Belt Sanders

[sqeezplay]

alright i think i will save up for the grizzly. thanks for the input!

[oakwoodforge]

I would also recomend the Grizz, nothing in that price range comes close.

Jens

[ThomasPowers]

It's not hard to find contact and drive wheels---they are just expensive, making your own may be a bit difficult...

I use a Bader BM2; it's what I learned on and when we sold the house I held my breath and turned blue until my wife said I could get one...

Then I was at the Ceaser's Creak Flea Market in OH one time and the fellow was selling 2x72" coarse grit *blue* belts by the pound---about 50 cents a belt---I bought all he had but moved before I could visit again and see if he had any more...

Thomas

[FredlyFX]

The wheels are actually not that hard to find. Rich and I both used idler wheels we found at Surpluss Center, http://surpluscenter.com/

For my drive wheels I bought them from Rob at Beamont Metal Works, the maker of the KMG Grinder. http://beaumontmetalworks.com/ If you click on Wheels and Components you will find all you need. I have also bought pillow block bearings from him as well.

Good luck with it

[Nolano]

I think that I will use casters from the surplus center, but I will try to find my own drive wheel to cut costs. If I dont find one, I'll consider buying the beaumont drive wheel.

Quick question, I have a 1/2hp motor from a pump, will this be powerful enough? I seem to remember hearing pump motors are underrated.

[plain ol Bill]

Personally I like a full 2 HP motor on my grinders. You can get by w/ a 1 1/2 HP but dont go lower than that.

[FredlyFX]

I would find a larger one. I used a 3HP Compressor motor from Harbor Freight. It will probably only last a year or two, but by then I will be able to afford a real motor. This one was less than $80.

I am pretty sure you will be able to find a drive wheel on ebay or at Surplus Center. They are out there, you just have to keep an eye out.

You may also want to take a look at a group on MSN called home or shop built grinders. There are a lot of pictures of various home made grinders there. You will find some good ideas and some good sources of parts.

[Rich Waugh]

I used caster wheels for the drive wheel and the contact wheel. Both from Surplus Center. I had to turn an adapter for the drive wheel to go to the shaft, but that was no problem. I have a tiny little lathe, really more of a hobby toy, but it was enough to turn an aluminum sleeve to replace th bearing in the one caster to make it fit the drive shaft.

[Nolano]

Thats a bummer, I dont have access to a lathe right now. However, I suppose I could cobble something together with glue and my other available methods.

[FredlyFX]

I built mine without a lathe. On this type of equipment build you modify designs to match the materials and equipment you have available.

Check out that MSN group I mentioned above. You will see almost 100 different 2x72 grinders and every one of them works. Some are nice & fancy like Rich's, and others are very obviously back yard scrap welded together. There are even a couple that used no welding I believe. They are all bolted together. Think outside the box. None of this is set in stone. You just need to turn 2 wheels. Everything above that is just more icing on the cake.