Belt sander build vote

[addertooth]

Although I am late to the game, I will toss in for the 2 by 72 belt sanders. I have one with thousands of hours of use on it. It is one of the ancient "square wheel" belt sanders from the 70s (the design was copied by Wilton and Jet as well). When other manufacturers are copying your design, you know they have come up with something good. I have not noted excessive wear on the steel platen. The key hallmark of the design was the ability to change your working surface to present a small radius wheel, a medium radius wheel, or a Large radius wheel for grinding inside surfaces (or hollow grind blades). It also had a flat platen which could be the primary work surface. Belt tracking on them was easy to maintain without a fuss.

You can come up with your own design, or mimic the successful and established design which has over 50 years of track history.

 

[brino]

I have one with thousands of hours of use on it. It is one of the ancient "square wheel" belt sanders from the 70s (the design was copied by Wilton and Jet as well).

Got any pics? or a link to the design?
Thanks,
Brian

 

[rabler]

How's that working? I found Freecad difficult .. I didn't like the user interface. I thought it was hard just to get going.
I played with Sketchup for a while, found it easy as pie, to build almost immediately.
Fusion 360, does not appear hard when looking at what people do...

FreeCad... OMG. It could be me though. Old dog

Just getting started on it. I would agree FreeCad has a steep learning curve. Will see how robust it is. I used sketchup some when it was free from Google(?), and found it easy and straightforward. Hideously poor internet makes using semi-online software challenging, ran into that when using CircuitMaker for PCB layout. So I'm hesitant to push my luck on Fusion360. FreeCad is all local once downloaded.

2HP motor and a VFD for my concept, 2x72. Will go with a glass platen per comments seen here.

 

[Suzuki4evr]

Although I am late to the game, I will toss in for the 2 by 72 belt sanders. I have one with thousands of hours of use on it. It is one of the ancient "square wheel" belt sanders from the 70s (the design was copied by Wilton and Jet as well). When other manufacturers are copying your design, you know they have come up with something good. I have not noted excessive wear on the steel platen. The key hallmark of the design was the ability to change your working surface to present a small radius wheel, a medium radius wheel, or a Large radius wheel for grinding inside surfaces (or hollow grind blades). It also had a flat platen which could be the primary work surface. Belt tracking on them was easy to maintain without a fuss.

You can come up with your own design, or mimic the successful and established design which has over 50 years of track history.

Yes as @brino said,pics please.

 

[devils4ever]

Just getting started on it. I would agree FreeCad has a steep learning curve. Will see how robust it is. I used sketchup some when it was free from Google(?), and found it easy and straightforward. Hideously poor internet makes using semi-online software challenging, ran into that when using CircuitMaker for PCB layout. So I'm hesitant to push my luck on Fusion360. FreeCad is all local once downloaded.

Agreed. FreeCAD has a steep learning curve, but they all do. I struggled with it at first. Over time, I got better and better with it. It's not perfect, but it's free forever and as you noted it does not require Internet access to use.

If I can help with your learning curve, let me know. I can't do everything, but most things I can figure out now. Plus, there's a forum that has helped me in the past.

 

[graham-xrf]

@Suzuki4evr
I will be going for 2 x 72. Like you, I have to build. Don't fret too much about getting wheels. You can make them if you have to. Folk have even raided skateboards to do this stuff - in a pinch. You should be able to get bearings, even in RSA. It does not have to be the Jerome Schmidt version, but his is a very sweet design.

re: FreeCAD. There are experts who use both Fusion 360 and FreeCAD together, and some who have migrated to FreeCAD. Given that Fusion 360 is moving to a yearly update/verify model, I will stay with FreeCAD. It's the only way I know I will never be stuck with a load of invested designs, and a tool I can only access on new terms. In practice, I find there are tutorials on YouTube that take you to the point you start getting along with it just fine.

 

[keeena]

I have a 6x48 and a 1x42, but I really want to replace the 1" with a 2x72.

I'd expect that everything I do with the 1" could be done with a 2x72. The wider 6" belt can come in handy if facing larger material, but I don't do that too often.

 

[Larry$]

belt sander from scratch and quickly added the glass platen.

Good looking build! I only have a 120V MIG welder and also end up bolting where others would weld. I'm not a very good welder! Is 2 HP necessary? Never short on power that way.

 

[rabler]

If I can help with your learning curve, let me know. I can't do everything, but most things I can figure out now. Plus, there's a forum that has helped me in the past.

I appreciate it. I'm doing OK so far. I've purchased a couple of books. I can put together basic parts at this point, but haven't tried using an 'Assembly' yet. Some of the notations/terminology they use are a bit weird, just have to work through some of that.

 

[rabler]

... Is 2 HP necessary? Never short on power that way.

I'm using 2HP for mine as an "overkill", so probably not. I read somewhere that 1/2HP is weak, 1HP is decently powerful for a 2x72 grinder. Does mean that as I slow the VFD down below 60Hz I should still get good torque. So I should get a broad range of usable FPM.