2x72 Belt Grinder

[Kim]

My new side project is building a 2”x27” belt grinder!  Certainly not a tool I need, but then, what tool really is?    But it IS a tool I’ve always wanted   I talked about it a while back but never did it then.  I was originally looking at a very basic 2”x48” grinder based on an inexpensive 1/2 HP grinder (like from Harbor Freight).  But the more I looked into other available plans the more features I saw that I wanted.  Features that the simple belt grinder didn’t provide.  Sure, it was probably all the belt grinder I needed, but it isn’t what I wanted. 

I ended up deciding on a much more complicated and beefier 2”x72” grinder based on plans from Jeremy Schmidt. I’ve included a link to the belt grinder plans from Jeremy, and a link to his build video. 

Here's a picture of the belt grinder from his Etsy site (where I purchased the plans):


I started this project in January, purchasing the required steel, motor, controller, and other parts needed.  Then I had a several month delay as I dealt with other issues   But now, I’m back on it!

This weekend I started cutting out parts.  This is a picture of a bunch of 3/8” steel parts being cut from a 6” x 3/8” hot rolled steel bar.  His plans provide 1:1 size images of all the pieces so you can just glue them onto the steel and cut them out and shape them.


Alternately, he offers DXF files of the parts so you can have the plasma or water jet cut if you prefer.

And here are a bunch of parts cut mostly to shape.  I still have a lot of filing to do to get the rough edges off, and a bunch of holes to drill.


And there are still a bunch of parts that need to be cut from smaller HRS bar, but those are more rectangular so should go faster.
But I’ve started!

Kim

[crueby]

That looks like a great project!  Sands, grinds, launches shop elves...


 

[cwelkie]

Nice project Kim!  I've been admiring his original design for a few years now and noticed awhile back the updates he has made.  I purchased his drawings but never did make a start on it. Very talented young designer and his drawings are very good value.
Looking forward to watching your version take shape.
Charlie

[Baltic]

Great job,
That will be a handy addition to the workshop, very clever use of the bandsaw,

[johndilsaver]

I hadn't seen that design, I really like it.  I have a 2 x 72 grinder from a group build that my blacksmithing group did a few years ago. It's much less versatile, but it's still one of the most frequently used tools in my shop. Thanks for posting those links. 

[gary.a.ayres]

Wow - this looks great Kim. I foresee a satisfying build for you resulting in a very useful machine.
All the best,
gary.

[Kim]

Thanks, everyone!   I really appreciate having you follow along here.  I DO think it’s going to be a fun build and I DO think it will be a great piece of equipment to add to my shop

So, in his build video, Jeremy shows doing everything with a drill and a file.  And that had been my plan.  After all, it doesn’t require the accuracy of the engines we make.  It’s all going to be welded together after all (and that’s not the most accurate of fabrication processes).

But after playing around with filing some, I didn’t like that.  I can get a much better, more accurate piece by using the mill.  So that’s what I’m doing.  Jeremy doesn’t use one cause he's trying to make this build accessible to a wider audience. And besides, I don't think he has a mill!.  But I do!  So why limit myself?  Sure, I’m probably taking longer and making parts that are WAY more accurate than are required, but I’m having fun and doing it the way that makes me happy. And that’s what counts, right?

I don’t plan on showing a complete step-by-step of every part like I generally do in my engine builds.  But I do want to show the highlights reel

One of the first parts I milled were these hinge pieces.  The only critical part of these is the distance from the bottom flat (in the lower left) and the location of the hole for the hinge rod.  So I double-sticky taped them together, milled the bottom flat and even, then drilled the 1/2” hole.


And I used the rotary table to clean up the curves on the part.  Here I’m shaping the outside curves.  After this, I did the inside curve (no pic).


This is the hinge lock piece.  To make the curved slot I chain drilled and then used a 7/16” end mill to clean up the edges.  Again, Jeremy does this by chain drilling and then filing.  But he doesn’t have a mill. And this will be WAY more accurate anyway, right?


Here I’m cleaning up the main grinding reset (fixed rest).  I used the band saw to cut most of that notch out and just cleaned up the edges and bottom in the mill.


Then rounded over the corners on the disk sander.  I’ve had this sander for 20-30 years.  It will be replaced by this belt sander/grinder!  I don’t think I’ll miss it when I have this bad boy done!



For the top of the angled rest, I needed to cut one long edge of a 3/8” plate to a 45^o angle.  I couldn’t find any good way to do this setup.  After a lot of work, I came up with this marginal setup.  But when I tried a few light passes it was NOT good.  Too much vibration and it just wasn’t held securely enough to provide any confidence.


