20 Best Grinder For Knife Making (2023 Updated)

First off I had issues with the shipping procedure. First one was that it said my grinder was going to be delivered to an address in Maryland. I live in northern CA. Then I had a hard time getting anyone from buck tool to answer my questions.

I finally got answers! The tool its self is fairly good. The grinding wheel had a bad wobble to it which caused a severe vibration. Having the 40 years of experience working with bench grinders and belt Sanders I used a trick I learned,if you loosen the bolt holding the wheel on the shaft and turn it a little at a time,tighten it back down and turn it back on,if it still wobbles do it again until the wobble goes away or minimizes the wobble.

Some of the reviews had said that the shaft was bent on the first one they received but was fine on the second one they got,it may not be bent it may be the wheel. there is more plastic on it than I would like but for the price point it’s pretty good.

I like that the platen is movable allowing for some flex of the belt. The tracking works well and belt changes are very quick and easy. For an entry level belt sander it is well worth the money. I want to let you know that I have for most of 40 years worked with a $3,000 dollar belt sander so it is difficult to compare the new belt sander to one of the buck tools.

Honestly it’s pretty good for the money! I worked for 40+ years as a saw, tool and knife sharpener. This works pretty well on sharpening knives and I know what I am talking about!!!.

As I had hoped, it was all I expected it to be when I unpacked the contents finding it nicely made and finished. It came with extra belts, a nice brass wire wheel and tools for assembly and adjustment.

Motor ran smoothly and fairly quietly, exhibiting a good amount of power and performance. The belts tracked easily and were a pleasure to change out, which is a really great feature. While I am not a knife maker, I mainly use it to sharpen knives and tools with a more than satisfactory degree of professional like sharpness! I ordered a varied selection of belts for it and am honing my skills with practice and sharpening knives from my family and friends.

Amazing unit for the money! Not upset at all with this purchase! I use it mostly for blade finishing and it makes easy work out of it. The power on it is more then adequate for ruff grinding and shaping.

Assembley is simple and belts are easy to change and they line up well. All the plastic guards were a concern at first, but they are durable and servisable, no problems at all. You can make your own custom modifications easily on this unit as well.

Overall, for the money. I don’t know how you could go wrong.

This turned out to be a great upgrade bench grinder for me. When my 6 inch Dewalt started bogging down while cleaning rusty metal garden utensils with the wire wheel. it was time for a chsnge. However it is a virtual jungle out there of types and brands of bench grinders.

Also prices go from $$ to $$$$$$. I did some homework on many youTube video sites and narrowed it down to 3 models and prices. This won out. and I am glad. very reasonably priced and all I had to do was to replace 1 of the grinding wheels out with an 8 inch Dewalt product and voila.

It works great and is powerful enough for my crafy and household uses.

Just bought this grinder. It looks well made and the rests and wheel guards are heavier metal than many in this price range. The LED lights are OK at best. It would have been better to have a single goose neck light that comes on with the motor instead of these weak battery powered lights.

The biggest problem happened when I turned it on and it had a severe vibration in one of the grinding wheels. Everything was tight and there was no apparent wobble, but the wheel is out of balance to the point the grinder rattles itself across the workbench.

I am hoping WEN sends a replacement wheel, otherwise I’ll have to return this grinder. These out of balance wheels seems to be a pretty common problem with Chinese grinders too. I don’t regret buying it, but the quality is not quite what I had hoped for either.

A nice looking bench grinder that can get the small jobs I have like sharpening mower blades and implements done. It takes about 5 or 6 seconds to come up to full speed but that doesn’t bother me. I don’t use it often enough to justify a higher priced one.

Longevity is yet to be determined since I’ve only had it for less than a month.

I’m a tiler, I use this tool daily and have 2 them. It’s my go to grinder, hence I have 2 of them. Variable speed is a must in my line of work. It’s a super reliable tool. Guard is a snap on easy to attach or remove.

It’s a light tool as well which helps when you use it all day for miter cuts. Incredibly versatile and simple to use. Grip is fantastic and well balanced. I could go on and on as I have done pretty much everything with this tool and it’s yet to disappoint me.

Highly recommend it.

I love the grinder for light duty use. It becomes exceedingly hot for any heavy use, such as taking off 0. 25″x18″ from a piece of 0. 25″ thick angle stock steel. I have to take two breaks to let the tool cool down to finish the job.

Need to do the same when using it to cut 2. 5″ holes into granite, got hot enough to make me choose between putting wielding gloves on or let it cool down. Takes about 30-45 minutes for it to come back down to a temperature that I am willing to handle it again.

Perhaps I chose one that is underpowered for my task, but if you plan to do either of the above, I suggest getting a heavy duty grinder. The variable speed was the selling point to me as i need a lower speed for granite and a high speed for grinding.

That feature works great!.

I bought this tool to serve as a dedicated slitter for use with cutoff wheels. I’ve used this same model for years and the one I received looks and performs like a brand new tool. I would absolutely recommend this refurbished tool to anyone using cutoff wheels in the typical angle grinder.

This brushless V20 Grinder is a beast! The paddle switch on this model is great and works better than those found on several of the higher priced “professional” grinders that I have used throughout my years.

Having the wrench inside the side handle was a great idea! I am notorious for loosing them. I like the tool free guard as it makes it easy to grind or use a cutting wheel safely. My kids love mowing grass but somehow always manage to find everything they can to dull the blades on our mowers.

With this tool I can sharpen blades anywhere we are, even on our 75+acres of hunting land when we are clearing green fields. When using 4AH batteries I get great runtime no matter the project. The power, ergonomics, and portability of this tool all add up to a recipe for success! This tool will always be in the toolbox of my truck.

It is much too versatile of a tool to not have at a moments notice!.

I didn’t know what to expect when I pulled the product out of the box, and was surprised on how solid the product felt. It didn’t feel cheap, and didn’t feel like it would be more than a $54 product.

I like the new safety switch being on the trigger so it’s all there in one spot than to have to push a button at the top to press the trigger. I have the 20V battery, and the product is super powerful.

I couldn’t run the battery down with sharpening 3 lawnmower blades and an ax. Craftsman holds up to their products. I love that the tool is in the handle. There is no more keeping up with the tool and losing it by you can put it in the handle, and is always accessible.

The only advise I would have to give Craftsman would be to update their manual. It took me thirty minutes to find the tool to put the grinder wheel on. They need a sticker on the tool that is in the handle, and something in the instructions showing where to get the tool.

The instructions may be for the older generation products. Thanks Craftsman for another inventive way on making your products the best.

Love this grinder. I use this thing all the time. It is quick and convenient. I have three 4ah batteries so battery life is great. I have used it to cut tile, 1/8 steel tube and grind countless projects.

The only time I used corder grinders now is when using a cutting wheel and flap disc together a lot so I don’t have to keep switching wheels on one grinder.

Overall this has been a good product at a good price. My only complaint is the tool rests. They are a little small and because of the gear-type locking, they can’t be adjusted to any position. I need exact positioning – could have been designed better.

That said, I would still purchase again.

Great quality and value for the price. Ser it up with a One-way Wolverine sharpening system to exclusively sharpen lathe chisel. Professional quaity results. Highly recomnebded.

Purchased this slow speed grinder to sharpen wood lathe gouges and skews. This grinder is an excellent value, works great. Has one 60 grit and one 120 grits wheels.

I had purchased the Wen 6” bench grinder, found that the motor was too weak as returned it. I spent a little more and bought this DeWalt. Wow. What an improvement! Having just had two units to compare days apart I can assure you that is a _much_ better value and much higher quality machine.

As you can see from my pictures, it isn’t perfect. At the top of the wheel housing you attach the spark shield. On the left side I have a polishing wheel attached and have on the outer housing cover.

When this is attached the bracket for the spark shield can’t sit flush against the housing. In the other photo I have a DeWalt wire wheel mounted. Even though the 1/2” wheel technically fits, it was rubbing on the outer housing cover.

I didn’t want to scrape off the paint and have a problem with rust down the road so I left the outer cover off. With the cover off you can see that the spark shield’s bracket mounts flush. But these are minor quibbles.

The tool rests, stamping thickness, on/off switch quality are far better than the Wen. And the motor power is night and day (that is actually an _understatement_. ) Highly recommended!!!.

Quality built grinder and comes with two different grit stones. I was happy to find this at a Tractor Supply store. The on/off switch seems robust and it was easy to put together. After using for a few weeks I am satisfied with it’s performance with one caveat.

No light. A work light would really be a plus for a grinder as you are always looking at what you’re grinding to see how effective it is.

This item was manufactured by a company with a stellar reputation for their highest quality and value of the tools they sell. However, this product is not what I would consider to be one of their better efforts! It does seem to be very durable, but the quality control is not what I have come to expect from DeWalt! My old bench grinder came up to full speed within 1.

5 seconds, and this one takes about 3 times longer. It also vibrates and shakes badly for the price I paid. If I had this to do over again, I would not purchase a DeWalt bench grinder!.

I’ve had this grinder for about two months, it has started acting up a little, the motor doesn’t always start right up I sometimes have to spin the blade a little first probably an issue with the brake but it really doesn’t bother me much.

Aside from that this thing rules. It powers right through everything I put in front of it; cutting concrete, rebar, structural steel and grinding welds are all handled with ease. I didn’t think I really needed a cordless grinder but after using it for a while I’ll never go back to corded.

The added safety on ladders and roofs paired with more dexterity on the ground makes this one of my favorite tools in my truck.

Working in an industrial environment everyday with these tools manufacturing heavy oil field equipment. Replaced corded tools with the DeWalt tools and have removed the limitations of power cords. This grinder is either in my hands or next to me ready to work.

Powerful and able to handle any material, I get through much more in a day than dragging cords around the large material we work with. The safety brake stops the wheel quick so you can set it down and get back to work.

The battery life under full grinding may seem small until you consider how much work the tool is doing. Using the grinder throughout the day I have never drained all four of my batteries. Quality is there, been using this grinder hard for over five months and still running like it was out of the box.

This grinder works excellent and has left me with limited negative feedback to comment on. If had to complain about one thing of the grinder it would have to be that it’s a bit longer than your average corded grinder due to the battery that extends out at the rear of the tool !!! This has not became a issue with any of my grinding needs at this point!! I can live with the overall length of the grinder.

of that’s the only trade off I have to sacrifice to have cord free grinding it’s a no brainer. Oh ya and the grinder is no slouch!! It lacks nothing in way of power and is more powerful than most corded grinders with the sound level being half as loud as a typical 4-1/2″ corded grinder it’s considerably less noisy!! I don’t think I’ll be using a corded grinder unless in a rare case I need to break out the ol Milwaukee 9″ for heavy heavy material removal which isn’t often.

If you already have a flexvolt tool or tools in the flexvolt line and have the batteries then the barefool grinder is of great value and won’t disappoint!!! I’m fairly picky and extremely critical when it comes to tools and especially tools I use on a regular basis as I want performance ease of use and convienance followed by heavy duty and reliability and so far I have no complaints!! If I do end up having a issue with it then I’ll be updating my review promptly with details.

Get one !!!!!! It’ll make you grin at first squeeze of the trigger!!!.

Powerful grinder that will give you a workout. Using this to bevel heavy wall pipe before welding. Most people will not need a grinder this size. But if you are doing continuous heavy cutting and grinding this is the tool for you.

You will give out before Makita does.

Good bit of kit, great quality and best price I could find. Had to speak to them regarding a small issue I had and found them helpful and easy to contact. Great follow up service as well. Next time I need something thier web-site will be the first one I look at.

Great item, fast delievry.

I always thought that I hated using angle grinders. Little did I know that I merely hate using the stubby fat bodied grinders, this rat tail design is 1000x better! I feel like I actually have control of the machine.

