Thread: My Belt Grinder arrived and is in place

Hi Guys,

Now that I've setup my belt grinder, I just wanted to share some pics and to ask those much more knowledgeable if there's anything else I need or whether anything looks not quite correct.

Some comments:

I live in New Zealand so sourcing a reasonably priced variable speed belt grinder was difficult. Units from UK or USA were going to cost around $2,000 in shipping (at least when looking on Ebay etc.)

I sourced this one from China, it cost around $1,200 NZ Dollars (approx $850 US) including shipping to my door (I did have to pay some customs charges but not too much)

The motor and controller are not sealed, so I will replace these with sealed units at some point.

The Platen is ridiculously large and will only work with a 82 inch belt. Everything else is fine with a 72 inch belt. I've ordered a smaller one from an Australian outfit.

The small wheels have nice big bearings, so should be fine?

All seems to run smoothly and true.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I also have a 3.5 inch wheel. I'll need to make a spindle to use with it, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

Anyway, here are some pics. Any comments most welcome.











Many thanks

Onotoman (Dave)

that is a nice looking grinder!! way nicer looking than the one I built out of an old treadmill and pop cans :}

one thing I think that is missing is a whole bunch of dust, and a water container

congrats!!

I'm not at work next week, so will make some dust. I have an old paint tin that I can fill with water too :-)

I think I'll need a few smaller 'small' wheels - the two that came with the grinder are 1 inch and 1.6 inch. I'll need a 0.5 inch and possible smaller?

Originally Posted by caltoncutlery

that is a nice looking grinder!! way nicer looking than the one I built out of an old treadmill and pop cans :}

one thing I think that is missing is a whole bunch of dust, and a water container

congrats!!

Nice! Congrats! I'd been looking at that one for while but went with a locally available one in the end. Looking forward to hearing how you like it.

that looks like a nice unit. A sealed motor is a must though. With all that metal dust and the magnetic coil in the motor, that's a massive short circuit waiting to happen As to the length of the belts needed: there is no reason why you should stick with 72" belts. If you find a place where you can order belts, they usually make whatever size you require. You'll be buying belts in bulk anyway, and having 2 different sizes is not going to be more costly in the long run, since they will wear only half as fast.

Very nice looking grinder. The price is also quite good for a well made machine.

Originally Posted by onotoman

The motor and controller are not sealed, so I will replace these with sealed units at some point.

Originally Posted by Bruno

that looks like a nice unit. A sealed motor is a must though. With all that metal dust and the magnetic coil in the motor, that's a massive short circuit waiting to happen

I can't tell for sure, but that looks like a TEFC motor to me which means that the electrical parts are enclosed. Under the vented end cap is just the fan. If you can't see the windings through any holes you are good to go.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

I can't tell for sure, but that looks like a TEFC motor to me which means that the electrical parts are enclosed. Under the vented end cap is just the fan. If you can't see the windings through any holes you are good to go.

Looks like that to me too!

Do as Victor says, if you see no windings...you are good to go. Nice rig by the way!

Hi Guys,

I removed the end of the motor and there's only a plastic fan in there and a solid casing, no view of the windings or anything.

With regards the Control (VFD) presumably, so long as I keep that high up out of the way of metal dust, it should be OK until I get a sealed one?

Thanks again for all the advice guys. I'll let you know how I get on.

Originally Posted by ScottGoodman

Looks like that to me too!

Do as Victor says, if you see no windings...you are good to go. Nice rig by the way!

Excellent. You're good to go then!