So I abandoned that for a few days and did other things.  One morning when laying in bed trying to get back to sleep (when I do a lot of good thinking) I came up with this ingenious and deceptively simple plan (OK, it was simple and obvious, but not to me!).  I just held the plate up and down in the vice and stair-stepped in a 45^o slope with a standard end mill.  Then I went back over it with a 45^o chamfer mill to take out the little Stairsteps. Took a few passes of the chamfer tool, but it worked quite well and was MUCH more stable.  Like I said – probably obvious to the casual observer but it took me a lot of work to come up with it!


After a bunch more shaping here’s all those rough cut parts cleaned up for the party!


And the party’s being held in a vat of vinegar.  I read about this online too.  Apparently, people say that if you soak your HRS in vinegar for a few days it will eat away all the mill scale.  I’ve tried that with some of the bar stock I’ve cut already and it seems to work – at least to some degree.  I may still have to do some clean-up with a flap disk but hopefully a lot less.


And it sure makes the vinegar an ugly color, doesn’t it?

More small steps toward the belt grinder!

Kim

[crueby]

Interesting build, and neat trick with the mill scale, have to remember that one!


 

[Dave Otto]

That is going to be a nice tool Kim!
Following along with interest.

Dave

[Kim]

Thanks, Dave!

I’ve been beavering away over the last week, shaping parts to be used in this belt grinder project.  There are a lot of parts to be made and I’m doing them upfront so that they are ready to go when I start assembling the thing.

I did do one thing differently than Jeremy shows.  One of the first steps is to make some square tube receivers for 1.5” square steel.  These are used to hold the platen attachment (and others) and the tool rest. He builds these tubes out of some 2” and 1.5” steel, overlapping the 2” over the 1.5” by 0.25” on each side and then welding them together.  One of the problems with this is if the steel warps much during welding it can make the sliding tube no longer slide. Which isn’t good.  Someone else posted a comment to Jeremy’s build video that they used 2” steel for all four sides of the tube and just used a mill to take a ~0.235” rabbit out of two sides of some of the 2” steel.  This way the tube could be clamped and held at a uniform thickness all along and it couldn’t warp during welding.  Since I had a mill, I decided to do this too.  And I think I’m glad I did.

Anyway, so here I am milling the rabbit in one piece of the 2x3/8” steel.  I don’t normally take action shots, but this took so long to feed all the way across that I felt comfortable doing the action shot.  Seemed to work OK, I guess.  I used a 3/8” roughing mill to chew out the rabbit.  I wasn’t too worried about the finish here


Here are the four parts that will make one of the receiver tubes.  You can see that two of them have the 0.235” rabbits taken out on both sides.


And here’s what it looks like all clamped up.


See – the 1.5” square bar slides through it just fine!


In addition to shaping the parts, there were 10 holes that needed to be tapped.  Six of the 3/8” – 16 and four of them 5/16” – 18.


And here are nearly all the steel parts that will go into making the 2”x72” belt grinder plus the additional attachments I’m making (tilting table, small wheel attachment, and contact wheel attachment).  The parts missing in this pic are the 1.5” square posts.  I left the 1.5” square steel bar in one piece because I’ll be using it as a mandrel when I weld up the receiver tubes.


And here are all the purchased parts that will be used in this build.


Actually, it’s missing the large contact wheel and one idler wheel for the small wheel attachment.  I haven’t purchased those yet.  But I will.  Oh – and I’ll need some electrical cord to plug the thing in.  I’m planning to cannibalize an extension cord for this.

And I actually won’t need that many of the handles – they just came in sets of two, so there are a few extras there.

The motor is a 2HP 240V motor and I got the VFD to control it so I get variable speed.  I decided if I was going to go to the trouble to do it, I was going to go high-end!

With all the parts in hand (mostly), I can actually get down to business and weld something up!  So I setup the longer receiver tube on my 1.5” mandrel, clamped it, and tack welded it together.


And then after sliding it out, I did a stitch weld on all four corners.  Jeremy provides some nice instruction in his video on how to do this to minimize warping.  He provides this guidance all the way through on this, which is very helpful to a welding noob like me.

And here’s a shot of both of the main receiver tubes welded up:


And that brings us up to date on where I’m at with this project!

Thanks for looking in on me!
Kim

[cwelkie]

Coming along very nicely Kim!  You are going "top shelf" and "all in" aren't you?!
Glad you used the mill - a much more satisfying process.  Besides - if you've got it use it.
That was a good suggestion regarding the fabricated tubes too.
I'm envious ...
Charlie

[crueby]

Wow, thats a LOT of parts!
 

[Don1966]

Just found this and wow you been busy bud. That’s a whole lot of sander and a great project Kim. I would say your off to a good start…



 
Don

[Kim]

Thanks Charlie, Chris, and Don!
I am having a great time with this project.  It's a little different than what I've been doing and I'm having a ball!   

Kim

[Jo]

Wow this is coming together quickly, well done Kim.

Jo

[Admiral_dk]

Just yesterday I wondered what happened to this project (not much or  ) ....

Oh boy have you just shown to be VERY productive     

Per

[cnr6400]

Lots of heavy duty parts made there Kim! It will be a robust piece of machinery.     

[Kim]

Thanks Jo, Per, and CNR!

Yeah, it is coming together quickly, and that's really fun!

And yes, CNR, this will be a substantial piece of equipment!  That's one of the things I liked about this design - it was designed to do some real work!

Today I welded the legs together.  In this picture, I’ve attached the upright to the foot and have just tack-welded a couple of the foot gussets in place.


After completing the legs, I set up the attachment receiver tube to be welded.  I tried to set it up carefully to keep the correct positioning of things.  I’ve just tack-welded it in place here:


And here’s the base unit. Still have to add the hinges, but those will come later.


I also cut the 1.5” square steel today and started shaping it, since now I’ve gotten past the place where I needed it for a mandrel for the tubes.  No pic of this, sorry.

It’s pretty rewarding to see that flat bar stock turn into something 3D like this so quickly.  Welding is a fun skill to have or at least to be developing – my welds really aren’t that pretty.  Hopefully, they are functional though!

Kim

[propforward]

Welding is a fun skill to have or at least to be developing – my welds really aren’t that pretty.  Hopefully, they are functional though!

Kim

Yes it is, and don't sell yourself short, your welds look just fine. That is going to be a very solid and very useful piece of kit. Great work.

[Kim]

Thanks Stuart!   
Kim

[Kim]

OK, so here’s a pic of the 1.5” steel bar cut and shaped for the various tool rest posts and accessory posts.  Since I showed all the other parts, I figured I should be fair and show these too
Cutting them was relatively easy (just let the horizontal bandsaw do it).  But the angled ends were a chore.  One is just flat at both ends (on the right), but the others all have an angle on one end: 45^o, 25^o and 70^o.  That part took a while.


The next step was to cut a relief out of the corner of the tilting tube.  I did this with the porta-band saw and files.  Then drilled a 1/2" hole in the center.


And finally welded a nut over that hole.  This will be for locking the tool attachment in place.


Here I’m suspending the tilting tube in the correct position just above and just to the right of the stationary tube.  This shows a lot of extra pieces clamped around in various locations to help locate the titling tube correctly.

Once I got it clamped in place all extra scaffolding came down so I could set the hinges on top.


The hinges were then positioned on top of the tubes with a long 1/2" threaded rod running through them.  I was going to show a picture of this, but apparently, I didn’t take one.  Go figure.  Anyway here’s a shot of the tilting tube in place after welding the hinges.


This step did give me some grief.  As careful as I tried to be, the hinges pieces did move when welding.  I ended up getting it centered as best I could and then (carefully!) running a 1/2" drill through the problematic hinge. That cleaned it up and now it works quite well.

Then in all my machinations, I ended up accidentally dropping the tilting frame on the garage floor and apparently bend one of the hinge pieces just a tad.  It took a lot of careful pounding and a LOT of effort to get it to where it would work again. But I got there.  I’ll have to be more careful with these heavy parts!  They can severely damage themselves if dropped!

Next step was to weld a 3/8” bolt into the upper hole in one of the fixed hinge parts.  This will be where one of those handles goes to lock the angle of the belt.


Now it’s time to weld on the motor mount arm.  This is a piece of 2x2 square tube that was cut in half – so it s a 1x2 C channel cut at an angle.  And I welded a 1/8” plate over the end to make it look pretty.


Then I welded on the motor mount proper.   Jeremy’s designs come with plans for mounting various styles of motors.  I just picked the one that worked for my motor and used that.


With the motor mount complete it was time to turn to the tension arm post.  This is a 2x2 tube with a cover welded over half of it, and a 1” DOM tube welded in for the tensioner arm pivot.


And here’s the scaffolding to hold the tensioner post in place for welding.


And the final shot is the tilting frame assembled to the base.


Next up will be the tensioner arm that connects to the top of the tensioner post.

Thanks for stopping by to check on my progress!
Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

Great work on all those parts!

[Kim]

Thanks, Gary! 

Today's mission was all about the tensioner arm.  This will hold the tension on the belt and provide the belt tracking adjustment.

The first step was to weld together the two parts that make up the tensioner arm.  The reason this was cut as two parts is that it allowed you to do it from 1.5 x 3.8” bar stock as opposed to much wider stock and thus costing more and having more waste. After it was welded and ground flat, I welded a short bolt onto one end to hook a sping on.


