I'm not sure what this is used for.

[mickri]

I believe the main mod that mikey did to his belt sander was to add a glass platen that goes behind the belt. I have found the stock steel platen on my belt sander to work just fine for grinding tool bits. Here is an article that mikey wrote about his mods.

Modifying a Craftsman 2 X 42-inch Belt Sander For Tool Grinding – MachinistBlog.com

You are right Toprecyler about time is money to those in the business. But for us hobby guys time is meaningless. If it takes me more time to do something, that is great. I get to spend more time in my shop using my machines. And with a belt sander it is beyond easy to grind any tool bit your heart desires. Using a bench grinder to grind tool bits takes a lot of practice. I admire the pros who can grind tool bits by hand on a bench grinder.

 

[bionicback321]

You've got a lathe. Make some bushings to fit.

You're absolutely correct, I'll get cracking on that right now (just the excuse I needed to head out to the workshop). I'm still going to buy a new wheel and wheel dresser, but a metal bushing might just tide me over till the new one gets here. I also want to give the belt sander a go.

 

[Aaron_W]

You're absolutely correct, I'll get cracking on that right now (just the excuse I needed to head out to the workshop). I'm still going to buy a new wheel and wheel dresser, but a metal bushing might just tide me over till the new one gets here. I also want to give the belt sander a go.

And it begins.

Forget about projects, welcome to the world of making stuff to keep your machines happy.

 

[C-Bag]

You're absolutely correct, I'll get cracking on that right now (just the excuse I needed to head out to the workshop). I'm still going to buy a new wheel and wheel dresser, but a metal bushing might just tide me over till the new one gets here. I also want to give the belt sander a go.

Good luck.

I went down that road and it about drove me crazy. But I felt like I was committed and had to see it through. My old 8” bench grinder died and I bought a Ryobi 8” and shook like mad. Dressed the wheels, same. Bought new Norton wheels, shook just as bad. New wheels no matter the maker or price can be totally out of balance. I tested the grinder shafts and they were not bent and runout was almost nill. Made new wheel bushings, same. The problem was the wheels not the grinder so I bought the Oneway balancing kit and after some mods it worked perfectly and the grinder is smooth as glass. Unfortunately the kit is almost $95 now and not too long after I did this I found a clone of a Baldor carbide grinder for $135. It needed to be balanced and I used the Oneway fixture to do that. IMHO that is far superior to a standard bench grinder. But I almost never use the 8” bench grinder

But if I would have known about a belt sander I would never have messed with the bench grinder. For HSS it is the quickest simplest way. I use my Baldor clone for sharpening my carbide.

 

[bionicback321]

Good luck.

Thanks, I'm going to need it.

But if I would have known about a belt sander I would never have messed with the bench grinder. For HSS it is the quickest simplest way. I use my Baldor clone for sharpening my carbide.

Once I get the grinder squared away, the plan was to use it to rough out the basic shape (i.e. with the exception of bit #2 all the rest needed a lot of material removed) and then switch to the belt sander to refine the edge. I'm wondering if I should invest in a small cutoff grinder for that. Any thoughts?

(I was thinking of something like this)

 

[C-Bag]

Thanks, I'm going to need it.

Once I get the grinder squared away, the plan was to use it to rough out the basic shape (i.e. with the exception of bit #2 all the rest needed a lot of material removed) and then switch to the belt sander to refine the edge. I'm wondering if I should invest in a small cutoff grinder for that. Any thoughts?

(I was thinking of something like this)

View attachment 502504

I have and have used that little cutoff grinder for decades. It works good and for really tough stuff is often the goto. But it has many trade offs. It uses a lot of air and needs at least a 30gal compressor and will still run it out in a hurry. It is scary to use as as the cut progresses it wants to bind and those little cutoff blades are thin so they can shatter. And there is the ton of abrasive dust to deal with. I have no idea what other equipment you have but hopefully you have a good vice. If you don’t have other abrasive saws I would consider this:

 

[Aaron_W]

I have and have used that little cutoff grinder for decades. It works good and for really tough stuff is often the goto. But it has many trade offs. It uses a lot of air and needs at least a 30gal compressor and will still run it out in a hurry. It is scary to use as as the cut progresses it wants to bind and those little cutoff blades are thin so they can shatter. And there is the ton of abrasive dust to deal with. I have no idea what other equipment you have but hopefully you have a good vice. If you don’t have other abrasive saws I would consider this:
View attachment 502513

I have one of these 2" cutoff saws. Works great on plastic, OK on aluminum, with much care will work on brass. Pretty sure steel, would smoke it.

 

[C-Bag]

I have one of these 2" cutoff saws. Works great on plastic, OK on aluminum, with much care will work on brass. Pretty sure steel, would smoke it.

Hmm, good to know. I have a HF saw blade sharpener I bought several years ago that I think would be ok to mod to cutoff lathe bits but I can’t find it on their site anymore. Guess it got deleted.

 

[C-Bag]

When I think back when I had to cut off HSS blanks and a couple of badly damaged end mills I used my 4.5” angle grinder with a cutoff blade. Still scary but more to hang on to to control the blade.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I have and have used that little cutoff grinder for decades. It works good and for really tough stuff is often the goto. But it has many trade offs. It uses a lot of air and needs at least a 30gal compressor and will still run it out in a hurry. It is scary to use as as the cut progresses it wants to bind and those little cutoff blades are thin so they can shatter. And there is the ton of abrasive dust to deal with. I have no idea what other equipment you have but hopefully you have a good vice. If you don’t have other abrasive saws I would consider this:
View attachment 502513

Link?

What is it?