Shop Fox W1843 Knife Belt Sander/Buffer

I'm a novice knife-maker and I've only used the 2x72" to make 1 knife so far, but I'm pretty impressed overall and quite happy with the performance and value. I'll update this later as I use it more. Inital setup took about an hour. Changing belts is easy and fast (a few seconds). The tracking adjustment is a bit crude, but I have not had any issues with it holding its tracking over time, or under increased pressure/tension. I played with it a bit just to see if it could become an issue, but even if it does move a bit, the tracking knob is easily accessible and hand-adjustable, so it takes just a second or two to fine-tune it on the fly. I do not foresee this being a significant issue. I bought the Shop Fox as compared to the Grizzly due to the larger wheel radius. A few things of note - these are not issues, just observations: First, the entire unit is quite a bit larger than I envisioned. I was picturing a bench-grinder size unit, but it's approximately double that size and heavy (IE stable), so make sure you have some space. Second, not a big deal, but it would be nice if it came with a few standard buffing wheels just to get started. Lastly, the protectant they put on the arbors and threads needs to be removed in order to get the wheels on. It was a blue painted-on film in my case. The instructions say to use WD-40 to remove it. That did not work. Not even a little. Nor did paint thinner, nor alcohol. The thing I found worked best was a citrus-based solvent, like GooGone, or Citrustrip. Just be sure to re-apply some oil or light grease immediately afterward to inhibit rust. Long story short, I tried everything in my shop to make my first few knives including bench grinders, belt sanders, disc sanders, mini-grinders, etc and got mediocre results. Finally broke down and bought the 2x72" and it was like night and day.

runs smoothly. powerful. the tool rest can be adjusted in many ways. tracking is a bit fussy but stable once set. Belt changes are quick and easy. This is a great machine if you can live without variable speed.

Assembly is easy enough. Seems to be well made and works well. My only complaint would be the tool rest and the janky arm that holds it, could be better build and bigger. All in all I feel good about this purchase

This is a quality unit, but the switch is plastic trash and it failed after a year. Replacement is cheap, but of course they're backordered. Shouldn't have to deal with something like this after a year for something so expensive.

For the price this is an awesome unit. Very heavy duty. Not set up to be an exact “knife grinding” style, but is completely functional. Have ended up using it for more and more general shop work than grinding knives since I put it in service. Probably will get a true knife machine with a bigger platten & vfd in the future, but for rough work and buffing I’m very pleased.

Yes it's basically the Grizzly but with a 10" wheel and yes it's not variable but for the price it's still smoking fast and powerful. The tool rest is horrible as most people have stated and it has it's limitations but since I'm not able to afford a $1,500 grinder this is great for me.

I love the heft of it.. I don't use a tool rest so I never had an issue there.. tracking can be tricky but once dialed in it works great.. make sure you have enough power to supply this beast as it draws 14 amps! I used a 13 amp extension cord at first and I'm so disappointed that I didn't just wait until I had my breaker hooked up..nothing happened but it was just a stupid thing to do.. but this grinder..I love it..I'm a sword maker mostly and it does the job fast and accurately.

So I received the unit in good time, which is impressive, given where I live. Machine arrived in two boxes, the motor in one and the sander arm and brackets/parts in the other. All parts were packaged well, and seem very well made and solid. Power cord was installed and intact, just had to clean and assemble the machine parts without messing with the electrical...or so I thought.Once I'd crafted the stand/bench for it (plan this out carefully, this is a heavy machine) and fully assembled it, I plugged it in and pulled the button for the "test." Nothing happened. Not only did nothing happen, but the buttong just drew itself back in; wouldn't click and stay in the "on" position. I tried a couple more times, without success. Checked the outlet, it had juice. I'm no electrician, but I know a cheap looking switch when I see one, so I figured that must be the issue. I decide to unscrew the switch box from the casing and check the wiring. All connections look good. So I undcrew the switch box and slowly separate the halves...the threaded screw holes were cracked, and there were pieces floating. The housing is cheap plastic, and had broken. Now I have to contact the manufacturer to see if they'll send me a new switch. Can't even use this $750 machine I just bought. I mean, really guys...the rest of the unit seems pretty solid...would it kill you to splurge on the $5 more to make sure the customer can actually turn the damn thing on when they get it put together!? 🤷🏻‍♂️I'd like to be able to review this thing and give feedback on how well it works (or doesn't) but I can't really do that, can I? All I have is the first impression that I was unable to test run it due to a chinsey busted on/off switch. I'll try to come back and update my review depending on how the seller or manufacturer help me deal with this issue.