Belt Sander Size Recommendation for Home Shop?

woodchucker said:
air bearing... quite expensive .. how does the grit affect it, or is the grit too coarse to get into that fine cushion of air?
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Not an air bearing like you are thinking, it is just a solid steel nose with several air holes drilled on the face of it which are connected to a compressed air source, this provides a cushion of air on the backside of the belt, the belt floats on the air cushion.
 
I built my 2" belt grinder to take both 48" and 72" belts. Only takes a few seconds to swap belts. It's powered by a treadmill motor, so it's easy to slow down to keep thin edges cool.
 
2"x72" using a 2 HP 3 phase motor with VFD is probably the right one for heavy duty metal work. I might build one in the future when I am done with my current projects.

For immediate use I bought this belt sander on Amazon for about $200- few months ago, out of stock right now. Definitely worth the price, small size and capable and you can get variety of very good belts for very reasonable price on Amazon or eBay. Look at the reviews.

The manufacturer still have few in stock:
Bucktool BG2600 Bench Grinder Combo 2" x 42" Belt Sander 6" Bench Grinder

Ariel
 
I have a 2x48 Kalamazoo. Baldor motor.
It doesn’t take up much bench space
 
I have the 6 x 48 + 9" disk. Doesn't take up much space at all. I use it all the time. If
you pick one up at Harbor Freight or a used one - go for it.

I got mine from ENCO shortly before they sold out to MSC. It was a total wreck from
shipping damage. Red parts are shop made. They won't break again!

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Thanks guys. I have an old gym that I'm salvaging the 2" and 1.5" square tubing from. That should save a bundle right there. Looking for a used treadmill in the area now for the motor and speed control. :eagerness:
 
2x72 all the way

Check out ‘House Made’ on YouTube. A few of us here have made them. Cost is $600-$1000+ depending on motor choice.

I love mine. You’ll find plenty of uses. Lathe bits, knives(not as hard as you think to make a functional fixed blade), deburring, etc.


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I got an early inheritance of a Square Wheel 2 X 72 belt sander a couple years back from my father. He used to be a knife smith. I remember using it as a kid to make knives in the 70s. They are very hard to beat for stability in tracking and raw power to remove steel like butter. They are also the Tibetan test of manhood for a single person to lift and move to a new table. They were very solid. I can think of no other belt sander I could endorse to such a high level. It will likely outlast a couple generations of your progeny with maintenance.
 
@Watchwatch Do you mean House/Work? If so, he's got some good stuff and I've seen the grinder. I may go with that one but I'm checking out all the builds I can first. Most are pretty much the same, if you're welding it together. I just got a line on a good treadmill so waiting for a friend to send the model info so I can check out the motor specs, etc...

@addertooth I was going to repurpose an old Heavy 10 motor housing as the base for my grinder but that may be overkill. Maybe adding wheels would be good. Like most metal machinery mass should be a good thing. Less vibrations, etc. We shall see. :)
 
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