True, it’s less compact, but for my needs that’s irrelevant. The build quality seems good, it’s a Makita after all. I find the trigger lock to be a bit annoying, but once you get used to pressing the small button before pulling the trigger, it’s not that bad.

It’s got good power, and the electric brake is nice, I’m not leaving grinder marks all over the place from having to slow it down myself. I fully expect to get my money’s worth out of this machine many times over in the coming years.

This is an excellent value. I got this low speed grinder for tool sharpening. Overall, excellent except: the stones wobble. Although the work face can be trimmed, the wobbling makes the machine vibrate.

I believe the problem is in the stamped steel washers on each side of each stone. For stones at 8″ diameter, it would be be better if these were machined/ground to a precision flatness and parallelism.

The motor shafts are perfect. All other aspects are really nice.

First, it vibrates because the left grinding wheel is out of balance. You can see it wiggle when you turn it on. So, I took the guard off to see is I can find out why. When I turn the mounting nut it spins on the right side! So, I take of the right guard and try to hold the other nut with another wrench.

But both threads are cut in the same direction! It’s impossible to tighten it or loosen it! I had to get a pair of vise grips to clamp on one end of the threaded spindle thus smashing the threads. Now, the nuts will probably never come off if it becomes necessary.

I wouldn’t buy this one again.

Big and beefy, quiet, powerful, a huge upgrade from anything I’ve ever owned. Minor issues include a bit of wobble in one wheel which I can’t fully eliminate by re-positioning the support washers as per the instructions (the shaft is true however), and the tool rests are somewhat flimsy plastic which makes precise horizontal alignment and stability difficult.

Therefore, I would not rate it as a true professional grade tool but its really nice nonetheless. The “slow speed” aspect works great and seems able to grind thru plenty of material quickly. Mine also included a diamond dressing tool in the box, something you definitely need to achieve great results.

This thing is a beast. Easy to handle . I used a cutting blade on it and cut thru 10 dia x1/4 thick steel pipe with ease. It doesnt over heat . Ran cool and provided awesome power. Love Makita tools!

I purchased this 7″ grinder for use around my shop. It has everything I required, lots of power, easy to change grinder disks and extremely well built. Makita is usually my go to brand for corded tools, they have never let me down.

I’m a long-standing user of Makita tools anyway. This tool is useful for me to cut and clean off metal where there is no access to mains power. It doesn’t seem quite as powerful as the corded version (which I have owned for years), but that is to be expected with battery power.

Prolonged heavy cutting drains the battery quite rapidly. The tool features an overload cut-out (i. e. if one is cutting too deep too fast), which is a good feature to preserve the service life of the tool.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quietly it runs compared to the corded version. The weight is good and it is balanced very nicely; in some ways, this is perhaps a slightly more precise machine to use than the corded version as it is lighter in the hand and doesn’t have the same torque “pull” that the corded version does, so it is easier to control.

I will certainly still be using the corded one, but I’m finding a lot of uses for this one already and I’m sure it will become an invaluable part of my tool setup. I was a little concerned about the absence of a carry case in the package, but the cardboard box in which it is supplied is quite sturdy and compact, plus the tool and accessories will still fit inside the box with the blade guard fitted.

Overall very pleased with this: solid Makita build quality and good ergonomic design as always. For me, it augments rather than replaces the corded angle grinder. Howe Tools certainly offered the best price (shipped) I could find at the time of purchase.

I am a veteran builder, general contractor with 43 years diversified experience. Installed many a lock set/ various hardware with a Yankee screwdriver well before cordless tools entered the market. Most major brands have evolved for the better, and over the years my organization has had most all top brand names in inventory at some point through the years.

Most of the quality brands were comparable for the technology of the time. I settled in on the 18volt line of Makita Cordless Drivers and Drills at least 10 years ago, and scored an excellent deal on multiple sets.

With employees we have numerous sets going back years. They have all been very reliable with excellent lifespan. After a great track and performance record, along with universal battery and charger throughout the platform, it finally boiled down to one reliable battery/brand that could interface with every other cordless tool we use.

