Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
lol. I wish.....
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Welcome to Westwood Metalworks, What is he building in there?
- Thread starter Dan Dubeau
- Start date
It was a gaff at your swing typo. 97"!!!
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Ya, I know. thanks for pointing it out, I corrected it. One side of my brain gets faster than the other when typing sometimes......You should see all the red squiggly lines I gotta fix after I get done typing sometimes.
Never used to be this way, I think my last TBI might have slowed one side down lol. I should probably wear a helmet more often....
As I’d mentioned above - a few months ago I had thought about building a 72” belt sander/grinder. It was just rattling around in my head, nothing on paper. I say paper cause I don’t do CAD (I took a couple intro courses but it never stuck, so paper is my best friend). Anyhow, @Dan Dubeau the unique design features of your grinder build was the encouragement I needed to sketch my version.
First, for reference/comparison purposes, here is a sketch of your motor/wheel configuration as I understand it:
My grinder would replace the VFD speed control with a 3 speed belt drive and relocate the motor:
My approach gives easy access to the step pulley but is a bit complicated because the motor is squeezed into the middle. Another plus is that i have a 1Hp, 1750 rpm Baldor motor gathering dust.
I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on my concept.
Thanks
First, for reference/comparison purposes, here is a sketch of your motor/wheel configuration as I understand it:
My grinder would replace the VFD speed control with a 3 speed belt drive and relocate the motor:
My approach gives easy access to the step pulley but is a bit complicated because the motor is squeezed into the middle. Another plus is that i have a 1Hp, 1750 rpm Baldor motor gathering dust.
I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on my concept.
Thanks
Consider a new thread Craig.
How do you get the belt around the motor?
How do you keep the belt on the belt wheels?
How will you do the belt backing to grind against?
Why do they call this a grinder instead of a sander?
What supports all those wheels?
I have a spare Baldor motor too. But mine is 3/4 hp. I doubt that matters much.
“Consider a new thread Craig.“
It’s just a concept, not a project
“ How do you get the belt around the motor?”
Sanding belt and drive belt go on from same side - see revised sketch (edit) below:
Switching front wheel for a smaller wheel or vertical surface platon is the same as a regular design.
Although 72” is more common, 82” belts are also available and would give more space for the motor in the middle
Wood workers call it a sander, metal workers call it a grinder, my wife would call it a - - -
It’s just a concept, not a project
“ How do you get the belt around the motor?”
Sanding belt and drive belt go on from same side - see revised sketch (edit) below:
Switching front wheel for a smaller wheel or vertical surface platon is the same as a regular design.
Although 72” is more common, 82” belts are also available and would give more space for the motor in the middle
Wood workers call it a sander, metal workers call it a grinder, my wife would call it a - - -
Last edited:
I bet that really sucks when you say yours is bigger and then the tape measure comes out......
I bet that's what they all say when it turns out their tool is smaller than they thought .... "But it sure is big and heavy...."
Still, I bet yours is plenty big enough to grind with.
I still think a new thread is warranted. Anybody interested in following your build is gunna want to see your concepts too. I'll move it if you want.
And for what it's worth, why make something that doesn't fit the space. So what if the motor is a tight fit. Besides, if you lift it a bit, it will fit better.
Sure wish I could weld.
5hp to drive a sanding belt? Sounds totally unreasonable to me. Who is Jer?
i have built 2 2x grinders with, both had 3/4hp. They both worked well, but you could bog either of them without a whole lot of effort......that being said, they still remove metal very very fast with a fresh 36g belt, i dont feel the need for an upgrade, but i also dont make knives
1/2hp will probably be begging for an upgrade, but if thats what a guy has it will work, itll get the thing built, and if later he wants to put a bigger motor in...then at least the hard work is done, just make sure there is room for a bigger motor when building
2hp would probably be ideal, 5hp, thats a lot, i dont think you need 5hp on a 2" belt
1/2hp will probably be begging for an upgrade, but if thats what a guy has it will work, itll get the thing built, and if later he wants to put a bigger motor in...then at least the hard work is done, just make sure there is room for a bigger motor when building
2hp would probably be ideal, 5hp, thats a lot, i dont think you need 5hp on a 2" belt
What kind of plate are you working against? And where is it located? I keep asking this question without answers. So if the question doesn't make sense, please beat me up!
Your hp story makes good sense to me. I've never been of the view that a lot of force is needed when sanding. I don't force wood or metal into a sanding belt.
