# 2x72 Belt Grinder Build



## Kennyd

I started a Picasa Albums with build pictures and captions, I will   update the thread as I add new pictures.  Currently it is functional,   but I still have work to do on the tool arms, and I am making a cabinet   for it to set on.

*"Grinder in a Box" Picasa Album*

It is based in this kit *Grinder in a Box* from the Polar Bear Forge.

I looked at them all, the EERF and the GIB was in the top two, having   all the major pieces already cut in the GIB kit was the deciding factor   for me.  I researched these for a LONG time...

The problem is the wheels, you will spend big $$$ on them.  I have over $500 in them alone, all purchased the from Rob at *KMG Industrial Belt Grinders, Beaumont Metal Works
*
You can search for endless hours thinking you will find them   cheaper/better like me and everybody else, or you can just suck it up   and buy from them.  Then a motor, and a VFD if you want variable   speed...you will easily spend $1200+ building one.

Making the drive and idler wheels at home is doable, but the contact   wheels are another story with the rubber on them.  After looking at the   price of the stock, high speed bearings, and my time I just decided to   buy everything.  I know, not very DIY-ish but a man has to know his   limits, and I wanted this thing up-and-running quickly (turned out not   to be the case anyway however).

I found the Dayton 3HP, 3PH,   3450RPM washdown motor locally on CL for $100, I thought that was a   good deal.  2HP or ever 1.5HP is plenty however.  I wanted a 3 phase so I   could add a VFD and have variable speed.  In my research that seemed   important, and I enjoy that feature on my mill and lathe as well.  I   needed the 3540 RPM motor because the 1725's will turn to slow for   effective use.

Why did I go this route?
-I wanted to build one.  I know that I bought a "kit" and pre-made   wheels, but I can still customize it along the way-making it mine.
-I really liked and wanted the "KMG" style of grinder with the   quick-change tool arms, that way you can make any style you want (I am   making two different ones).  Another reason I chose the GIB kit is I   really liked the second receiver for a tool rest arm rather than having   to adapt a tool rest to the tool arm. (I hope that make sense?)
-I like the super fast belt changes with this style grinder.
-I liked the hard mounted motor and direct drive, seemed simpler and   more professional looking than having a separate motor with jackshafts,   pulleys, and belts.  But if you want to use a 1 phase motor this may  not  be the best choice since you could not vary the speed like you  could  having a separately mounted motor and step pulley's.
-The GIB is basically the same as the EERF, but it has the extra receiver for the tool rest arm. 
-(spaced reserved for more reasons when I think of them)


Some other ones I looked at:
*Beaumont Metal Works, Manufacturer of Industrial belt grinders and finishing equipment*

*Polar Bear Forge* (already linked above)

*Blindhogg custom gunworks

No Weld Grinder

Grinders

Home*


Here is a long thread on BladeForums about a GIB build (not mine, I am not a member) it has LOTS of great info and pictures: *Grinder in a box! DIY grinder kit*


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## ecdez

That's a nice looking machine you have there. Good job!


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## strantor

That's a super sweet, professional looking build there. I've also built a 2X72 belt grinder that I built a few years ago for my knife-making hobby, but I'm almost ashamed to speak of it after seeing yours. It's one hell of a dangerous-looking kludge, but it works, and I paid less than 100$ to build it. here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG5duTeuqFE. I've put probably 500 hours on it in the past 4 years and it works great, no incidents yet.


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## Kennyd

ecdez said:


> That's a nice looking machine you have there. Good job!


Thanks :drinkingbeer:


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## Kennyd

strantor said:


> That's a super sweet, professional looking build there. I've also built a 2X72 belt grinder that I built a few years ago for my knife-making hobby, but I'm almost ashamed to speak of it after seeing yours. It's one hell of a dangerous-looking kludge, but it works, and I paid less than 100$ to build it. here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG5duTeuqFE. I've put probably 500 hours on it in the past 4 years and it works great, no incidents yet.


Thank you very much, I appreciate the compliments.  Yours is pretty cool as well:thumbsup:


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## DMS

HOLY SMOKES! That's a nice looking machine. Thank's for posting the build.


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## ranch23

That is nice, I built one of the KMG clones and am planning on building another.


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## RandyM

She's BEAUTIFUL! As usual another Kenny masterpiece. Thanks for the post and info Ken.