Next, I welded on the tensioner pivot.


And on the opposite end from the spring holder is the tensioner handle mount.


This 1/2” bolt, welded to the tensioner handle mount, will be for the tensioner adjustment handle.


Next, I set the tensioner arm to a specific angle that allowed the tilting frame to rotate without hitting the base.  When that was set I welded a little triangle piece of steel in place as a stop to keep the tensioner arm from ever going below that level.


Next, we weld the tracking hinge in place on the end of the tensioner arm.  There’s a little piece of aluminum can slid between two parts of the hinge to act as a spacer – to give room for the hinge to pivot after welding.


The bolt being welded on the side of the tracking hinge is the axle for the tracking wheel. It has to be positioned square with the rest of the frame.  You can see my steel scaffolding in place in an attempt to hold it at the correct location and square with the world.


And finally, the tracking fork – this is currently being held in place by a stack of washers and a bolt. But in action, it will move up and down, allowing the tracking axle to be adjusted.


And finally, the tensioner handle itself. I welded a 1/2" coupling nut to the inside of a piece of 3/4" pipe.  My nut and pipe didn’t fit as well as Jeremy’s did.  Perhaps I selected the wrong kind of pipe.  Nevertheless, I figured out a way to shim the nut in the center of the pipe and welded it together.  The tracking is adjusted by turning this handle to vary the angle of the tracking wheel axle.


That was a lot of work for one day for me!  Time to head in for some relax time.

Kim

[crueby]

Very nice - is it too late to get my order in for one?!   

[Kim]

Nope, not too late!

You can order a set of plans for $30 - instant download - no waiting!   

All joking aside, they are great plans!  A lot of good detail and clear step-by-step instructions (in addition to the YouTube video, of course)!  I would highly recommend them.  I believe you get a good value for your money with these plans!

Kim

[fumopuc]

Hi Kim, that seems to be an industrial machine tool at the end.
Made for a minimum 8 hours daily usage.
Waiting for the first sparks flying around.
The welding is looking very nice.

[gary.a.ayres]

She's gonna be a beast! 

[Kim]

Thanks, Achim and Gary!

Yes, it is going to be a beast for sure!

Kim

[Kim]

To complete the base power unit, I welded a 1/4" eye bolt to the back of the tilting frame to act as the anchor for the tensioning spring. Then put the spring in place.


Now the big step of attaching the motor. The motor is fairly heavy and it took me a while to figure out how to mount it and get it mostly squared up with the frame.  But I did it. Then I added the drive wheel and the tracking wheel to their respective locations. (This picture is from the back of the unit, just to help orient things.)


Next up is the platen attachment, which started with welding the ears for the platen idler wheels to the platen spine.  The 1.5” tube isn’t the platen itself, the platen will attach to it, however.


Then I welded the platen tool arm to the platen spine, being very careful to keep this joint at right angles.


However, for finetuning the angle of the platen we spot weld three little 1/8” thick pieces of steel to the spine.  These will later be filed to make the platen sit perfectly vertical and square.


That’s where I left off today.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

Really taking shape now... 

[Kim]

The next part is the platen itself.  This was very simple. Just a length of 2” x 3/8” flat bar with the ends chamfered a bit and two bolts welded to it.


This was inserted into the platen spine and attached with nuts.  I’ll be using lock nuts when I reassemble after painting.  But this will suffice for now.


With the platen arm in place, I can now put a belt on it!  Very exciting! The tracking works really well, so that’s a good sign.  I haven’t hooked power up to the motor yet, but I did go vroom-vroom and move the belt with my hand


The next subassembly is the table holder arm.  I’ve clamped the two angled pieces to the arm and am about to weld them into place.


After welding those I welded a short piece in across the front, like so (the top and bottom pieces with the clamps are just there to hold the little piece in alignment for welding.)


I had to bend the 1/8” steel parts to fit the front and back angles of this piece.  Bends are always a challenge to get in the right place.  Luckily, this doesn’t require too high of precision.  They just add a little strength and close the big holes in the tool arm.  They make it look much more professional too, I think.


And here they are welded into place - you can only see the top one here, which is the short one in the previous shot.


Next is the tube holder plate.  I made sure this and the spacer were square, then welded them in place.


And the last part of the table holder arm is the tube holder.  I welded this up like the previous two receiver tubes. It’s exactly the same only much shorter.  Then welded a 3/8” nut on one corner to lock the table post in place.


And now mount the table tube holder to the table arm using 4 3/8” bolts.  But before tightening the bolts down I put a square post in the receiver and pulled it up to the belt to make sure it would be perpendicular.  I used a piece of aluminum bar between the platen and the mock table post to help with this procedure.


