I've got a 1in x 24 or something like that delta belt/face wheel grinder and am getting tired of burning up wheels with less than satisfactory results.. (really hard to set bevels)

and anyway, I was wondering if I could swap out the wheels and axels with something salvaged and make it a 2in grinder.. Its strong enough to where I cannot stop it easily pressing something on the belt.. (the belt slides first) and it looks possible..
anyone forsee problems? and where can I get 2in wheels? I might just turn a few on the lathe..

-Thanks

Ditch it and get a grizzly.

ya no kidding.. if I had 400$ I would. this is more of a temporary thing until I can either make or buy a decent one.

enjoying your kmg?

I built a 2" by 72" way back in the '80s and used skateboard wheels for the non contact wheels, but the wheels were 2" wide and square then, I don't know if you can get the same size wheels now. Anyway, it's an idea.

were they metal still? lol.. that sounds like a cool idea, I was thinking about the wheels you can buy at a hardware store.. maybe doubling up two of them, and milling a contact wheel out of alum on the lathe.

should the contact wheels have a rubbercoating? just curious..

Here is the link to the site that sells the KMG and lots of parts for building your own belt grinder... Beaumont Metal Works

If you have a lathe that you can use you can easily make your own wheels if you can find chunks of aluminium the right size. Find some bearings, and machine the wheels to accept them. You can also machine the shaft that the bearings run on, to accept a forked arm, for some small wheel grinding. Rubber coatings are nice for a contact wheel, but you can do good work on a plain metal wheels too.

the nice thing about design obsolescence in the modern age is the amount of salvage possible. If there is a recycling center nearby keep an eye out for any of the larger office copiers. There will generally be a large 9 to 14 inch wide roller with rubber over aluminum tubing (and a couple hundred other usable parts plus a cool lens) that can easily be adapted to multiple drive wheels if one has a lathe.

If you didn't have a lathe would you just buy the wheels? I see they have a 6" rubber coated for the main drive wheel. Also would you direct drive or use a belt? thanks

I would probably use direct drive and purchase the wheels.. I'm sure there are some salvageable from somewhere..

Remember that most hardware shop wheels are not designed for the speed that a grinder goes so you will probably need to change the bearings on them as well.

yeah, thats true..

I have some alum round that is (roughly) 2in in length, and about 5in diameter so if I cant find anything I'll just use that to make some wheels.. I've really got limited facilities though because I am using the highschool machine shop and don't have any classes right now in there.. lol.

I'm supposed to be making waterpollo goals for the swim team.. (whoops)

If you have a lathe and access to metal and have access to a frame, good sealed bearings that size are cheap. Use the frame you have and just use metal wheels. I have a salvaged belt grinder from a glass shop and it has metal wheels. Works great with no slippage at all. Have used it for about 15 yrs with no problem. It was a 60" and now have it is down to 48". Depends on price and availability of each size of belt. I can use from 1" to 4" belts on it. Put my own platen on it and it is 2" and that is the only limiting factor to the width of belts I use. The wheels are about 4" diameter and have had very little trouble with not fitting something to grind in the machine. I have not had a need for a third wheel to give more clearance behind the belt.
Works great

stretch any chance of a picture of you grinder? thanks.

yes, I would like to see a picture too for reference.

whats a good belt length? I think mines a 24 or a 36.. and they seem to wear out fairly quickly depending on what I'm grinding.

Stretch do you use the metal wheels as contact wheels or just do slack belt and platen grinding on that one?

Stretch do you use the metal wheels as contact wheels or just do slack belt and platen grinding on that one?

I just do the grinding on the platen and slack belt. I have never did any grinding on the wheel. No need to. This is the only grinder I use in my shop except hand held angle grinders, three grinders with different wheels on each one. haven't used a stone grinder since I got the belt grinder. Have had a couple given to me, gave them away right after trying them out. I like the belt grinder, use it for sharpening drill bits and everything. Not in the shop until Monday, will get a picture then.

So no grinding/clean up of fullers and no hollow grinding of blades?

One of the nice things about a bader is being able to get contact wheels down to under 1" in dia, really speeds up fuller creation or clean up!

A while back I found-- yes, found! In a trash bin, no less!-- a fully functional old-tyme Square Wheel 72-inch belt grinder. Wonderful machine. Retails around two grand. Recently I came upon an online manual for same, showing an accessory I like, that accomodates 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 wheels under the belt. A tad pricey, but, hey, it's only money. Uh huh.

M.U. did you go back and check the trash bin again?

Thomas-- Nope, as with the Rotex 18 punch press, sans punches and their rotating holder,(but just the same, a potentially functional tool worth ten grand new retail) that came out of another trash bin (they break off the asparagus pretty high up on the stalk hereabouts) I did not fully realize what I had in hand-- and what components I did not have, such as the work rest the Square Wheel was born with-- until later. As you do, and as you know, I patronize the Side of the Road Shop frequently. Looking even harder at improving the Square Wheel now 'cause a friend wants me to make him a knife. 440C. Ewwwww!!

Sunray has wheels for just about any purpose Urethane, Polyurethane, Custom Urethane Products, Urethane Products Manufacturer
I bought one of their 70 durometer polyurethane covered aluminum wheels and made it into a contact wheel for the KMG lookalike I built last winter. Had to true the wheel but that wasn't too much trouble.

Cool link Ken. This is my answer to wheels. I'll keep the skateboard wheels as idlers but replace my home made contact wheel.
Thanks

So no grinding/clean up of fullers and no hollow grinding of blades?

One of the nice things about a bader is being able to get contact wheels down to under 1" in dia, really speeds up fuller creation or clean up!

No need for any of that, I haven't made any knives for quite a number of years now. To busy for making knives.

Made my own idler wheels for my KMG lookalike. My little Taig lathe couldn't handle anything bigger or I would have made the drive and tension wheels too. If you need some tips on truing the Sunray polyurethane covered wheel I'll tell you how I did it.

K

OK Ken you win! Very nice job on the home built grinder;-) I LOVE the way you made the flat platen so that you could pivot the whole thing, Very sexy... Very neat and clean job over all, its so pretty and clean (and you even used new metal;-) You really should paint it so that it stays this nice and clean looking. I was going to build mine out of scrap (I am sure I have all the stuff I need, wheels, motors, steel...;-), but this looks so nice, its almost tempting to buy fresh steel to do a nice professional looking job...