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## Kennyd

DMS said:


> HOLY SMOKES! That's a nice looking machine. Thank's for posting the build.





ranch23 said:


> That is nice, I built one of the KMG clones and am planning on building another.





RandyM said:


> She's BEAUTIFUL! As usual another Kenny masterpiece. Thanks for the post and info Ken.



Thank you all so much!)


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## Craigb

Kennyd, that is a nice job on the grinder build. 

I have a KMG that I use all the time. I need to take a closer look at the GIB for a second grinder. 



Craig


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## Kennyd

*Update 12-16-12*

I added some more pictures showing the progress in the last two weeks or so.

I build a stand for it, got all the final high and low voltage wiring  completed, now I am working on the tool/work rest's for the two  different attachments.

More to come soon...


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## ARM

Hi  there  Kenny
That's  a  lot of exceptional work  U  put  there  in  that  Grinder.
It  looks  strong,  sturdy  and  powerful.
However, we  don't  know  why  U  have  chosen a very  fast motor  for it.  Would  not  a  1400 RPM  have  sufficed  ??  
We  want  to build  one  of  these and  always  liked  the  3-4 wheel  running  design  with a direct driven VSD Motor.
Only  thing  is  we  will  have  to make  the  usual  changes  to  accommodate  our  metric sizes  for  all  construction  and  belt  sizes.
Will  need  to  re-look  at  the  original  GIB  and  order  the  base  material  from  him.
Do post  pics  of  Your  finished  rests  and  final  set  up.
Would  like  to  pick  Your  brains  and  expertise  when  we start  with  ours  -  if  that's  OK  with  You ???
Thanks  a  mill  for  showing.
aRM


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## Kennyd

ARM, thanks for the compliments.  A 1400 RPM motor will not provide the needed SFM for adequate material removal.  With the 3600 RPM motor and the VFD you have all the speed one would ever need for hogging a lot of material quickly, and you can dial it down for delicate work as well.

There is good info in the links I provided above as well.


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## PT Doc

It is possible to use a 1760 rpm motor.  If you set it up with 2 pulleys and a bely then you can get whatever speed you want simply by changing the pulley sizes.  Also some vfds have a 2x jumper to run the 3phase motor at twice the rpm. 

Many grinders out there are running at 5500 sfpm to allow the ceramic belts to work at their best.


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## ARM

Kennyd said:


> ARM, thanks for the compliments.  A 1400 RPM motor will not provide the needed SFM for adequate material removal.  With the 3600 RPM motor and the VFD you have all the speed one would ever need for hogging a lot of material quickly, and you can dial it down for delicate work as well.
> 
> There is good info in the links I provided above as well.



KENNYD
Hi and  compliments  of the Season  to one  and  all

May  we  assume  that  motor  of  Yours would  be  a  2HP, 1.5 KW, 'cos  that's  what  we  found  powerful  enough  ??
As we mentioned  previously,  we  are  still quite  interested  in  learning  which  method  of  REST  U  would  be  building  for  this  Machine.
There are  some  nifty  ones on the  links  U kindly provided  !!!
Do remember  to  post  pics  of  Your  finally  finished fancy  Machine !!!
Thanks  a  Mill  and  
Take Care
aRM


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## Kennyd

ARM said:


> KENNYD
> Hi and  compliments  of the Season  to one  and  all
> 
> May  we  assume  that  motor  of  Yours would  be  a  2HP, 1.5 KW, 'cos  that's  what  we  found  powerful  enough  ??
> As we mentioned  previously,  we  are  still quite  interested  in  learning  which  method  of  REST  U  would  be  building  for  this  Machine.
> There are  some  nifty  ones on the  links  U kindly provided  !!!
> Do remember  to  post  pics  of  Your  finally  finished fancy  Machine !!!
> Thanks  a  Mill  and
> Take Care
> aRM



Mine is a 3HP 3450RPM motor as stated in the first post.  2HP would be plenty however.  I may be working on the rest this weekend...I will update the thread as progress continues.


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## Kennyd

Update 3/5/13:
I added some pictures of the work rest that I built to the Picasa album, it still needs a little fine tuning but it is very functional now.

