video? Do you even give a shit about that little girl? Shut the fuck up, asshole.
You can modify the tracking mechanism into a spring tension type pretty simply. That will make your belt changes easier.
That sounds like something you should make a video on. That would help new smiths everywhere
Great review brother been looking at these just haven't pulled the trigger yet
REAPER MILITIA SIDETRACKED Thanks! For me it was totally worth the 60 bucks.
I saw these sanders at my harbor freight today for $50 , might grab one . I have been reshaping old axe and hatchet heads making wanna be Tomohawks ...(ha)! My friends like them so thinking this would be a good purchase to help me along the way . thanks for the review !
Like many other guys, I started with one of these from HF and used the heck out of it. I made a lot of modifications to it that improved it vastly, then my son got me a JET 1' x 42" belt grinder and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Eventually, I took the plunge and bought a 2" x 72" grinder from Esteem and don't use either of the smaller ones for blades anymore, but they worked for me. Given how much I learned on my HF 1 x 30 I would give mine five stars.
Would you suggest just starting with a 1x42? Because the price of the 2x72 is really daunting despite knowing how much better it is
@@3-dogs If I had it to do again I would save up for a 2 x 72 and skip both of the smaller grinders.
@@watermain48 Welp, ive waited this long whats another month right?
@@3-dogs That's the spirit. If you're anywhere near Boise, ID I'll make you a good deal on my 1 x 30 and the 1 x 42...
@@watermain48 I appreciate that hoss, but I'm in texas.
You could fill the table groves with like a JB weld and smooth it out. Good review!
Great video man. I was on the fence about buying this and went through with it after watching your review. I am a carpenter by trade and I’m trying to get into some metal work so I needed something that would satisfy both needs. I’ll update after some time on how it works on both fronts.
Brandon Gouge how is it, I’m thinking about buying it for grinding bevels on small homemade knifes. I’m thinking that it will be a bit cleaner than my angle grinder.
I would also like an update
Same
Good review
Grant Dennis thanks!
The bolt in rear that tension the bet under pulley loosen that slightly the belt can be easily adjusted and replaced
Can you glue a piece of plexiglass to your base? Smooth, light, and easy to deal with.
Not sure if u answered this question but would u say it would work good for kydex shaping?
great review man very informational. i have the same one
backyardbladesmith Cool. How is yours working for you? Have you ever used a 2"x72"? I see so many of them in videos, and they look pretty slick.
FargoFX yea i also have a 2 by 72 its a grizzly. but personally i prefer the habor freit one. the grizzly has alot of issues that the 1 by 30 dosent. and that's with the 200 dollars extra i spent modifying the grizzly lol
backyardbladesmith That's good information to have. I want to know as much as I can about the different brands and models before I invest in a 2 x 72.
FargoFX yea personally id say if ur goin for a 2 by 72 get a KMG from. Belmont Metal Works if ur price range is on the lower side id say get a grinder chassis from Oregon blade maker on eBay they make their own belt grinder chassis and then you could just buy a motor directly from Belmont Metal Works might save you a lot of money
I don’t make knives but I’ve been using my HF 1x30 belt sander for almost 2 years now. I use it almost exclusively for metal and on a lot more taxing duties then just edging a knife blade. I don’t know why you feel the need to run it without the side cover, seems pretty lame to me considering all the mess that makes and yeah the cross channels they put in the table surface were a pain until I filled them with epoxy. The one flaw with the table that can’t be fixed is the large space in front o the belt, things tend to get wedged in to the opening and stop the belt. Running it without the top plastic guard is a no brainer to me, it give you a rounded grinding surface to create concaved surfaces. The biggest improvement you can make to the sander is to throw all your HF belts into the closest trash can and go get some Diablo belts from home depot, although they are probably to aggressive to use for sharpening knives…..
Ive watched this video probably 100 times and I finnally bought one today
How do you like it?
Are they any good ?
