# 72 inch belt grinder



## skiprat (Aug 11, 2018)

Although I'm not into knife making ( yet :wink: ) I always wanted to make a 72 inch belt grinder. 
I could have copied thousands of cool designs on the web but that would mean buying lots of material. I wanted to use what I have if possible. 
This is what I came up with.....I'm pretty pleased. I'll make a few other attachments but this should get me going. :biggrin: 
Made of T6 aluminium and stainless steel and a bit of channel iron. :biggrin:

Just waiting for a new motor.......apparently lost in the post....:frown:


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## leehljp (Aug 11, 2018)

If anyone could build one free hand (with your own parts) - I knew you could do it! :biggrin:

NICE and functional! 

Along this same line, I turned my 8 in grinder into a CBN Wheel grinder for my HSS lathe tools and then suddenly needed a sharpener grinder for my other tools. So what did I turn to - my 12" Disc sander. Belts and discs do excellent on sharpening and grinding other things.

Your knives will love it! :good:


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## Terredax (Aug 11, 2018)

Just curious how you track the belt? Maybe using the knob on the backside?


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## skiprat (Aug 11, 2018)

Terredax said:


> Just curious how you track the belt? Maybe using the knob on the backside?



Yep...the knob threads through the upright and pushes out the bottom of the hinged wheel. Works a treat:wink:


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## SteveJ (Aug 11, 2018)

I'm curious as to why you would want a 72 inch belt sander - but it does look pretty cool!


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## BRobbins629 (Aug 11, 2018)

Nice, but the bedroom closet in the background?  Wife not home?


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## skiprat (Aug 11, 2018)

SteveJ said:


> I'm curious as to why you would want a 72 inch belt sander - but it does look pretty cool!



A real man doesn't have to NEED to have the tools ....... it's just the hunter-gatherer in me.....I collect crap:biggrin:



BRobbins629 said:


> Nice, but the bedroom closet in the background?  Wife not home?



LMAO....No Bruce...that is the outside of my Rat Cave ( garage :wink: ) 
I was going to take pics of it inside......but it's a bit like the 'Where's Wally?' images :biggrin: Can you spot it?:biggrin:


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## mredburn (Aug 11, 2018)

Really Nice, one of those is on my wish list. I havent figured out whether I will buy one or build it myself. So far I have done neither.


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## kruzzer (Aug 11, 2018)

great design, simple but it's gonna be effective. Nice work.
Put up some video when you have it operational.


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## Curly (Aug 11, 2018)

Very nice. Stock wheels, made from scratch or does your son have a wheelless board now?


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## mark james (Aug 11, 2018)

skiprat said:


> LMAO....No Bruce...that is the outside of my Rat Cave ( garage :wink: )
> I was going to take pics of it inside......but it's a bit like the 'Where's Wally?' images :biggrin: *Can you spot it?*:biggrin:



Sure, just right of the *DANGER* sign  *(Where's Will Robinson?)*

Very nice sander!  I bet you could make a pen with that!!  Maybe even faceted.


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## lorbay (Aug 11, 2018)

Wow. Very cool Skip. It's the tool in you thing. Lol. Same thing with me, not a knife guy but I want one of those 72 inch belt sanders or grinder if you a knife guy. Lol
Here is the one I built. Hey I am steel fabricator.:biggrin::biggrin:
Lin


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## More4dan (Aug 11, 2018)

I built my own 2x72 grinder a couple years ago. Very satisfying experience. For your drive, are you going with variable speed. I used step pulleys like on a drill press. For your motor you will want TEFC. Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled. It is impossible to get dust or metal into the motor windings.  I used a 110v single phase 1 1/2 HP TEFC motor.   Let me know if you have any questions. You’ll love the versatility of the grinder once it’s up and running. 

Danny


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## Charlie_W (Aug 11, 2018)

Super job on the sander Skip! I noticed it appears in the pic you are using domed wheels. These help with tracking in addition to your adjustment screw/ hinge.
I have an older(1980’s) 1” X 42” Delta vertical belt sander. The original drive wheel was plastic and it fractured and broke some years ago....I had a fabrication shop turn a new wheel from aluminum/domed.....works great.


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## edstreet (Aug 12, 2018)

Am I missing something?  Where is the tracking geometry?


