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Winner Info And Pics On My Semi-custom Made 2x72" Belt Sander

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markrf555

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Had a few people interested in my 2x72 belt sander that I made. I call it semi-custom as used some parts off eBay to save time as didn't have many specialized tools at the time to cut thick steel or aluminum accurately.

Figured can best explain it through pics (this is my first post so bare with me)
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Here are side views of the Sander. The black square tube holds a long 1.5" square solid aluminum shaft (20" long) that can slide in/out and is locked by the two metal knobs with 1/4-20 bolts which are tapped in and set against the alum shaft (this will become more clear in sec).

Here is pic of the black metal square assembly that holds the alum shaft. its made of four 1/2" thick x 2"wide cold rolled metal plates welded into a square. But anything that holds the aluminum shaft will work, has to be piston fit. Wobble bad on these sanders.
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I'm not a professional welder...but get the job done!

The flat arm thing on top is hinged on the back (pic below), again used the 1/2" x 2" plate. This needs to be sprung (see spring in front on other pics) as you drop this and extend the alum shaft to tension the belt, hence the two lock bolts. Dimensions and shapes aren't critical but needs to work with the overall 2x72" belt.

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Now the trickiest part of building a sander like this is the Belt tracking wheel which sits on top of the little arm thingy. Posted a few pics of it here, but basically I used two pieces of square tube that can telescope into each other. Made a bolt hinge with the larger of two sq pieces on top with 45 deg angle cut in it, so it can articulate with the bottom piece which has a bolt going through (perpendicular to the bolt hinge) that pushes out to adjust the tracking wheel on other side at point of the 45 deg cut.

*Kinda hard to explain in words, all this would be nicely explained in a 5 second vid but I can't seem to fig out how to upload vids from my iPhone.

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The adjusting bolt looks funny cuz its basically a metal star cut out with a 1/4-20 bolted on and a wing nut that I tighten down cuz it would vibrate losing my belt tracking.

Again the dimensions of all this aren't critical but need to work with the belt size. also this little post that the tracking system rides on needs to be perpendicular to the whole drive of belt cuz you can't track it much off that and it gets crazy.

Now the platen and business end of the sander is something I bought (as I did the aluminum solid shaft and wheels) from a guy on eBay (Oregonblademaker). he has good prices and kits. This can be turned cw or ccw by loosening the R smaller bolt and turning to do angles and such as the tool post is fixed to alum shaft but can slide in or out to belt but keep it super close to belt cuz you don't want something getting stuck in there, like a finger!
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*Two wheels are 10.5" apart on this platen wheel assembly*

There are two diff types of wheels. I saved money and got the composite ones opposed to the alum ones and they work great. I beat this sander up.
eBay has wheels kits. You will need a 4 wheels ($69 on eBay): two on the platen, a tracking wheel which is domed and a drive wheel which attaches to electric motor shaft with key (I use a 1750 rpm 1hp and have yet to bog it down, 1/2hp prob sufficient) Try to run no faster than 1750 rpm to avoid overheating and burning especially tool steel for knife making which is what I made this for but use it for so much stuff!

Lot of vids on YouTube about these which is where I got alot of my ideas. The wheels can even be skateboard wheels if you wanna do it on the cheap, and again all the stuff can be made as long as it does the basic function of tensioning, tracking and driving the belt.

The platen assembly (pic immediate above) can be removed and a larger or smaller wheel can be used to concave grind. Many options...

Hope this post helps. Any questions please hit me up or post. I don't have many dimensions with me while doing this post at work. Can post exact dimensions tomorrow.

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Thanks for sharing, Mark. I need to make me one of these ...
 
Impressive ! I was considering doing a home built sander until I ran across a 132" Stephan A Bader sander. 5 Hp 3 phase. Static converter and sander cost about $250. Lots of satisfaction in making it yourself though. Keep up the great work.
Dave
 
Impressive ! I was considering doing a home built sander until I ran across a 132" Stephan A Bader sander. 5 Hp 3 phase. Static converter and sander cost about $250. Lots of satisfaction in making it yourself though. Keep up the great work.
Dave

Dang hard to pass up a sweeeeeeeet deal like that!!

It was a fun process and wanted to get back into metal working. Been focusing on woodworking past yrs.

If you do it smart and on the cheap, could prob put together something under $200. I think I got about $250-300 in mine. I bet that 132" can sand some stuff!!!
 
Very aggressive. Work doesn't seem to heat so quickly with the long belt. Been in shop-move mode. An haven't used it much since wiring it for the converter
 
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