Also, I made a short video  showing some details and operation, it's in HD so you can watch it full screen if you want:

[video=youtube_share;r1x2ppeX66w]http://youtu.be/r1x2ppeX66w[/video]


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## valleyboy101

That's a beautiful piece of work.  I built a 2"x 48" belt grinder about 20 years ago it is still going strong.  I used a v belt and pulleys to get the belt speed up to 5200 fpm. 
It was only because of the lack of large rubber tired wheel that I couldn't more closely model the Baldor that was my inspiration. So....

One question - how did you come up with the rubber tired wheel?

Thanks Michael


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## Kennyd

valleyboy101 said:


> That's a beautiful piece of work.  I built a 2"x 48" belt grinder about 20 years ago it is still going strong.  I used a v belt and pulleys to get the belt speed up to 5200 fpm.
> It was only because of the lack of large rubber tired wheel that I couldn't more closely model the Baldor that was my inspiration. So....
> 
> One question - how did you come up with the rubber tired wheel?
> 
> Thanks Michael


Thanks for the compliments Michael, I appreciate i very much.

I sourced all the wheels from Rob at http://www.beaumontmetalworks.com/ as stated in the first post.


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## RandyM

:man::man::man::man::man::man:


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## ARM

KennyD
Your  machine  has  finished  beautifully
We  like  Your  designs  for the  different positioned  RESTS
Just  saw  the  pics  in  Your  album  -  they  are  a  superb  assistance
Just  one  more  question  though.
We note  that U are  using  an aluminium Drive  wheel  on  the  Motor and  not a  rubber  mounted  wheel 
Your  belt  did  not  seem  to  slip  on  start  up  ???
Would  not  a  Rubber  Mounted  Wheel  have  been  a  better  choice  ???
Thanks  a  mill  for  the video
It  was  some  inspiration
regards
aRM


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## pineyfolks

First off great job on your grinder! Anyone on the cheap like me and wanting rubber drive wheels this is what I did. I found some rubber boat trailer rollers on clearance $5 , they were 6" OD and 3" wide. I cut them to 2" on my saw and made a hub. My grinder is reversible so I drive with the rubber wheel and grind on it depending on what I'm doing. It's held up good so far.


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## Kennyd

ARM said:


> KennyD
> Your  machine  has  finished  beautifully
> We  like  Your  designs  for the  different positioned  RESTS
> Just  saw  the  pics  in  Your  album  -  they  are  a  superb  assistance
> Just  one  more  question  though.
> We note  that U are  using  an aluminium Drive  wheel  on  the  Motor and  not a  rubber  mounted  wheel
> Your  belt  did  not  seem  to  slip  on  start  up  ???
> Would  not  a  Rubber  Mounted  Wheel  have  been  a  better  choice  ???
> Thanks  a  mill  for  the video
> It  was  some  inspiration
> regards
> aRM



Thanks.  
Slippage is not a problem at all, the driver is slightly grooved for traction, and with the VFD the motor starts and stops gently.  There is no need IMHO for a rubber coated driver, and no grinders I looked at when researching all of this had them either.  It is however slightly crowned, as is the tracing wheel on the tension arm.


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## Kennyd

pineyfolks said:


> First off great job on your grinder! Anyone on the cheap like me and wanting rubber drive wheels this is what I did. I found some rubber boat trailer rollers on clearance $5 , they were 6" OD and 3" wide. I cut them to 2" on my saw and made a hub. My grinder is reversible so I drive with the rubber wheel and grind on it depending on what I'm doing. It's held up good so far.



Nice job!


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## Kennyd

RandyM said:


> :man::man::man::man::man::man:



Thanks Randy!


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## Dan

Nice looking 2x72 belt grinders.

It is quite common for knife makers to build their own belt grinders.

I built one too a few years ago based on the KMG design. Definitely the way to go!

Quick configuration changes quick belt changes!

I bought my contact wheels from Sunray, 8" and 10" I think it was around 300 bucks. The drive wheel and traction wheel I got from a knife supply place, I forget where.

The rest of the wheels I made myself.

I figured I would buy a lathe instead of a grinder, that way I could use the lathe to build the grinder.

Best

Dan


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## Wizard69

Kennyd said:


> Update 3/5/13:
> I added some pictures of the work rest that I built to the Picasa album, it still needs a little fine tuning but it is very functional now.
> 
> Also, I made a short video  showing some details and operation, it's in HD so you can watch it full screen if you want:



Well done with the video!    Excellent job with the grinder too!


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