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## Curly (Aug 12, 2018)

Knurled knob in pictures 6 and 8 is to adjust the tracking Ed.


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## Skie_M (Aug 12, 2018)

That plus the flat belt tends to want to track on the crown of the wheels .... very much in the same way that the blade on a band saw tracks on the crowns of the wheels.


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## skiprat (Aug 12, 2018)

Lin, that is a very smart looking grinder. I was going to follow a similar design.
Does it still look brand new..???:biggrin:

Danny, yes...the motor I have coming is sealed. But thanks for the head's up.:wink: also...got a 4 pole motor ( 1700rpm) and 5 step pulleys. 

Pete, stock wheels off Amazon. I don't expect the grinder will get massive heavy use, so hopefully the wheels and bearings will last a bit. :wink:

James, once I have a good selection of belts, it certainly will help with faceted shaped pens. Today I will make a horizontal rest and  hinge the grinder to tilt 90deg.....well....that's the plan anyway.. swmbo may have other ideas


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## lorbay (Aug 12, 2018)

skiprat said:


> Lin, that is a very smart looking grinder. I was going to follow a similar design.
> Does it still look brand new..???:biggrin:
> 
> Danny, yes...the motor I have coming is sealed. But thanks for the head's up.:wink: also...got a 4 pole motor ( 1700rpm) and 5 step pulleys.
> ...



Skip. Yes it still looks brand new. Lol. I have only used it once, I am in the process of building a 10" contact wheel for it. I have offered it to a knife maker I know and he laughs at me when I told him the price. $700 Ca. Have you seen the price of these things new.??
Lin


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## skiprat (Aug 12, 2018)

Yep, they are crazy expensive. But a great fun and relatively cheap project.
There are so many designs, anyone can modify a design to suit the tools they already have. Many have a no-weld, no-milling design. 
TBH, I haven't seen one with the same belt tension design I have used. Maybe I'll find out why, when I use it in anger:biggrin:


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## Herb G (Aug 12, 2018)

Here's my sander.
6" x 186" 3 HP 220V Stroke Sander | Grizzly Industrial


Just kidding. But it's on my wishlist.


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## Skie_M (Aug 12, 2018)

I don't see anything particularly wrong in your design at first glance.  I see it's set up to easily change belts from the left side, but you have the tension and tracking at the same location.  In most designs I've seen, the tension is in one position while the tracking is at another position, making them independent of each other, so that you can adjust them individually.

You may wish to put together a larger table (for the front face of the grinder) so that you can evenly and safely grind much larger pieces (long knives, short swords, long swords).

If you ever grind titanium ... be prepared for some extremely bright white sparks .... wear a face shield or some really dark shades.


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## More4dan (Aug 12, 2018)

My traction wheel is on my tension arm too. Most designs I’ve seen are set up that way.  


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## Rifleman1776 (Aug 13, 2018)

Neat. You obviously have machinist/mechanical skills. Nice job.


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## Skie_M (Aug 13, 2018)

Are you kidding? that's Skiprat .... the inventor of the screw-nut!


Go on, show him that triple-tapped nut! =D


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## mecompco (Aug 13, 2018)

That looks great! I was investigating making one of the no-weld grinders when I was into knife making. However, that all got derailed by this pen turning thing. If you're making knives, one of these is almost a requirement. I did my one and thus far only knife on a 1x30 and lots and lots of hand filing.


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## Skie_M (Aug 13, 2018)

Ive done several knives with my 1x30 Harbor Freight sander.  I've even done some short swords ... the main issue with it is trying to find higher grit belts to take care of a lot of the hand sanding work... I've found that sanding with 400 - 600 grit belts puts a pretty good edge on the blade that you can buff the wire edge off of and have a very good cutting edge.


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## More4dan (Aug 13, 2018)

mecompco said:


> That looks great! I was investigating making one of the no-weld grinders when I was into knife making. However, that all got derailed by this pen turning thing. If you're making knives, one of these is almost a requirement. I did my one and thus far only knife on a 1x30 and lots and lots of hand filing.





I did the opposite. Started making knives, made the 2 x 72 no weld design. Then got a lathe to make parts for me folders and made a pen.  Not made a knife since, two years now. 


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