July 7, 201610 yr Made a homemade 2" x 72" belt grinder out of scrap and repurposed parts. Check it out and let me know your thoughts! https://youtu.be/BEi2ruFzGNw
July 7, 201610 yr Not bad at all, especially since you have minimal money involved. One thing I noticed that you probably will as well with some use is the design of your flat platen. When you're facing it you can easily move pieces around the right side to grind in some tough to get to spots or odd shapes. However on the left side the support structure holding your platen in place prevents you from the same type of access. You might be able to weld some tabs or a couple pieces of horizontal tubing (top and bottom) on the support tube to bring the wheels out further to help, but that will also require moving the platen itself forward to match. Other designs you have probably seen use a piece of flat plate with a portion cut out between the wheels to minimize the issue. Variable speed or step pulleys to give you different belt speed options is also highly desirable, but that's a pretty darn good build on the cheap overall.
July 7, 201610 yr Author Thank you! I do plan to add step pulleys in the future.. Just haven't found a broken drill press to steal them out of yet. Hahaha.. I also plan to update the platen with the one sold from Oregon Blade Maker. Click here to see it. But I was kinda trying to see how cheap I could build it first... The only part I HAD to buy was the drive wheel. Everything else was re-purposed junk essentially. Drive wheel was a little less than $50 So that's all I have into it so far.
July 8, 201610 yr My first drive wheel was one I made from a couple pieces of oak 2x6 glued together. Since then I bought an aluminum wheel, but frankly I can't say there's a big improvement. I didn't have a lathe to make it so I got it close to round and then installed it on the motor to finish it up and put a slight crown on it. My first platen wheels were skateboard wheels too and they did ok for a while, but those smaller bearings don't hold up in the long run. I probably got around 50 hours of use out of the machine before I had to change the first set. I had way more in my first build than you do. Well done! Someone gave me a functional treadmill with a 2.9 hp motor in it and I'm considering building another grinder using as much of the frame and electronics from it as possible, but it may be a while before I can get to that project. Always seems I have more ideas and things I want to do than time.
August 22, 20169 yr Author Just a part two video of the homemade 2x72 belt grinder I made. A more in depth look and some extended use grinding an old file into a push dagger. Please give it a watch and let me know you thoughts! I'll probably respond faster if you lave a comment on the video. Click here to watch now! If you haven't seen part one click here.
March 30, 20179 yr I like your design and the minimal $$ investment but you might start saving some money, or watching for, a TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) drive motor. Grinding dust going through an open motor will make for very short motor life. If your compressor runs while you are grinding, the motor on it will also suffer. You will know when your moment has arrived...one of my older motors made a "Ziiittt" noise and died...I also learned to close-up on/off switches...grinding dust gets in and causes another visit to the electrical supply section of Home Depot. Again, great design and best off luck !!
April 25, 20188 yr It's looks like it'll be a really stable machine. Well done to you. I'm just finishing building my own and like your free-standing design. I was going to clamp mine to the bench but mite do something similar to yours. Kudos
April 26, 20188 yr 9 hours ago, Nivsknives said: I was going to clamp mine to the bench but mite do something similar to yours. Kudos If you want a free standing machine, you may want to consider an adjustable hight design like this one. It gives you the option to work standing or sitting. I found that with long grinding sessions, sitting is much easier on the legs and the back. The single leg is less rigid than a "table" costraction, but it's not an actual problem, and it depends on the thickness of the material you use.
April 26, 20188 yr The idea of being able to sit or stand is definitely appealing. I've got some stuff to consider now before I start clagging steel together so thanx for the input
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