MEW lathe sander

like the idea of belt sander in MEW for lathe.

is there any reason i couldn't put a motor on it and use it as free standing sander?

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+1

MichaelG.

that's why i want to put motor on it.

I suppose a lack of space would be a good reason why you couldn't. I would wager that's why he's done that.

In his defence, I would say with regards to the sand problem it is only 1" wide belts he's put on there and the table doesn't look awfully big either, implying he isn't intending to use it for heavy stock removal and only for finishing small components.

If this was a much wider sanding belt then we could see how dust would accumulate quite quickly.

With regards to sand/soda/powder/shot blasting, I've found in practice that they only seem to contaminate the immediate area around the cabinet, not really spreading dust very far away from it.

Michael W

Edited By Michael-w on 08/01/2017 12:10:24

This is on my list of projects and I have a 1500 rpm motor that I can use but would appreciate guidance on the surface speed of the belt as I can then work out the correct driving pulley size.

Thanks.

The other issue with using a lathe to power a belt sander is speed. Lower speeds as found on lathes will work, but with a separate motor and maybe a belt drive much higher speeds would be possible. Belt sanding works much better and much faster at higher speeds.

There's also the sand and sanding dust - probably better to have that away from your lathe if possible.

If you don't have any other space , OK, you have no choice, use the sander in the lathe. But if you do have room I would go with separate motor and probably a belt drive to allow step up and step down of speeds. JD

PS with any belt sanding - if you are sanding steel making sparks , after sanding some wood - clean all the wood dust out first, and keep an eye out for fire/smoke for a while after sanding. Don't ask me how I know this (it was just some smoldering wood dust, not a serious fire, but still worth some care)

I've had a combined 1in belt and 6 in disc sander for years. It is a very "light weight" unit but it gets a lot of use. It also produces a lot of very fine (and abrasive) dust. I really would not want to operate such a unit in my lathe - in fact my sander(s) and grinder are not in the same room as my machines. If you are really stuck for space then I guess there is no option but I would advise a VERY good clean up with a vacuum cleaner after each use.

ps. note the "residue" from the sanding process may not be just bits of metal etc. removed but also bits of abrasive from the belt. Just imagine this stuff finding its way between your lathe's sliding surfaces.

Norman

Edited By NJH on 08/01/2017 17:01:52

I have had a few comments about this, but compared to commercially available toolpost grinding wheels a lathe mounted belt sander is relatively innocuous. They both demand that you cover the lathe bed and clean up carefully.

Neil

Yes Neil that is true - however using such equipment in a commercial environment where someone else owns the lathe is a bit different to using it on my own carefully cosseted kit which I shelled out for from my own pocket!

😧

Norman

When I said 'commercial' I meant people sell grinders for fitting to lathe toolposts.

Neil

This seems a good place for a 2 pole / 2800rpm motor, qite good sanders are available to fit on a bench grinder (2800rpm), if the motor has ventilation holes, it needs a shroud to keep the dust and grit out of the motor.20 0dd years ago I built a sander for a friend who was making wooden toys, it had a bed about 3ft long, I used a 4 pole motor, and connected it with a belt drive to keep it away from the dust. The bed was made of Melamine covered MDF.

Ian S C