And that brings us up to date on the belt grinder project. I’ve got the table to make still and I have to hook up the motor and VFD too.  Also have a tilting table, a small wheel attachment, and a large wheel attachment that I’ll be making before I’m done.  But the pile of parts left is getting small!

Thanks for checking in,
Kim

[Admiral_dk]

Looking good and you're moving rapidly forward with this build Kim 

Per

[Dave Otto]

Looking great Kim, nice work!

Dave

[Kim]

Thanks Per and Dave!

Yes, I’m really enjoying how quickly this project is coming together!  I’m chalking it up to not having so many little fidgety parts that all require high accuracy.  All of these parts are cut using a tape measure instead of a micrometer!  You can make up for a pretty big gap just using a wider weld bead    And I don’t want to discount the excellent plans and clear instructions that Jeremy provided. And his design is incredibly well thought out!  He’s got many ways to make up for inaccuracies that accumulate during the build and still make the finished unit come out very well.  I’d highly recommend his plans to anyone interested in a belt sander like this.  They are really well thought out and well done.


Yesterday the gland connectors arrived.  I was waiting for these before I wired up the VFD. Now that there here, I’m going for it.  I used a heavy-duty extension cord for this.  I cut a short length to go to the motor. Since it only has 3 conductors I ran a separate one for a ground.  I don’t know that I need this, but it seemed safe to me to have one. I should probably purchase a 4 wire cable for this, but for now, this will suffice.

I used the KB Electronics KBAC-27D VFD and it came with pretty decent instructions.  Not overly verbose, but I could follow them and tell how to set the jumpers!  What more do you need?

Then I did a quick test!  It worked, though the belt ran backward.  So I swapped two of the wires to the motor which fixed that problem.  And here’s a quick demo showing it running and showing how responsive the tracking mechanism is!
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUAF8sXFcNs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUAF8sXFcNs</a>

The final part for the basic grinder is the Fixed Table.  This table, as its name implies, is fixed at 90^o to the belt.   That is what I frequently want anyway.  And this will mean I always have a good right-angle setting!

Here’s the fixed table welded up.


And with that, it’s time for a quick victory demo showing first sparks!
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ6bqFgFVww" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ6bqFgFVww</a>

I’ve got an 80 grit belt on there right now and it does a pretty good job of taking off metal.  I’m sure a more aggressive belt would do more, but this is quite good for most of what I want to do.

Now for the additional fixtures!  (and painting…)
Kim

[Dave Otto]

Nice! You sure are going to enjoy using that.

Dave

[RReid]

Great job so far on what looks like will be a super useful tool. Congratulations Sparky!

[propforward]

Wow - that is brilliant Kim, a top piece of kit. You can’t buy one of that quality. I could gave made good use of that today cleaning up some castings.

[cnr6400]

I was worried when you mentioned "fixed table" - I wondered why it needed to get fixed. Then I continued reading... 

That Very Funky Device install looks great too. The machine will certainly remove some stock fast! Might make for some warm fingers. Better keep some cold  handy to cool them off. 

[Kim]

Thanks Dave, Ron, Stuart, and CNR!

Yeah, it can get things hot pretty quick! 

Interesting anecdote:  The last few days I've been having trouble unlocking my laptop with my finger scanner.  It usually works quite well on the first or second try.  But it's been telling me it can't recognize my fingerprint.  I think I've figured out that working with this welding and grinding and such, I must have burned my fingertips enough that the reader doesn't recognize my fingerprints! 

Nothing big, it doesn't even really hurt... but I have been handling some metal that is pretty hot and I quickly remember I need to put the gloves back on to touch it!

Kim

[Baltic]

Fantastic job there Kim,
Well ! you do not muck around, seems like only a couple of weeks ago you where cutting all the bits now hit is nearly finished, '
your welds are getting better also, you should be very happy with yourself 

Gary

[Kim]

Thanks Gary!
I'm quite pleased with how it's turning out!

Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

You have every right to be!

Solid, powerful machine you have built in a short space of time.

  from another Gary

[Kim]

Thank you, Gary!

Yesterday and today I worked on the accessories.

First was the tilting table (as opposed to the fixed table already made).  I started by welding up the pieces to make the table support and hinge.  The 4” length of DOM tube isn’t welded in.  It will be welded to the post in the next step.


Right here – this is where we weld the DOM onto the post.  I worked hard to get the tube straight and square.


Then I welded the locking tab to the DOM, and here’s the assembly just before I tack it to the top which will complete the tilting table.


Here you can see the tilting table installed on the tool arm and set to 45^o.


And here’s the 90^o shot.


