Any Advice on Shaping Gussets

keeena .... Apparently, Jeremy Schmidt, at JersWoodshop, designed the sander to be used in either the vertical or horizontal positions, which makes the finished product very versatile. It's funny how certain things grab one's attention, but I really liked the design of his stand base right away. Any idea why the photo (below) has certain parts of the machine obscured/faded? Does this mean that v2.0 dropped those components?

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I think the plans for the shaded out accessories are separate purchases; the pic above are the base machine parts.

If it helps: the first few min of these 2 videos goes over the benefits of his design.

Main machine:

Wheel accessories:
 
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A powerful angle grinder with a good cutoff wheel will make one of your gussets in a few seconds, and a flap wheel will clean it up. I used a 6" Metabo grinder to cut a tractor skid steer quick attach plate in three pieces, and it gave accurate cuts through 1/2" steel in a hurry.

If you want a decent belt grinder, don't fiddle around with underpowered 6x48 jobs made for people who build birdhouses. Consider a 2x72 with at least two horsepower. I bought a grinder body and put a 3-HP motor on it, and it eats metal in a very big hurry.

Today I saw a wonderful video by a very skilled young man who built a gorgeous 2x72 that can be used vertically or horizontally. I am considering building one based on his plans.

Grinder Video
 
a porta band or vertical bandsaw would get these pieces to nearly welding size in no time
 
Chips O'Toole .... It's so funny that you should mention Jeremy Schmidt's 2 x 72 adjustable bench grinder! I've already corresponded with him a couple of times about possibly getting plans to build his design. All I need to do is figure out how to build the design with a variable speed motor instead of fixed speed, and the rest should only depend on my schedule.
 
I was curious about cost to get the parts for Jeremy Schmidt's belt grinder CNC cut. I had to remove a few of the smallest pieces from the quote because they didn't meet SCS's criteria, but most of the parts can be cut. It came to $530 ($460 for the 3/8" parts, $70 for the 1/4" parts). If 10 sets are cut: the total drops to $320 each. This doesn't include shipping of the cut parts.

Considering the cost of the raw material, saved manual effort, and precision of laser-cut parts: it seems like a reasonable price to me (for a qty of 10).

Is there interest in doing something like this? If so: I'd be game to organize. I'd need to see if H-M has guidelines for this sort of thing as well as ask Jeremy if he objects to doing something like this before going forward.
 
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I feel like a hack every time I do this, but I probably shouldn't. When making lots of repeat parts like gussets or plates, I clamp them together with bolts if I can. If not, vise grips or c-clamps work. By aligning the parts and introducing them to your disc/belt sander one facet at a time, you will end up with nice replicates at the end. Don't grind more than a little bit, 1/16th to 1/8th or so is all it's worth, but it gets the job done for weldments and such.
 
keeena said:
If going the combination sander route: you'll want one specifically designed for metal. These run a higher SFPM than the ones designed for wood. I believe Gizzly has a 6x48/12" which comes in both flavors; the metal one is identical but runs 2x as fast. I've never seen one which truly works properly for both metal and wood for this reason (never seen variable speed consumer model).

I have an older combo sander designed for wood like ProjectNut posted. While it does "work" I feel a 2x72" belt grinder is much better suited for the metal work I do. Beefier machines are going to have larger & stronger cast platens - cheap ones are stamped metal and will deflect. But it comes down to money vs need/requirements.

Invest in good sandpaper; the no-name crap on Amazon is just that...crap.

I understand sdelivery's explanation of grinding vs. sanding. My 2c is a good belt grinder can remove stock extremely quickly with coarse grits; I'd prefer a belt grinder for extreme amounts of metal removal.
Click to expand...

What sandpaper do you recommend?

John
 
keeena said:
I was curious about cost to get the parts for Jeremy Schmidt's belt grinder CNC cut. I had to remove a few of the smallest pieces from the quote because they didn't meet SCS's criteria, but most of the parts can be cut. It came to $530 ($460 for the 3/8" parts, $70 for the 1/4" parts). If 10 sets are cut: the total drops to $320 each. This doesn't include shipping of the cut parts.

Considering the cost of the raw material, saved manual effort, and precision of laser-cut parts: it seems like a reasonable price to me (for a qty of 10).

Is there interest in doing something like this? If so: I'd be game to organize. I'd need to see if H-M has guidelines for this sort of thing as well as ask Jeremy if he objects to doing something like this before going forward.
Click to expand...
Keeena .... As I'm still experimenting with various ways to get these gussets shaped -- trying a plasma cutter as I type this -- I haven't gotten that far with Jeremy's design. The fact that it will go from vertical to horizontal without effecting the work table is what's sold me on this tool. Sure, I'm up for whatever seems to make good sense. If we can save by purchasing as a group, I'm all for it.
 
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