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I Forge Iron

Belt Sanders


sqeezplay

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I also have a Grizzley and it is a true value for the money. It also has two big drawbacks for grinding knives,The you work with the handle of the knife on the motor side of the belt the motor is in the way. The more expensive grinders for knifemaking are not direct drive from the motor to the wheel. I got by with this for quite a while. The second draw back is the single speed. for most of my grinding the belt speed is too fast. You can get along with this , just keep a slack bucket real handy. Now for two strong points, Number one is the price,,nothing new comes close. And it uses 2"x72" belts. They have enough length, which means a lot of abrasive surface. That tends to let the belt cool before it comes back around to cut more and also there is a huge selection of belts for this size grinder from a lot of different sources. Many places sell belts in a whole range of grits and brands. That of course means you can find what works for you in your shop and shop around for price if you wish. I use belts from 36 grit to ones finer than 2000.

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I have a Grizzly, and if you are just doing a few knives it is fine, in my opinion. Can't beat it for the price unless you're you're able to build one yourself. If I were in the business I'd probably have 3 or 4 different ones for different purposes, etc. If you've seen the VHS tapes on Pattern Welding by Jim Hrisoulis you will see an interesting variety of grinders and different quick changes to the set up.

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I just finished building myself a grinder. No reason you couldn't do the same. Mine is made from stock structural steel shapes and salvaged parts, though you could buy contact wheels, drive wheels, etc. and still save some money over buying a high-dollar machine. The Grizzly is a good machine; I recommended it to Ellen as she didn't want to build one.

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squeeze, if all else fails with getting a grizzly, you can use an available/smaller belt grinder (i use 4"X36") to get to about 120-200 grit, then do fine sanding by hand. That is what i do, and it works okay, just takes more work. I just can't find finer grits for a 4"X36" grinder. But if you don't already have a small belt grinder, I would bite the bullet and save for the Grizzly.

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I am almost done building my own 2x72. I just have to finish up the stock rest on the left side wheel.

It really isn't that hard if you have basic welding skills.

Here's a couple of pics of it. I also have a lot of pictures on my web site of it being built step by step.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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What Fred says is absolutely true. Get a belt moving as fast as you want and make it stay where you want, and you have a grinder. Doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to work.

Now me, I'm a junky for icing when it comes to making tools. Heck, I can't even make a forge and keep it simple.

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  • 2 years later...

I have been thinking about getting a Coote.

Coote Belt Grinder

You can get one for about the price of a Grizzly, but then you have to provide the motor.

They are not going to be nearly as flexible as one of Rob's KMG's, but if I never do anything except flat ground blades, I think a Coote with a ceramic platten might be what I need.

My $.02

Don

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Do NOT get the grizzley unless you're not going to be using it much. The coote is the best value for the buck, and the KMG is the best there is. A Bader B3 is very nice too, but my preference is for the KMG.

I've been using a Coote for 2 years now, and it's a work horse, and versitile.

Avoid the griz at all costs if you can. If you buy a coote, you'll have it a decade from now even if you upgrade to a KMG / Bader, and it'll still work great. People i know with griz grinders have the motors blow out (they dont use TEFC motors, so the grinding dust kills the motor) cant hollow grind because the motor itself is in the way, and there's only one speed, stupidly fast, and no way to step it down with puleys.

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