Next, I welded together the parts for the large wheel attachment (Contact Wheel as I believe it is called).  This will be the fork that holds the large wheel. 


Just another one of those really helpful hints in Jeremy’s directions – he gives an excellent example of how to position the wheel axle at the correct place AND maintain perpendicularity at the same time!


And here’s a demo of the tilting belt in action.  You can see that the belt stays centered at the same spot in either the horizontal or vertical positions!   I just love that kind of attention to detail in a design, you know?
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_sPvxd0U10" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_sPvxd0U10</a>

And finally, I welded up the Small Wheel attachment.  I was very pleased with my welds on this one.  And as I was admiring it, I suddenly had that sinking realization that I’d ever-so-beautifully welded one of the parts on backward! 


That tab (lower wheel mounting plate) was supposed to be pointing in the OTHER direction!  Shoot!  Of course, I couldn’t have double-checked the part when it was only tack-welded in place. I had to wait to notice till after I’d done the full weld.

So after kicking myself for a while, I finally decided to think like a welder and I took it to the bandsaw and cut through the welds on both sides.  Then cleaned up the split weld beads on the belt sander.   And here’s the two pieces separated.  Not bad for a newb, eh?


And here we are, finally re-welded pointing in the correct direction!  (yes, I checked BEFORE tacking it in place, AFTER tacking welding it, and after the full welds.  It’s in the right place this time!  )


And that, my friends, was all I could stand out in the shop.  We’re having a heat wave here in the NW and it’s getting TOO hot for me to handle out there.  Especially because I have to put on long sleeves to weld!  (I hear you can get sunburned from arc welding if you don’t cover up, not to mention burned by any weld splatter that might happen!)

Thanks for looking in on me.  I’m getting close to finishing this fun little side project!
Kim

[crueby]

Is there a particular type of belt that you use on a machine like this for metal work? There are a lot of different formulations of grit out there, how do you pick?

[Kim]

Well, it's not like I know a lot about sanding belts, but from what I've read, ceramic belts are the best and longest-lasting abrasive for metal work, but also more expensive, of course.  Zirconia belts are the next best followed by aluminum oxide.  Though I think they will all work.  What I've read says the ceramic will last 3x longer than Zirconia, and 10x longer than aluminum oxide.  But I don't have any long-term experience to back this up.  It's just what I've read online (so it must be true, right? )

I got a set of six ceramic belts - two 36 grit, two 80 grit, and two 120 grit.  Figured it was a good way to start and I could experiment some.   On my old belt sander (the Ryobi 6" disk, 4" belt combo that this  2x72 is replacing) I always used 80 grit.  It just seemed to be a good compromise. I used that for wood and metal both!  I'll probably do the same with this one

You thinking about making one, Chris?   It's a fun project!

Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

 

[crueby]

Well, it's not like I know a lot about sanding belts, but from what I've read, ceramic belts are the best and longest-lasting abrasive for metal work, but also more expensive, of course.  Zirconia belts are the next best followed by aluminum oxide.  Though I think they will all work.  What I've read says the ceramic will last 3x longer than Zirconia, and 10x longer than aluminum oxide.  But I don't have any long-term experience to back this up.  It's just what I've read online (so it must be true, right? )

I got a set of six ceramic belts - two 36 grit, two 80 grit, and two 120 grit.  Figured it was a good way to start and I could experiment some.   On my old belt sander (the Ryobi 6" disk, 4" belt combo that this  2x72 is replacing) I always used 80 grit.  It just seemed to be a good compromise. I used that for wood and metal both!  I'll probably do the same with this one

You thinking about making one, Chris?   It's a fun project!

Kim

It would be a great project, but first I'd have to learn welding (which would be fun in itself). I've got a smaller belt sander and never been really happy with how long the basic oxide belts last, and am looking at better alternatives. Great info - thanks!
 

[Dave Otto]

I have used the blue Norton Zirconia belts for years and have good results with them, like Kim I pretty much use 80 grit for everything.
I have a 2X48 Kalamazoo sander, nothing nearly as fancy as what Kim is building here.

Dave
 

[crueby]

Thanks guys!  Just threw in an order for some of the Zirconia style ones to try.   

[Don1966]

Kim that is a nice belt sander built.. your welding is great also. Very nice work buddy….


 
Don

[Kim]

Thank you, Don! 

Always fun to pick up a new skill, isn't it?

Kim

[Kim]

There are two ways to set up the small wheel attachment in the belt grinder.  The first way is using both idler wheels to get a very tight 180^o bend around the small wheel, like so:


The other way is to skip the upper idler wheel.  This setup is easier on the belt but at the cost of the full 180 ^o usable arc around the small wheel.  I thought it was pretty cool that it had both options!


