Workshop belt grinder/linisher/sander

The last couple of days i’ve Been knocking together a belt grinder/linisher/sander mainly for use on ferrous materials but also wood work projects

Its a 1.5kw 1400 rpm motor drives from a vfd with a max of 100hz so roughly 2800 rpm

A pallet truck steering wheel is mounted on the motor to drive the belt..its rubber and 200mm dia,this makes belt speeds of between 3 to 30 metres/second

The other wheels are pallet truck load wheels which whilst working fine now probably need higher quality bearings fitting to cope with the increased speeds that they find themselves doing

the frame is 50mm square 5mm wall with 40mm for the rests and tracking adjustments

Just got it working this afternoon and it can surely make sparks

The uppermost pulley has a tracking adjuster and is sprung with an old motorcycle front fork spring so to change belts it’s just push down and slip off old belt and slip on new let go and everything is set

I’ve made it to take 2 inch by 72 belts which are very common and easy to get in various grits and types of grit however looking through my woodwork shop i found 30 2inch by 98 inch 30 grit belts.does anyone have any idea if i could shorten these easily? What adhesive and procedure to use?

Few more pictures

Very nice - quite fancy making one myself. As regards shortening the 98 inch belts, I'd be tempted not to, and just make another top pulley on a longer piece of square section to take up the slack. Or even just make a longer piece to take your existing pulley - bit of a faff if you change belts often, but will do until you've worked through your existing stock.

Regards,

Rob

Edited By Rob Rimmer on 23/03/2018 19:24:41

These belt cleaners are excellent. Removes that build up of stuff that blocks the abrasive. Recommended - you might otherwise be tempted to throw a belt away when in fact it can often be rejuvenated.

Murray

Thanks for the tip Murray just what I am looking for, I didn't know they existed.

Colin

I don’t know what the real name is but I call it “pallet wrap”, it’s the slightly sticky plastic they use for wrapping stuff on pallets. If you collect enough of it and wind it up tightly into say 1 1/2” “sticks it makes a really good abrasive belt cleaner. Some, but not all plastic bags can work as well. Paying for belt cleaning blocks is a mugs game when folks are throwing stuff away that works just as well.

The plastic bag abrasive cleaner used to be demo'ed at the ME Exhibitions by the chap selling flex mounted sanding discs - magical stuff!

rgds

Bill

That's brilliant Ian.

You've inspired me.

I'm off to the cave ....

Some nice details there and a few things I bet you will tweak. It looks like your tracking wheel or the tool arm are designed to be adjustable to take up slack - just increase this adjustment provision so you can take 90 in belts. It is really handy being able to take different belts as it gives you more options for buying bargains. However, belts are not all the same and it is worth getting quality. I find the joint is one of the most important features (so it doesn't bump when grinding0 and making good joints in cut down belts may be an art of its own.

Another belt cleaner is a bit of plastic garden hose.

Ian S C

Ian, if it can make sparks, why are you not wearing safety glasses sharpening your axe?

Chris Gunn

+1 here, Chris. Wrong (even if the poster claims it was not running at the time - as is the usual excuse). Apart from personal safety, it does not give good guidance to others who may know no better.

No excuse for the glasses omission but no sparks come up all go down onto your feet but that’s not to say that something could come off the belt...i’m Usually always wearing glasses anyway not sure why not there..i’m Still amazed at its metal removing power i’ve Not managed to stall it yet which i can easily on my other sanders grinders.with a 60 grit belt it chomps through 6mm ground flat stock.

ndiy, it is running if you study the picture, you can see the sparks.

Ian, it looks a fine job, but I would not risk it even if you think the sparks are going downhill.

Some welders spats might be handy as well if you value your socks.

Chris Gunn

After fine tuning making sure no more welding parts on and drilling was needed i took all the parts to be powder coated amazing the difference it makes

now back together with vfd controls mounted

At the present the vfd is mounted on a ceiling joist awaiting a suitable enclosure to be found

shrpening drills and hss tool bits is now a pleasure