But ya, I could see stalling a small fractional hp motor. Not sure that justifies a bigger motor though. If all my stuff was sized on the basis of whether or not I could stall it, I'd have a pretty meager collection of tools.
the platen you mean ? its just steel plate (for both), i think thats the most common thing people do, i have it set maybe .5mm behind the back of the belt so there is no additional friction.
both of the ones ive built if you really push hard, like your trying to stall the motor, it just throws the belt, that may be a design flaw, or it may be how all of them behave, im not sure
for what i use it for, mostly deburring, chamfering, sometimes grinding a profile/radius, 3/4hp is enough, it would probably be marginal for some one that wants to make a lot of knives fast (although i did make a few on the first grinder i built)
if a 1/2hp motor is what i had, i would build it with 1/2hp and leave enough room for something bigger, at least the option is there if a guy decided he wanted more oomph
both of the ones ive built if you really push hard, like your trying to stall the motor, it just throws the belt, that may be a design flaw, or it may be how all of them behave, im not sure
for what i use it for, mostly deburring, chamfering, sometimes grinding a profile/radius, 3/4hp is enough, it would probably be marginal for some one that wants to make a lot of knives fast (although i did make a few on the first grinder i built)
if a 1/2hp motor is what i had, i would build it with 1/2hp and leave enough room for something bigger, at least the option is there if a guy decided he wanted more oomph
@Dan Dubeau starting this discussion, so IMO moving it to a separate thread is up to him.
I don’t have much to add to my mid-mounted motor idea, it’s just a concept.
I want to evaluate my 1”x42” JET (it does not get delivered until Easter). I’ll not be building a 72” grinder unless I feel like I’m suffering from JET-lag.
OK. I won't bother. If you decide to make one, we can, always come back and move your content. Unless we both make one together, I'll make my own thread too. Usually things end up different enough to warrant separate threads. But if your dropping it here, then it's prolly ok to leave it alone unless @Dan Dubeau wants it moved.
Ya, platten is probably the right term. I have a Ridgid 4" belt sander that I use for wood. I keep a garnet belt on it that prolly would not work well on steel. I also have a tiny little 1" belt sander that I use for steel. Maybe the motor is a tenth of a hp if that.
That's not hard to understand. Pressing hard stretches the belt so it would come off easily.
Prolly a good idea too.
I don't make or do anything fast. The faster I go, the more mistakes I make. I prefer slow and deliberate.
But seriously, I can't see a knife needing 5 hp either.
Even if all I had laying around was a 5 horse motor, I wouldn't use it. I'd prolly get a cheap $20 1hp, and save the 5hp for a time I really needed it.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
I'm alright with the thread wander. This thread was more of a blog type thread of my projects anyway, so any natural ebb and flow of discussion is alright by me.
Craig, I'll give your stuff a read and comment tomorrow with a fresh mind. Just came off a 16 hour breakdown call, and I'm ready for bed. Body knackerd, but brain still awake, barely.....Almost scored a bunch of scrap AR plate tonight, which would have been nice to make my platten out of, but at the end of the night I didn't feel like lifting anything, so into the scrap pile it went. I did save a bunch of the old bolts I torched off earlier in the day, but man I was regretting that call when I went to lift my nose bag into my car lol.
Craig, I'll give your stuff a read and comment tomorrow with a fresh mind. Just came off a 16 hour breakdown call, and I'm ready for bed. Body knackerd, but brain still awake, barely.....Almost scored a bunch of scrap AR plate tonight, which would have been nice to make my platten out of, but at the end of the night I didn't feel like lifting anything, so into the scrap pile it went. I did save a bunch of the old bolts I torched off earlier in the day, but man I was regretting that call when I went to lift my nose bag into my car lol.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Ok, my initial thoughts about the packaging are where are you going to put the actual frame of the grinder? Then I though, one large plate could mount all the wheels shown, AND the motor pretty solidly, so that would get around that. It would limit your options for attachments somewhat, but you could design around that. The other thought is that I think 1/2 hp would be too little. I'm certainly not an expert here, I've never actually used a 2x72, but from everything I've read, and watched 2hp is ideal for a 2" belt (1hp/inch), and around 4000sfm belt speed. That being said, I'm sure it would still work, and provide value, but you certainly would stall that belt anytime you approach doing some actual metal removal with it. It would be handy for deburing and other light duty things though, but to be a truly useful tool, like they can be, there is no getting around the HP requirement.
If that's what you have for a motor, and don't want to buy another, I'd simply just build a smaller grinder. A 1x42, driven by a 1/2hp motor would still be considered too small by the 1hp/inch "rule", but IMO would be much better than trying to drive a 2" with it. I have a 1x42" mastercraft sander now, and it's pretty underpowerd and stalls easily. No idea what size motor is driving it, but it's surely not 1/2hp (1/4 maybe at best). It's still very handy to have around though, and someday I'd like to build a more powerful and versatile grinder on that same belt size. You can never have too many metal removal options if you ask me.
If that's what you have for a motor, and don't want to buy another, I'd simply just build a smaller grinder. A 1x42, driven by a 1/2hp motor would still be considered too small by the 1hp/inch "rule", but IMO would be much better than trying to drive a 2" with it. I have a 1x42" mastercraft sander now, and it's pretty underpowerd and stalls easily. No idea what size motor is driving it, but it's surely not 1/2hp (1/4 maybe at best). It's still very handy to have around though, and someday I'd like to build a more powerful and versatile grinder on that same belt size. You can never have too many metal removal options if you ask me.