February 19, 20179 yr I've been collecting parts for a little over a year and I was finally able to get a weekend all to myself to build my belt grinder. Since I mostly have wood working tools I made the majority of the grinder body from plywood. The idler arm and working arm are both metal. I'm using a 1.5HP motor with a full variable speed control. The motors max speed is 3500 RPM which gives me around 4500 sfpm. The bungee cord is only temporary until I can locate the spring I purchased. It somehow managed to get lost in my workshop. The motor, wheels, AL bar, Steel box tube, and D-plate are from eBay. Motor controller from Amazon. Plywood and miscellaneous hardware from Lowes. All total, I think I'm in for around $600-700. Most of that was the 3 phase motor and the speed controller. Here are a couple of pictures.
February 20, 20179 yr i would not expect those plastic wheels to last very long, and as they wear the tracking will get harder to keep usable.
February 21, 20179 yr 2 hours ago, Steve Sells said: i would not expect those plastic wheels to last very long, and as they wear the tracking will get harder to keep usable. I'll be interested to find out how they do. They look to me to be the glass filled nylon wheels from Oregon Knife Maker (I stumbled upon then from here: http://dcknives.blogspot.ca/2016/11/2x72-grinder-wheel-set.html). For some reason his wheel sets (metal and plastic) have two crowned wheels...I always thought you only wanted one... @RogueGeek How are you finding it rigidity wise? The all steel 2x72s always look crazy overbuilt to me, but I've never used one so wouldn't know for sure.
February 21, 20179 yr Author The wheels are from the eBay guy 'Oregon Blade Maker'. They are the glass filled nylon material. I haven't really read anything good or bad regarding their durability, I guess time will tell. I plan to put it through some heavy use this summer. Hopefully I can report back on their durability. It seems to be very rigid, but I haven't really run it very hard since finishing it. It is built from multiple layers of 3/4" plywood and each layer is glued and screwed to the adjacent layers. It has almost no vibration and runs fairly quietly. If time permits later this week, I plan to give it a proper workout. -Brian
February 21, 20179 yr 6 hours ago, RogueGeek said: They are the glass filled nylon material. I haven't really read anything good or bad regarding their durability, I guess time will tell. I have used glass filled nylon (Nylon PA66 GF30) sheaves for running wire ropes with good success (1/2" dia wires - several ton loads)- I would be surprised if they wear too quickly here.
July 12, 20196 yr Hi Brian! How is the grinder holding up, now many months later? I think this is an awesome option over the expensive metal versions out there! And you did it very well! How did the platten work out? Thank you very much for your time in putting this thread together! Glenn in Georgia!
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