Vt smith Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Im a entry lv blacksmith and im starting to do a lil blade smithing my friend and i are geting ready to buy our first belt grinder. Were in the 1000 dollar ish price range i was wondering if anyone had any experience with the vevor 2×82 and if its hard to convert it to a 2×72 if its actually worth buying.. Any advice is appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timgunn1962 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Old thread on what appears to be the same grinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vt smith Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Thanks that was helpful i'm gonna keep shopping around and see if i cant find something different didn't get the much good feedback in the previously posted conversation you sent very glad i asked some more experienced smiths before spending that kind of money on something that wont last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Welcome aboard, Vt smith! Have you connected with the New England Blacksmiths Association? Terrific bunch of folks, and very helpful. Where are you in Vermont? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vt smith Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 I live in Pittsford Vermont. Its a town outside of Rutland. I havent reached out to them but i will. Thanks for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vt smith Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 Im a entry lv blacksmith and im starting to do a lil blade smithing my friend and i are geting ready to buy our first belt grinder. Were in the 1000 dollar ish price range i was wondering if anyone had any experience with the vevor 2×82 and if its hard to convert it to a 2×72 if its actually worth buying.. Any advice is appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 I don't have any direct advice to give you except to question if you need that high a quality machine at your level of experience. As an entry level smith you may be overdoing it and getting a machine that you do not have the skill to operate to the best of the machine's capabilities. It is your money and you can spend it where ever you care to but you may want to get a more basic machine, develop your skills and upgrade at a future date when your ability and enthusiasm now exceed the capabilities of your basic machine. You can probably sell the basic machine, if you haven't abused it, for close to what you paid for it. This strikes me a bit like someone with a learner's permit wanting advice on whether to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. I don't want to discourage you from the craft but I do think that it may be wasted money to buy a machine that is beyond you ability to use well. Know your requirements and get the best machine to match them. BTW, welcome aboard. Read the "Read this first" in the blue banner at the top of the page. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Welcome aboard VT, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of hooking up with members living within visiting distance. Telling us in one post isn't going to stick in anybody's memory once we move to another. My thoughts about a 2" 82"belt grinder go like this. A piece of machinery would have to be on the level of Rolls Royce for reliability before I bought a one off design. I'm also a little skeptical about a machine with single source wear items. Unless you wish to go to the trouble John is with his belt grinder belts picking a standard size gives you a lot more options. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 And keep in mind that John only paid $149 for his used 2x90 (which is still a standard size, if you're willing to do some hunting around), so even factoring in the time he's spending on the trouble he is going to with his grinder belts, he's still coming out ahead. On 3/22/2021 at 9:37 AM, Vt smith said: I live in Pittsford Vermont. Its a town outside of Rutland. I havent reached out to them but i will. Thanks for the heads up. Excellent. I lived in Shrewsbury from 1984-1992, so I know the area pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vt smith Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 Thanks for the advice and the warm welcome. I do agree that my skill lv is less than what would make that lv of grinder necessary. I have been lurning and inproving at a pretty good rate as soon as i can figure out how to resize photos kike it said imto do in the part for people new to the site. Ill show some of my work. I usely spend about 6 to 9 hours a day in my shop and then 3 more hours on you tube studying. Left my other job and realy jumping in with both feet. Ive wanted to blacksmith my hole life and finly own a home and have a permanent place to set up a shop. So im optimistic that it will be more like buying your kid shoes that are a size and a half to big cus there growing so fast you know they will need that size in a few months. And lets be honest we all would have loved a chance to drive a lambo with our lurners permit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Might be a little late to the party, but I recently bought one. Based on the photos and being a maintenance machinist and welder, I figured I could adapt it to run 72 inch belts without too much work. When it arrived some small things like how the tracking wheel was mounted were different from the photo, but overall it is very solidly built. Good heavy steel framework and the tracking and drive wheels are aluminum and not plastic like some of the cheaper versions on the bay. Out of the box, the 72 inch belt will fit on the 12 inch wheel with no alterations needed. It only came with one arm and you needed to change the attachments. Doing so, neither the small wheel attachment or the flat platten would fit the 72 inch belts the way that it was drilled. Instead of drilling new holes, I took some tube steel and just made new arms for the flat platten and small wheel attachment. Doing that allows the 72 inch belts to run with no other alterations to the machine. It runs smooth and quiet, and has plenty of power. I was able to do in 30 minutes what would have taken me 4 hours with my little converted 2x48 I was using. Same grits of ceramic belts too. The flat platten came with a graphite pad on it to help keep belts cooler and reduce the thump of a belt seam, but still gives a stiff enough backing to keep your grinds flat. The motor is sealed. The bearings are all quality NSK and a standard readily available size. The only real downfall to it is the VFD needs an enclosure. That is your on and off switch as well as your speed control, so you need to figure out something to keep dust out, but still keep it accessible. I only have a handful of good grinding sessions on it at this point, but so far would have no reservations recommending it to someone. (still getting it set up in the photo) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugsbunny45 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 It's always good to see a review from somebody that used an item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Have a lot of time on this machine now and would not hesitate to recommend it. The only issue I had with ot was the step up transformer was a little underpowered and would trip trying to run the grinder full out. In my new shop I have it wired directly to 220v and can run full power with no issues at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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