A few years ago I would have never dreamed the ever expanding variety of cordless tools in the Makita portfolio would be so expansive. I now have multiple tool categories that all use the same battery platform and chargers, and have yet to buy one that hasn’t been a pleasing asset.

I am selling my business, but ave a good personal collection of Makita Cordless Tools I intend to keep expanding.

I’ve had a 240v Makita grinder for years, it was great apart from the switch (which broke, although after a few years). I needed a cordless one & bought this. I found it gutless, with the auto trip cutting it out when using thin cutting discs on thin steel.

It also gets through 5Ah batteries in no time at all. After using it for less than an hour the switch stuck fast. I blew it out with compressed air (in case of grinding debris obstructing – it with no success).

Good old Screwfix took it back no problem & I upgraded to the more expensive brushless version. Save your time & money and go for the latter – it’s miles better!.

I had to do some awkward tiling and didn’t have my usual angle grinder with me, however the cuts were delicate and it would probably have been too aggressive anyway. Bought this as have laser and multi tool with batteries.

It’s brilliant, light easy, powerful enough for appropriate tasks. The only tricky part for me is I’m left handed and I’d prefer a left handed version. Saying that it’s so easy to use I’m still very happy.

Lovely little tool — fits nicely in the hand and cuts into tiles very quickly using a diamond disc. Good battery life. Makes a terrible mess, of course, like all dry grinders. There ought to be a vacuum attachment available for it, to catch at least the worst of the material spinning off, but I couldn’t find one listed anywhere so I made one by attaching a short piece of old aluminium vacuum cleaner tube to the plastic “overshoe” that is supplied with the tool to increase user protection.

Judging by the amount of material that ended up in the cleaner, this was well worth doing, even though it obviously didn’t catch everything. I’ve since also bought the Bosch GWB 12V-10 angle drill/driver that uses the same battery and charger, and that is very good, too.

Arrived quickly, this was the only one I could find as a kit which came with 2 x batteries and a charger in the L-Boxx kit. It is nicely balanced for those small cutt Big and grinding tasks. Not sure why there were no kits available in the UK body only as I have many of these kits and just want the complete L-Boxx that has its own charger and batteries.

Don’t know why people want one charger and then have to put them together later on. First Bosch kit of many that the tool was made in Germany which is what I expect when you purchase German engineering, but often get made in other countries but Germany.

My one gripe is that I had to change the plug on the charger from the 2pin EU plug to a 30pin UK plug, no big deal but usually the supplier has changed this knowing it is being sent to the UK. Great little tool, well balanced and light to use and has a battery charge indicator on side.

I have to admit, as there was NO amp rating on this when I bought it, I was skeptical of this grinder and fully prepared to return it turned out to be one of the very weak CLAIMED 1/2hp Made-In-China ones of only about 2 amps that are showing up in many places.

Happily, THAT was not necessary. I am amazed at how long the motor takes to stop turning (3 minutes!) I’d give it 4. 5 stars if that was possible. PROS: this 6″ grinder has VERY GOOD overall quality, especially for its price range enough USABLE power to handle any reasonable loading-for its rated hp both grinding wheels are decent quality-they don’t quickly degrade from light use both grinding wheels are well-balanced and run true when mounted/tightened properly bearings and motor must also be decent-machine takes a VERY long time to spin down fit and finish are good it has heft-its not a featherweight 2 ADJUSTABLE clear spark shields 2 under wheel spark guards 2 adjustable position gooseneck lights drill bit sharpening groove in one tool rest good length cord its runs more quietly than most in its price range it has a good length warranty CONS: tool rests are of thin gauge metal clear spark shields are not heat OR impact resistant light bulbs are incandescent.

Great price, fast shipping. I bought it for a Christmas present and will not know how it performs until after christmas.

I picked this up for sharpening lawnmower blades. Works great for that! Easy job with the grinder. I would have gave it a 5 star, but the right left bulb was extremely loose. I tried getting it to tighten, but during operation bulb fell out and broke.

