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- Nov 14, 2016
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I've got a belt grinder on my projects list. One of the things I've noticed is most of the plans recommend a 3 phase motor and VFD to provide speed control. Alternately many suggest a tread mill motor.
I'm wondering how useful speed control really is? Lots of quality grinders round (bench) and belt use a fixed speed. Variable speed grinders actually seem to be more common on lower end grinders making me think it is more of a marketing thing than any kind of necessity.
I can see where having a couple of speeds to cover a wide variety of materials (wood, plastic, aluminum, steel etc) might be desirable on a belt grinder, but swapping pullies or using a multi-range pully seems more economically viable, and not that big of a deal unless you swap between materials frequently. Certainly less of a hassle than doing so on a lathe, where that remains a common practice.
So do you actually use your variable speed? If you don't have variable speed do you often find yourself wishing you did?
I'm wondering how useful speed control really is? Lots of quality grinders round (bench) and belt use a fixed speed. Variable speed grinders actually seem to be more common on lower end grinders making me think it is more of a marketing thing than any kind of necessity.
I can see where having a couple of speeds to cover a wide variety of materials (wood, plastic, aluminum, steel etc) might be desirable on a belt grinder, but swapping pullies or using a multi-range pully seems more economically viable, and not that big of a deal unless you swap between materials frequently. Certainly less of a hassle than doing so on a lathe, where that remains a common practice.
So do you actually use your variable speed? If you don't have variable speed do you often find yourself wishing you did?