Mine is still runnimg strong for a beginner but you'll probably need somethinf bigger if your gonna take blacksmithing serious
JohnJb thank you mate
@@JohnJbVlogsyt I am just starting forging knives, is that device a good option ?
can you index the belt on this sander? how do you center it on all pullies?
1 x 30 belt options are unlimited. Amazon.
I realize this is really late and you've probably upgraded that belt sander, but if you haven't fixed your problems with the table of that grinder, you could try melting some strong solder or an easy to melt metal and fill those grooves in then sand it flat.
Taint Smacker Thanks. But yeah I already found a solution. I added a steel plate to the top of it. It was kind of a pain getting it done though, I think your solution would work just as well, and it might be easier to implement.
Changing a belt is easy, grab the lever on the pulley with the springs, and pull it towards the table, the spring with let it move forward, then replace you belts
Exactly.. he must not know it has that feature lol
I thought this was a great review.. very candid and relatable to me (a beginner)
Is that vertical plate (platen?) behind the belt which you press against removable so you can use the entire front length of the belt to sand larger round objects? I need a tool for sanding cow horns and I don't think that small section above that plate is big enough.
Yes the platen is removable mine has 2 hex head screws
I call my toothbrush a device...I also call my toothpaste and teeth a device too....lol
I bought one of those. The bottom drive wheel was out of round by at least 1.5mm making it vibrate badly and the belt kept coming off. I was able to use a file to "turn" it down to a consistent diameter, and now it's not a bad little grinder. Worth about $60. Before the fix, worth $0
Which grit is good for sharpening knives?/
I love the unedited experiment! (Now go back to the way you usually do videos! LOL!)
GeographyCzar 😂😂😂 noted.
Dude, your changing your belt incorrectly. It should just pop on and pop off, when you squeeze the spring tensioned pulley. Check out other videos on this sander.
Good review, what if you just clamped a nice peace of plywood on it with some small C clamps
How about wrapping some tape around the metal work table to avoid the groove problem, do you think that might work?
You know, that's not a bad idea. Well, something along those lines anyway. Let me think about this. Thanks for the suggestion!
FargoFX Good luck, I'm hoping to see the result of your efforts...I'm thinking of picking one up soon and would enjoy seeing a good, easily implemented solution.
I bought one about 4 years ago pretty cheap. 42 bucks with coupon. I use to quickly sharpen and strop kitchen knives.
I bought the 4x32 grinder and burned the motor out almost right off. HF replaced it no problem but now the second one burned up even faster. Think this would be less likely to fail?
BrothaManRoyal I’m pretty sure the larger width grinders like the one you got are more of sanders than grinders and intended more for wood then metal. Often times those motors are a lot weaker than the ones intended for metal
@Fargo FX pull the tension knob toward you and it moves the whole wheel toward you
Apparently there's an issue with either the wheel or the tension knob, because I can just barely get enough slack to change belts. So far I've put up with it, but I might tinker with it and see if I can fix it.
Jesse Boeckmann After troubleshooting I determined that the wheel is actually making contact with a part of the housing. I'm going to have to partially disassemble and file that down so the wheel doesn't rub there. From what I can tell that should solve the problem. Thanks for the input! Cheers!
No problem good luck man!
Thanks for the review.I didn't mind the video type you did here. Also there is a bolt you can play with on the inside where the belt goes. That is near the wheel that loosens when changing the belt. You can pay with that and it should hep you if you are having trouble getting belts on. Also you Americans are lucky to have so many great abrasive companies. Try www.supergrit.com or many of your knife making suppliers have belts that are 1x30 in Aluminium Oxide, zirconia and ceramic. I am in Australia so all I can find is Aluminium oxide so I have to order others from overseas which adds to the price. Also it is a pretty much unheard of bet size here as well. Our norton/3M/Flexovit and other abrasive companies catalogs don't even mention that size as an option, but they make them in America.
