Two Big Belt Grinders or One Big and One Small?

[Chips O'Toole]

I am nearly finished with my new grinder cart. It will hold a 2x72 Oregon Blade Maker and a 1x42 Rockwell with a treadmill motor.

I'm wondering if it's worth it to keep the Rockwell. I have a 2HP TEFC motor sitting around, along with a VFD. I could make another grinder very cheaply, since I already have the expensive parts. I would have to build an enclosure for the VFD, but that's not hard.

My OBM grinder is fine. The only thing it lacks is rotation. Modifying it so it would turn sideways would be a real job unless I bought a new face-mount motor, which would cost a lot. I was thinking I could build a second grinder which is fixed in the horizontal position and put it beside the first grinder. Then I could get rid of the Rockwell.

My question is this: if you have a vertical grinder and a horizontal grinder, are you really missing anything by not having rotation? Will I ever wish I could turn a grinder to, say, 45 degrees?

 

[Chips O'Toole]

Okay, so this topic was not a hit.

I have been reading up on horizontal grinders, and it looks like it would be nice to have one. I think one would take up a lot of area on top of my grinder cart, though, and the Rockwell is a nice thing to have. I may build a horizontal grinder and a separate wheeled base. It looks like a simple project in spite of the size.

 

[DavidR8]

If you have the space, why not have two

 

[Provincial]

I have a three 1x42 grinders, a Rockwell, a Jet, and a Dayton. I like them because they are easy to change belts (I keep the guards off, since I work alone in my shop), and the belts are relatively inexpensive. The most I have paid for one of these is $20.00, so I'm not complaining about belt life or lack of power. The easy belt change and lower cost of belts allows me to keep a variety of grits and even some Scotch-Brite belts around.

I have a 3x72 belt grinder with a face-mount 3/4 HP 3450 rpm motor that I haven't put into service. It has bronze bushings in the idler pulley, so it shouldn't be run hard or fast. I got it at an estate sale for $10.00 because it was mounted on a wooden post in a barn and looked terrible, but it was just dirt and surface rust on the steel parts. The main parts are aluminum castings, and the drive pulley has the initials of the local high school. It turns out that it was a shop project from the 1950's. I understand that they bought kits from a vendor which had the main castings and these were machined by the students.

Anyway, if you have the space, keep the Rockwell and it will be useful for oddball belts for polishing/finishing and the like. The big grinders will remove the metal, and the small one can do the fine work.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

A guy named Jer Schmidt created a grinder that does horizontal and vertical, and he sells plans. He can be found on Youtube. He does all kinds of brilliant work. Sometimes he solves problems that don't really exist, but still.

 

[GeneT45]

A guy named Jer Schmidt created a grinder that does horizontal and vertical, and he sells plans. He can be found on Youtube. He does all kinds of brilliant work. Sometimes he solves problems that don't really exist, but still.

I bought the plans for that grinder. It's a nice unit, but expensive to build as drawn (welding tube out of 3/8" bar stock is a bit overkill...). Still, I'd build it if steel prices came down.

I have two belt grinders, both vertical, one I use grinding against the front wheel and occasionally against it's platen, the other I grind against space allowing the belt to conform a bit to round surfaces. I also use a standard bench grinder, particularly for HSS tools (at least the finishing grind) - the rigid wheel ensures that I don't accidentally round an edge.

GsT

 

[Chips O'Toole]

I think a lot of people overbuild grinders. They use heavy steel as if they were building cranes, but you could make a fantastic 2x72 from plywood and two-by lumber. If I used his plans, I'm sure I would cut back on the excess steel.

My grinder has 1-1/2" square aluminum bar for tool arms. A needless expense. It would work just as well with tube steel or, probably, pine.

 

[tailstock4]

I am nearly finished with my new grinder cart. It will hold a 2x72 Oregon Blade Maker and a 1x42 Rockwell with a treadmill motor.

I'm wondering if it's worth it to keep the Rockwell. I have a 2HP TEFC motor sitting around, along with a VFD. I could make another grinder very cheaply, since I already have the expensive parts. I would have to build an enclosure for the VFD, but that's not hard.

My OBM grinder is fine. The only thing it lacks is rotation. Modifying it so it would turn sideways would be a real job unless I bought a new face-mount motor, which would cost a lot. I was thinking I could build a second grinder which is fixed in the horizontal position and put it beside the first grinder. Then I could get rid of the Rockwell.

My question is this: if you have a vertical grinder and a horizontal grinder, are you really missing anything by not having rotation? Will I ever wish I could turn a grinder to, say, 45 degrees?

I have three grinders. The fine grinder is 5 hp, and I keep a 40 grit cubitron II belt on it for heavy stock removal. Another is an Ellis grinder, and I mostly keep a Scotch Brite belt on it. The third is one I built from scratch. It turns horizontal or vertical, and it also swivels up and down. The vertical position is real handy for coping pipe or reaching into hard to get areas.

I made it out of scrap parts I had. The motor is an old 1.5 hp swimming pool pump motor that I machined a shaft extension for. I made the drive pulley and the contact pulley. The contact pulley has a piece of hard rubber hose shrunk over it to provide the cushion. The idler pulley swivels out of the way to provide a narrower reach.

One other thing, the Ellis grinder and the one I made both use the same belt - a 2 1/2 x 60.