Here’s a family shot of all the belt grinder items I’ve just made.  From left to right you have the main belt sander with the platen attachment and the fixed table.  Next to it is the small wheel attachment with a set of small wheels for it - 1/2” to 1” in 1/8” increments. Then there's the adjustable angle table. And finally the contact wheel attachment.


The contact wheel can hold a 6”, 8” or 10” wheel.  Currently, I’ve only got the 6” wheel.  If I have an application for other sizes I can purchase them in the future. They seem fairly standard.

That was yesterday’s work.  Well, there was one more thing I did yesterday – I’ve been hearing a whistling sound in my shop lately and I traced it to an air leak in the release valve on the air compressor.  This is my California Air compressor that I got several years ago. It’s been quite good to me over the years and I hoped it would be an easy fix.  When I was at Harbor Freight recently, I saw these little 1/4" NTP air cutoff valves on sale. Only cost about $5.  So I got one and it is the exact right size to fit in my compressor!

This is my compressor flipped over on its back, showing its underbelly.  That’s the original release valve.  I was able to get this out and thread the new one in fairly easily.


It seems to have worked!  It held air pressure all night. I’m quite pleased with this result. No more whistling!

Now, today’s project was to start painting.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far.  I got all the pieces separated and masked for painting though:


The reason I didn’t get very far is that I had a roofing contactor stop by to look at an issue with our roof. Turns out that while it does need to be fixed, the issue doesn’t seem to have caused any long-term damage to the roof or rafters.  On the downside, he said that while crawling around in our attic he saw evidence of inadequate ventilation (and I believe him - he showed me and I can see it too).  He took a bunch of pictures and is working on a quote.  I’ve got a couple of other people coming by to give quotes too, but the first one was already here and didn’t catch the attic ventilation issue…   So I’ll have that to deal with soon.  Got to love the problems of home ownership, right?

Anyway, sorry for the gripe session.  I’ll get over it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

Great to see the grinder in its near-finished state, Kim.

I'm looking forward to seeing what colour you paint it and how it looks when it's done!

Commiserations on the roof issues, but at least you caught it before the roof structure started to deteriorate. And yes, comparative quotes can be a hassle, especially when the goalposts shift in terms of the work quoted for between one tradesman and another...

 

gary

[ShopShoe]

Kim,

Regarding your air compressor repair:

I had a bad experience with one of my compressors. (It was not one of the California ones, but I think what follows is relevant.)

Mine came with a typical low-budget "petcock" as a drain valve, as many do. For easier draining I replaced it with some plumbing and a real valve located more conveniently.

The tank later corroded around the pipe connection on the bottom of the tank because my new valve connection was sticking up inside the tank enough that the tank never completely drained. Just 1/8 or 1/4 inch of water still in the tank caused the damage.

Hopefully your new valve connection is below the lowest point in the tank.

--

PS: How did I know. When I became aware of the leak and located it, I made the decision that the tank could not be safely repaired and scrapped the compressor. After I salvaged the motor, pump, etc. I wanted to take the tank to the metal recycler and they required me to cut the tank in half before they would take it. With the tank cut open, I could locate the leak precisely on the inside and see what had happened.

BTW, I tried to buy a new tank: Suitable industrial tank was the only option at over $1000. New compressor was much cheaper.

--ShopShoe

[Kim]

Thanks Gary,

I'm looking forward to seeing what colour you paint it and how it looks when it's done!

I'm going with something boring like a nice machine gray.  But I am going with Rust-Oleum Hammered Silver spray paint.  Hopefully that will look good and industrial!  And protect it from rusting!

Commiserations on the roof issues, but at least you caught it before the roof structure started to deteriorate. And yes, comparative quotes can be a hassle, especially when the goalposts shift in terms of the work quoted for between one tradesman and another...

Yes, it's harder to get a meaningful comparison when the work they quote is different.  But I'm inclined away from the first guy since he didn't even bother to look in my attic!  Seems like that is something a roof guy should do, you know?  But we'll see....

Kim

[Kim]

The tank later corroded around the pipe connection on the bottom of the tank because my new valve connection was sticking up inside the tank enough that the tank never completely drained. Just 1/8 or 1/4 inch of water still in the tank caused the damage.

Hopefully your new valve connection is below the lowest point in the tank.

Thanks for the warning ShopShoe!

I hadn't even considered that! But looking at the spot for the drain valve (a much better name for it than what I was calling it!) I'm pretty sure I'm OK there.  They have a nice-sized boss in place for the drain valve connection point.  And I'm quite sure that the petcock doesn't screw in any deeper than that. Here's the picture again for reference:


Thank you!
Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

I'm going with something boring like a nice machine gray.  But I am going with Rust-Oleum Hammered Silver spray paint.  Hopefully that will look good and industrial!  And protect it from rusting!