I ordered a 1x30 off ebay that is very similar looking but has a 5 inch disk sander on the side and doesn't have any English on it at all. In fact the whole manual is Chinese lol. But it works fine and compared to hand files it is great and compared to my even less powerful bench grinder is is awesome. But it is definitely under powered but for the price it is great.
scottecooke Thanks, my friend. Good bit of info. I will definitely look into online suppliers for better belts, been wanting to try ceramic. Cheers!
scottecooke supergrit.com looks very promising. Thanks!
No worries I am learning as well so I have watched a lot on youtube and read forums and without those people volunteering information, I wouldn't know what I know. So if I can volunteer some then I do. It seems like a pretty helpful community in general though (knifemaking/bladesmithing community).
scottecooke So very true. The whole community seems to be an extraordinary bunch of people.
I agree with scottecooke, there is a bolt below the belt tensioner that can be loosened a bit that makes changing the belts easy with a quick pull on the tensioner.
After using my 1x30 for 6 months I'm definitely happy with my purchase, the machine never heats up or gets too hot. However, it will stop if you push too hard, the belt variety is just as large as you would find for a 2x72 belt sander. If you want to grind metal you should go to the safety equipment section at harbor freight and spend a boatload on a face shield ($2.99). Then buy a respirator from a company you'd trust, I have a 3M respirator and solid particle filters (solid particle because the vapor ones that come with the respirator aren't going to do as good as the solid particle).
EXCELLENT point! Yes, i'm using a crap breathing mask now and I NEED to get something better ASAP. Thanks for the suggestion! What do you think of Harbor freight's resperator? I looked at it pretty hard, but I think I'll go with a better brand. This is my lungs we're talking about.
Definitely go with a 3M solid particle respirator, there are some that are half face and full face. The full face has built in eye protection and the respirator system itself, it's about twice the amount of a normal respirator but I'd consider it a worthy purchase because it has your eye protection built in. Most people aren't inclined to put on their respirator because they have to set it up and getting it to fit just right, let alone find wherever they last put their eye protection. It's an all in one system that I see plenty of return on a $60 investment, the half face solid particle respirator will work just as well you just need to supply your own eye protection.
M3oWcaboose Thanks. 👍
FargoFX I got a respirator about 5 months ago. It's a newer model 3M released, and IIRC, it was almost the same price as the Harbor Freight. Probably about $3 more when I got it on Amazon, and it has 3M's proven reliability, and it works with most of their cartridges so you can easily adapt it as needed. It had a couple of new features including a venting system that exhausts the air down and out so it doesn't fog up your safety glasses which is really nice, and it had a secure quick release toggle to take the mask off if you need to stop to talk with someone. I've used it for a couple of hours nonstop and it was very comfortable and easy to wear. If you still haven't found one, and don't want to get a full face mask version, it's a good option. I hope this helps! If you're having a hard time finding it, I can go back to my purchase history and find it there.
@@FargoFX Are you planning to get one for the little girl, or don't her lungs matter to you?
I’m getting into knife making what would you recommend for cheap metals so I can mess up on my first few without blowing the bank. I’m in highschool so I have a tight budget.
The great outdoors use brass it’s soft & easy to manipulate then work you way up .
If your talking about knifes as your first few you can’t go cheap with metal but if it’s just practice then mild steel easily find able at any hobby store and acts just like high carbon steel but DONT use it for knives
Fanrastic. Tomorrow’s the day, good sir.
Turn the belt around if its catching on the seam.
Create an outline, step by step..get all of the elements/items within reach etc,..you’ll get it soon enough!
Okay, I’m confused. *HOW DOES HE ONLY HAVE 3K SUBS??*
He's almost to 50k 🤣
I had to laugh,
I've owned this 2 or 3 months you say,
It looks butchered and buckled and had a glorious thrashing.
Just attach a piece of plexiglass with screws and epoxy to the plate.
i was going to say fill it with weld and grind it true, but this is a much better idea haha, you could easily replace it once it wore through.
Love the reviews. i crank the speed to 1.25
how?