Nothing major though.

The grinder looks and feels very solid. Its shere weight keeps it steady on the table while in use, which is very good, since there is no need to bolt it to the table. Bolting it down would not have been practical, since you need to operate the two stones from different sides of the grinder.

As far as I can tell, the grinder operates at a steady speed and the quality of the stones is satisfactory. It may be that my grinder has a defect that results in this, but: – The wet stone moves from horisontaly when in use.

Actually the entire axle seems to have quite a bit of right-to-left play, which makes it move when being used. It seems to me that this should be easy to avoid. I have opened the gear casing and I cannot find anything bend og broken in there.

The gears are plastic by the way. – The motor gets pretty hot when running. After 15 minutes of use, I can still put my hand on the metal housing, but it is too hot for my taste. I would guess between 40 and 50 degrees celsius.

– There is no way to regulate the speed of the grinding stones. – When using the wet stone, one tends to rest the object being sharpened on the edge of the plastic water basin. I would have liked a more steady, metal frame for support.

So, all in all a pretty good bench grinder, but for a top quality German brand, I miss a few features and some finesse.

The product looked ok until switched on. There was significant vibration which got steadily worse whilst the machine was slowing down. On further investigation the wheel wobble was very significant, seemed greater than 1 mm.

A quick search on the internet followed by painstaking adjustments improved the situation. Sadly this was not what I expected from a so called premium product.

Great – nice and compact & Good Quality. Wheels easy to change. Came with a extra cable to convert two pin plug to three pin – did not expect this and did not want this extra cable so simply cut the two pin plug off the grinder lead and replaced it with a standard three pin, if not for this I would have given it five stars.

Did not come with ‘metabo’ label on it for some reason but that is no issue.

When this 6-inch Bench Grinder became available on spark reviewer, I had to get it. My old bench grinder that was passed down to me by my father had seen better days, and was on its last stand. I am constantly using the bench grinder to resharping my lawn mower blades as my grandson is constantly running over rocks while mowing my yard, despite his effort trying to avoid them.

Since it was costing me $30. 00 a wack to have them sharpened, the grinder has saved me a lot of money. The very first thing I loved about this grinder, was the LED lights it has. Since my old one didn’t have that, and with my eyesight going bad, at times grinding mower blades or kitchen knives got a little dangerous! So those LED lights are a blessing.

Since I love to do Arts and Crafts and do a lot of sanding by hand, this grinder will definately make my crafting a lot easier for sure. I will admit the manual it came with to assemble it was slightly confusing, so I did my best to work off the pictures.

Along with all the warnings which kind of scared me a bit, my neighbor was kind enough to help me out. So for his kindness I let him use the grinder first to sharpen a few tools. He stated it was a great powerful grinder and I was lucky to get it! Unfortunately at this time I don’t have a way to attach a photo.

So it’s red and not blue. I have no doubt that my mates in the trades will take the mick out of me because I’ve got a red one – but more fool them! I’ve used the basic blue one as well, and there is not difference.

This is a basic 9 inch grinder with no real ‘features’ but for basic jobs it’s just the job. The only thing that is doesn’t have is a case – and I can make one of those out of offcuts so no real issue.

If you’re only going to use it once in a while (and out of sight of you mates) this is the one to go for.

One of the best angle grinders I have ever had. Heavy and robust machine. The MT series of tools are great. Handle cutting slabs and concrete with ease. I would recommend this not just to DIYers but to trades men as well.

The three positions of the handle is a great addition to it. The guard is stronger than my last one, and a descent length of cable as well. The price, cheap for such a machine. The MT series lives up to the Makita name.

I was unaware of the MT range of Makita gear. It seems its as good as their normal range, but without some of the later frills. The angle grinder is as good as the Hitachi one I borrowed, which was probably twice the price.

Most of my gear is Makita, and has proven to be pretty reliable. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this 8 inch grinder, even if it’s a Milwauki colour. I can’t truly give the correct star ratings, not yet used it long enough to give true reliability, but Makita stuff is normally good enough.