I bought an old Dayton 1" belt grinder recently. I've always liked this particular belt grinder for some reason, maybe because we had one in a shop I used to work in.

It was old and tired, so I cleaned, lubricated and adjusted everything. The bronze sleeve bearings were pretty worn on the idler pulleys so I replaced those. I also moved the power switch from the motor to the front, where it was easier to reach. 

New belts, too.

The only issue left was the motor itself. It ran OK, but at 1/3 hp it lagged if a moderate load was put on it. 

Now, I had a perfectly good 1/2 hp motor that would have been an ideal replacement. It was out of an old drill press and had been collecting dust for the last 15 years. 

While cleaning my shop out about a month ago I decided to get rid of it, since I would never need it again. 

Fortunately, I did manage to keep another motor I had. It's slightly bigger, but it fit the mounting holes and I also just happened to have a 3" pulley for the 5/8" shaft.

It works perfect. 

At 1.5 hp some would gaze down their nose and mutter things like overkill, but that would be a misunderstanding of the efficient use of avaliable resources. 

Besides, this motor not only has ample power reserves, but runs far smoother than it's predecessor.

I have a 2" x 72" belt grinder for the majority of my course grinding needs. I use this one for finishing and touch up work. 

It replaces a Harbor Freight unit I had that I was never happy with. 

Yeah, it's overkill Ted but some folk just don't appreciate a reasonable level of overkill. The only issue I see is it not being a dust proof motor and belt grinders make lots of dust. The world is loaded with free electric motors if you look around though.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Dust is a headache. I have a layer of black grinding dust on everything in the shop.

This belt grinder came from a wood shop. The thing was covered with sawdust, especially the motor. The windings were caked with it.

I may rebuild the platform my 2" grinder sits on and incorporate the 1" off a common shaft. I've got a 2hp motor running the 2" which should have plenty of power for both.

I'd move the motor underneath and put the 1" next to the 2"

 

23 minutes ago, Ted Ewert said:

Dust is a headache. I have a layer of black grinding dust on everything in the shop.

My dust situation improved markedly when I added a discharge chute* and a bucket of water to my Square Wheel grinder. 

It’s not as effective as a dedicated dust remover or a shop air filtration system, but it’s still a BIG improvement. 

 

*Made from sheet steel that had once been part of the same wall oven that supplied the metal for my old JABOD. Old scrap never dies; it just takes on new forms.

Very nice! I'll keep that in mind if I decide to do the conversion (and even if I don't).

 

I went ahead and built the bench for my two belt grinders. I was originally going to run them both off the same motor but decided against it. Too noisy and distracting! 

My 2" grinder motor runs on 220 volts so I wired the 1" motor the same. Motors always run better on a higher voltage anyway. 

I mounted the 2" motor below and ran the belt up through the top to the drive shaft. Much better.

This bench saves a lot of room in my over crowded shop. It cost me around $200.00 but well worth it.

 

Nice build Ted. The one issue I see is if you need to sharpen or work something longer than 6-8" on the 1" grinder, the other one will interfere by running the work into it or worse your arm. 

Having a clear space around power tools is a must for safe operation.

Frosty The Lucky.

The 1" isn't bolted down and can be angled to accommodate larger pieces if necessary. I generally work a longer piece to the open side anyway.

I agree with the need for space around these tools. Unfortunately, I have more tools than space.