@@leonlew1 lower left, little gear left click payback speed
Why don’t you fill those grooves with sum pudding or even better yet use sum jb weld then just smooth it out
fill the grooves with epoxy
Totally thought of this before I read your comment. Doing that to mine tomorrow
1:53 holy shit dude that was crazy.
dude im so late to this video but i dont even care. This clip of the video had me shouting at my laptop so loud I woke my cat and dog up! Now i've done some dumb shit at home myself but I dont think you can be dumber than this dude, he was cutting with the angle grinder inverted with no guard, no gloves on and he was bare fuckin foot with flip flops on! I cant actually believe he has all his fingers cutting like that. If youre gonna be dumb and do it then you better be deathgripping the grinder when it binds and flies towards your body.
👍
brain dead New Yorker 💪
I just got one of these today , it takes about a hour to tweek it & get it just right . I tightened the spring tensioner bolts just snug to stop The vibration & chattering it is kinda loud . I would recommend getting precision ball bearings for all the wheels & a variable speed control also that’s going to be my next step , just make sure that when you change out all the ball bearings you use a high Quality grease . I got a angle guide for it so I can make precise angles on knifes a such . It’s way worth the money & all the belts are cheap even at Home Depot the belts are cheap for this , don’t sleep on this little 1x30 it moves material like a beast .
I got mine today and with a 20% off coupon, it came to $42.00. You can get a 20% coupon online anytime, just Google it and print it.
This sander was made to sand wood only, I wouldn't recommend using it to sharpen blades. Have you tried investing in a Work Sharp?
hahahahahahahahahahahaha so i guess you haven't looked around much for 1x30 vid
You can absolutely use this tool to sharpen knives. But it's definitely not to be used for removing a lot of metal stock.
If you take that plastic guard off the top part wear goggles or you will get shit spit into your eyes lol
Saw dust and sparks.. Not a good combo.
Use a discount coupon. Less than $60.
David Wright not anymore. Central Machine products aren’t eligible anymore. I just bought one today and tried using the 25% off coupon.
DeviceFX
Buy better belts. They will last longer and arent much more. 12pack of zirc belts for $15 and will do more than 1 knife per belt.
The no edit isn't a good look brother. No offense I enjoyed portions of your video. Maybe where boots and don't get yourself in trouble by removing safety equipment. I know we all do it but never say more than you need to especially these days. I'm going to subscribe just since you heard me rant.
Device... Device... device. :)
Remember what I told you, machines and NOT meant to make you more productive.
Tony Walker Lol. I've probably spent as much time tinkering with this thing as I have making knives with it.
All of the moving and lighting should have been worked out prior to your video! Lots of talking but not well organized..you just need a little more practice with creating a smooth running video!
Yes, please edit. That video could have been 6 minutes instead of 22. Great info tough.
Belts are hard to change???? Took you less than 5 seconds to remove and about 20 seconds to put a new one on??? So 2 hobbies, woodworking and whining ;) There are many suppliers of these belts. In Canada (which has a lot less selection than the US) there are at least 3 or 4 locally, then of course Amazon and Ebay and Banggood and Canadian knife maker suppliers, and ..... Silicon, zirconium, aluminium oxide, leather stropping belts, Scotch Brite belts, etc... No shortage whatsoever and of course you can always make your own belts.
Boring!
i'm not listening to a guy that does dumb stuff with angle grinders
Man this is the most tiresome video
Not a fan of the unedited video. not a good review, sorry.
I liked the review
I HAD TO QUIT watch'n this at the Belt changing @ 11:39❕ You DON"T how to use this Sander (Not a Grinder) IF, I was you I'd take it down. And You SHOULD NOT BE AROUND MOTORIZED MACHINERY AT ALL...............IMHO❕
I know he is explaining things but he is so annoying come on just get to the point is it worth buying or not
I had to laugh,
I've owned this 2 or 3 months you say,
It looks butchered and buckled and had a glorious thrashing.