Thread: grinder build

Originally Posted by Substance

got any pregress pics Adam ??
I love these threads, all mental notes & more learning for when the day comes to start a grinder LOL

these go with 1 of my life mottos,

"Learn from other peoples mistakes, for life is to short to make them all yourself"

Oh yeah - lot's of mistakes. If i did it all again i now have a simpler design with no welding, cheap materials and easier to build. Too late this time. Will put together some pics and post a new thread with it probably this weekend. Then work my butt off to fill some backorders for knives and try to get some razors made before our July meet.

Mines a real Frankenstein. Cut up a 2X42 and added onto it. It6's ugly but it does the job. Motors have duty cycles. Some are made for torque and others speed. I got a 1 hp 1725 rpm farm duty from Harbor Freight with a 4 step pulley set up. The high speed is too much for those old 2X42 wheels but there ain't no stopping it. The plus side is when on lower speed you can do some nice detail work slowly. Now that I am getting used to it I of course want to go full blown infinite adjust speed monster. I will wait until I get another shop with 220 outlets though. Another big expense is the contact wheels right ? I spent more on those than the rest of it.

Yep. Got less than $100 in everything excluding wheels. They cost me about $400 .

How's your grinder progressing Adam got any further along ?

Yes and no. Been away on family holiday to the snow.
Caught up with fitter and turner yesterday. The old pool motor is a no go. The spindle shaft is too thin at M10 {and short} so the work to create and extension would be a waste. He is sure the lateral pressure of the drive belt will snap the shaft.
Soooo... back to hunting a motor. Either with a 5/8 spindle, or if not, whatever i can get if i can find a new step pulley with a matching bore size.
Just a PITA as i was sure i was there.... will do what i can between jobs this week.
Also planning on firing up the forge on Saturday and knocking out some blades to finish when the grinder is going...Hammering hot steel is a great stress reliever.
Will let you know what eventuates.
Ta

So it is finished at last. Yeah - okay, been using it for a while, and tweaking bits. Now it is done and the safety guard/dust container is in place.
The motor is a 1HP from Hare & Forbes with a four step pulley for variable speed. The "box" is made of MDF board. On the right side of the base is an old magnetic knife holder. The box has a right angle bracket about five inches long. It simply is put in place and held by the magnet.
It's purpose is twofold - safety (have had a 6 foot belt break once before) and also to minimise dust in the workshop.
The second part is the dust catcher below the contact wheel. It is a PVC downpipe top - you know, from the roof guttering. Not mine.. It also has a metal bracket attached. As different size contact wheels, platen, etc necessitate the tool arms being different lengths, the catcher is simply moved to the correct spot and held there by the same magnet. My dust extractor hose also connects onto that... nothing is perfect, but I am no engineer and just happy it does the job. And the whole lot still tilts 90degrees for profiling with a horizontal belt.
While I was at it, I made a dust cover for the buffer. It is hinged at back so it flips up easily for wheel changes.
and I still found time to play in the forge.
Lots of pics attached.

more pics from the forge this morning....so now I am moving forward...little more each day.

Looks like a great and complete set up Adam,
Bet your shed gets hot in summer with the forge in there
Can't wait to see your new productions when you work them all out.

Originally Posted by Adam G.

So it is finished at last. Yeah - okay, been using it for a while, and tweaking bits. Now it is done and the safety guard/dust container is in place.
The motor is a 1HP from Hare & Forbes with a four step pulley for variable speed. The "box" is made of MDF board. On the right side of the base is an old magnetic knife holder. The box has a right angle bracket about five inches long. It simply is put in place and held by the magnet.
It's purpose is twofold - safety (have had a 6 foot belt break once before) and also to minimise dust in the workshop.
The second part is the dust catcher below the contact wheel. It is a PVC downpipe top - you know, from the roof guttering. Not mine.. It also has a metal bracket attached. As different size contact wheels, platen, etc necessitate the tool arms being different lengths, the catcher is simply moved to the correct spot and held there by the same magnet. My dust extractor hose also connects onto that... nothing is perfect, but I am no engineer and just happy it does the job. And the whole lot still tilts 90degrees for profiling with a horizontal belt.
While I was at it, I made a dust cover for the buffer. It is hinged at back so it flips up easily for wheel changes.
and I still found time to play in the forge.
Lots of pics attached.

Nice work, oustanding

Adam, loving how you have set up in your smithy...except one. Is that dust catcher made of plastic/vinyl? If it is, it will catch on fire if it's catching sparks/swarf. I have metal dust burning regularly and try to catch it in a 5 gal bucket with water in it...but it gets on the tool holder and the such and burns away. Wouldn't be good if plastic was catching the smoldering filings...