That sounds good... looking forward to the photos.

Yes, it's harder to get a meaningful comparison when the work they quote is different.  But I'm inclined away from the first guy since he didn't even bother to look in my attic!  Seems like that is something a roof guy should do, you know?

It would seem reasonable to expect it! 

[Kim]

Yesterday I spray painted all the parts with several coats of Rust-Oleum Hammered Silver spray paint.  All except for the tracking handle – that I painted black (Rust-Oleum Hammered Black spray paint, to be exact ).   Sorry for the poor picture.  The parts were half in the sun and half in the shade which made a huge contrast that was hard for the camera to cover.

The black thing standing up on the stick in the back is the tracking handle.

Today I removed all the masking and reassembled the unit:


I like the color, though it doesn’t look a LOT different from the pre-painted version.  Still, I like it.


Hard to get a good shot of it because there’s ugly background no matter which way you look in my shop!


So that brings this thread to a close.  It was a fun excursion in building another tool and learning a new skill.  Or at least, starting to learn a new skill.  I still have a long way to go to be a real welder.  But I know enough to be dangerous now!

Thanks to everyone who followed along with my 2x72 belt sander/grinder build!
Kim

[Baltic]

Looks amazing Kim,!!
You should be very pleased with yourself,

Gary

[Dave Otto]

That looks fantastic Kim!
Very nice work!

Dave

[cnr6400]

She's a beast of a metal vapourizer sander Kim! Very nice work.   

[crueby]

Nice machine!  What's its first item to carve?

[Kim]

Thanks Gary, Dave, CNR, & Chris!

Well, it's already done some work!  Once I got the motor hooked up I started using it to do the metal prep for welding.  It was super fast and much easier than using the angle grinder to do the prep work.

It's first non-belt grinder tasks will probably be related to the Pennsy though!

Kim

[PJPickard]

Nice work and a great machine to use for years to come. Speaking of years...I spent years looking at similar designs, even downloaded and bought some plans. Finally I just bought one. Good on you to just follow through with it.

[Kim]

Thanks PJ!

So what kind of belt grinder did you end up getting?

Kim

[Roger B]

I somehow completely missed this one    Excellent job and your welding looks good     

I see that your earthing clamp has a bunch of copper wire. Is this how it was supplied? I have only seen brass or copper blocks.

[Kim]

Thanks Roger!

I see that your earthing clamp has a bunch of copper wire. Is this how it was supplied? I have only seen brass or copper blocks.

No, it didn't come with the chunk of copper wire. I just read somewhere that this type of ground clamp wasn't the greatest but you could improve the ground contact by clamping it with a wad of copper wire - helps it have multiple points of contact.  I'm (kind of) looking for a better ground clamp to replace it with, but this seems to work fine for me so I'm not looking too hard.

Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

Great job! 

[Kim]

Thanks Gary! 

Kim

[JCvdW]

Hi Kim

Thanks for sharing your build of the belt grinder! It inspired me to build my own. What exceptional plans!

First I had to learn how to stick weld!

All the non rectangular parts were laser cut from the templates that Jer provides with the plans. The aluminium pulleys I turned myself.

Here are some pictures of my grinder, ready to be painted. Very happy with the end result. 1.5HP three phase motor with VFD.

All in preparation to also start on the A3 Switcher...

[Kim]

Well done on the grinder, JC!  It is a great machine, isn't it?

And I agree - the plans are quite good.   Well designed machine, for sure!

I've enjoyed mine very much and use it for many things.  It's so easy to use and change about.

Did you make any of the other attachments? Like the little wheel or the big contact wheel ones?  Just curious.  I did, but can't say as I've used them much yet.  I have used the angle table, but mostly use the fixed one.

Kim

[JCvdW]

Did you make any of the other attachments? Like the little wheel or the big contact wheel ones?  Just curious.
Kim

I made the adjustable angle table, but not the little and big wheel attachments yet. Will have to find a suitable big wheel first. I guess these are mostly used for knife making though.

[Kim]

Did you make any of the other attachments? Like the little wheel or the big contact wheel ones?  Just curious.
Kim

I made the adjustable angle table, but not the little and big wheel attachments yet. Will have to find a suitable big wheel first. I guess these are mostly used for knife making though.

Yeah, that seems true.  But I thought, while I'm doing it, why not make the attachment, just in case?  I picked up an inexpensive contact wheel off eBay.  I'm sure it's not the best one ever, but for the few times I use it (which is never, so far) it will be great.  I have used the small wheel attachment a couple of times though.  Seems like it can be useful in some instances.

Great machine though!
Kim