Shop Made Belt Grinder

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Hawk99
Posts: 190
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:04 pm
Location: EDDY, TX

Shop Made Belt Grinder

Post by Hawk99 »

Well, I have been remiss in posting. You might think I left the country. No such luck. I have been distracted, but I still read posts regularly. Thought I would share some of the things going on in my shop. Since my last post I found a basket case square column table top, built a 2x72 belt grinder, almost finished with a cnc engraver. More on the mill and engraver later.

The belt grinder started out to be modeled after one I saw on cnccookbook: belt grinder ideas. It was to have the motor mounted through the two vertical plates. The DC motor I was going to use was large and about that time I was given a tread mill. So in mid stream I changed the motor arrangement.

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I used the motor control from the treadmill and placed it in a water proof box, used a 4" hole saw and cut the speed indicator from the tread mill and mounted it to the top of the box. Then mounted the pot to the top, put the circuit board in the box, viola, motor controlled. The large wheel is a Harbour Freight cheepo with a small out-of-balance to it. I figured that I should make sure the thing works before spending money on a nice smooth running one. I have used this one to satisfactory results for what I was doing.

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I used the drive belt and pulleys from the treadmill and cut down one of the rollers to drive the alum drive wheel. It is a 12mm shaft, so I just made a wheel for a 12mm shaft.

The tracking wheel and spring loaded quick change arm are pretty standard.

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The knobs were left over from when I built the woodworking shaper for my son-in-laws wood shop.

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The vertical support is standard fare. If you lay it down, it presents a 2" dia wheel for grinding. I am still working on a support table that will slide in the unused slot when needed. I have yet to have a need, so it waits.

Frank
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ken572
Posts: 2600
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:11 pm
Location: Mesa, Arizona. 85201-1517

Re: Shop Made Belt Grinder

Post by ken572 »

Hawk99,

Fantastic design and workmanship. :wink:
I like your idea's..
Are you going to put a backing plate under the belt
at any location??

Ken. :)
One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
Ken.
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Hawk99
Posts: 190
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:04 pm
Location: EDDY, TX

Re: Shop Made Belt Grinder

Post by Hawk99 »

Thanks Ken,

It has a backing plate between the two rollers. I used a 2" piece of angle iron. The backer can be slid back to allow grinding without the backer or slid out to make contact with the belt for rigid grinding.

You can see my designs have workarounds. With the big wheel on it, the belt did not interfere with the base. With the vertical piece, I had to cut the base for the belt clearance. A belt guard is probably a good idea, but OSHA isn't looking. It works great for me. I only use 180 grit and smoother so not much load on the motor. The motor is not that strong and I can stop it with pressure. The larger motor I was going to use would be better, but it cost several hundred with controller, so I opted for the free one.

Frank
Jose Rivera
Posts: 3803
Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:21 pm
Location: Vallejo California

Re: Shop Made Belt Grinder

Post by Jose Rivera »

VERY NICE !!!!!! 8) 8) 8)
There are no problems, only solutions.
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Retired journeyman machinist and 3D CAD mechanical designer - hobbyist - grandpa
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