I really like that!I had a o at making my own 2 x 72 belt grinder. Works very well and fit well into my budget! I just couldn't justify the cost of the commercial units out there. I like the variety and cost of belts available.
I'm still making various tooling and accessories to go along with it
Actually, this is my second one. The first one I made was very crude an didn't have the ease of tracking and hydraulic cylinder for easy belt changes. I'm very happy with this design. I haven't come across anything I'd do differentlyI really like that!
Might have to "borrow" that design.
If you were to make a second one.... what would you change?
I agree. When I do use my sander for knife scales I have to be very careful not to burn the wood. Key seems to be good sharp belts and keeping them clean.The belt grinder performance video is interesting but there are a couple of apples & orange issues in there that could lead you to the wrong conclusion. You can't compare a wood sander to a metal sander regardless of belt width because the intended use materials dictate different SFPM values. Excessive speeds even with very coarse grit can cut inefficiently even to the point of burning wood whereas most ferrous alloys can tolerate & benefit by higher speeds. Its like comparing wood & metal band saws, except now the opposite applies - wood favors higher speeds because the tooth can make an efficient chip & remove it whereas metal has higher much strength & therefore limits to reduced SFPM for best efficiency.
Comparing HP alone is dangerous because its a function of rpm & torque. If you put a 1 HP 30Krpm spindle motor on, it would spin like crazy... until you touched the belt, then it would stall & fall off the efficiency curve. If you put a 1 HP 2Krpm motor on, it would never stall because it has so much torque, but you would never remove much material no matter how hard you pressed it in because SFPM is too slow.
I only use it for squaring surfaces. I did know of an artist that used your pickling vinegar trick but used a heated tank with a hose to a spray gun for large sheet products.https://www.kmstools.com/king-industrial-3-x-79-metal-belt-sander-141967
Peter do you use your Ellis to rip off the mill scale or flatten large surfaces? Would a knife maker style 2x72 be as effective for cleaning up scale?
Very interesting and informative videos! I’m quite interested in the mill scale removal question. Some guy has a demo of using muriatic acid - that’s strong stuff very fast. However somebody in the comments said vinegar works but is slower... well I have pickling vinegar 7%. I threw in some scrap and nuked it for 3 minutes. Two hours later look what happened.
It’s coming off all right with some wiping. I nuked it again as hot chemicals generally work better and I’ll leave it for a few more hours.
That was a great vid. Super informative. Too bad those brushes can be over 300 dollars.so if you *like* mechanical means, this video (a bit salesy) gives 2 alternatives of the 4: