any out there ever use a 2x72 belt sander- my delta 1x30 died. in a very
early post tyler said he would like to have a new belt sander a kalamazoo
2x72. the belt sander is my tool of choice and i m looking to get a new one
i have tried disc sanding, shaping w/foredom etc, but i just can t get the hang of it. and tyler what are your thoughts on a 2x72 belt sander. thanks for any input you guys can give me. in looking at a 1x42 delta i remembered in the back of my mind(what little there is left) about this eariler post(neccessary tools for shaping)
jim
2x72 belt sanders
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Tyler
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- Location: Farmersville, TX
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Well, I don't have a long belt sander like that, but I do still want one. I have the "Great Danes" video from Uptowns, and watching the "Bang Boys" using it made it look like a tool I wanted. Todd Johnson said he has a really long one, but that he uses the disc mostly. Perhaps he will chime in with more details, but I don't think the belt is great for bulk removal of wood. It is more a fine-tune tool.
If you get something, let us know how it works out.
Tyler
If you get something, let us know how it works out.
Tyler
Tyler Lane Pipes
http://www.tylerlanepipes.com
http://www.tylerlanepipes.com
I use a 2 x 72 sander for final shaping and a large portion of finish sanding. I wouldn't be without it. I built my own. There is no backing plate on the belt so I can use my hands to form the belt to shape. I've designed it to run fairly slow, about 30 inches per second. I don't know how this compares to the commercial sanders. One of the local tool stores sells them for knife makers but they are about $900 CDN, way to expensive for me. I highly recommend the 2 x 72.
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Tyler
- Site Supporter
- Posts: 2376
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:00 pm
- Location: Farmersville, TX
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Care to show us how to make one?
It has got to be a good way to go.
It has got to be a good way to go.
Tyler Lane Pipes
http://www.tylerlanepipes.com
http://www.tylerlanepipes.com
Well, it's nothng fancy as you can see by the photos. I built this as a proof of concept and I didn't want to spend much money until I knew if it would work well. Now, if I were starting over I'd be willing to spend much more. I had the motor and much of the material already. I only needed to buy the bearing blocks. My total outlay for this was about $50.
If you're thinking of building one don't do it this way! It should have a third roller midway up at the back to form a triangular shape. This will allow more room behind the belt. I found out the hard way that the edge of the belt going up will cut just as well as the front side. I plan to modify it by adding a third roller. I will leave the tension adjustment ( a screen door type spring) at the top. If I were starting from scratch, I would fix the top and bottom axles and put the tension adjustment on the middle roller. The entire thing could be a bit stiffer also. It doesn't track true on the rollers but this doesn't hurt it's usefullness. In fact, the belt is a little easier to shape because it hangs off the edge about half its width.
The rollers I turned from a piece of 4 x 4 oak and contact cemented some strips of old inner tube onto. I said it was cheap! I may break down and get some nicer rollers - maybe. Some of the rollers that are used for boat trailers would work nicely but of course, they cost money.
It runs at a slow speed. The belt takes about 2 1/2 seconds to make a revolution. At this speed it does not burn the wood and it gives me time to make adjustments to the shape without cutting too fast. I use 150 to 320 grit belts but mostly the 220 and 320. I have a worn 320 belt that I use last and there is not a lot of hand sanding required afterward.
I use my hand behind the belt to form a shape or to put pressure exactly where I want it. I have some foam rubber sanding pads of various thicknesses that I use when I want a straight or flat surface.
The artfully placed plywood stick is to keep my fingers from going around the roller.
There is a picture of a much better design on Peter Matzhold's website. Check out his workshop pics. I don't have a welder though so I had to work with wood.
I hope this is of some help. A sander like this saves a great deal of time and simplifies the whole process. It is super for fine shaping curves. I also do most of my stem shaping with this sander.
If you have any questions feel free to fire away.
Dave
If you're thinking of building one don't do it this way! It should have a third roller midway up at the back to form a triangular shape. This will allow more room behind the belt. I found out the hard way that the edge of the belt going up will cut just as well as the front side. I plan to modify it by adding a third roller. I will leave the tension adjustment ( a screen door type spring) at the top. If I were starting from scratch, I would fix the top and bottom axles and put the tension adjustment on the middle roller. The entire thing could be a bit stiffer also. It doesn't track true on the rollers but this doesn't hurt it's usefullness. In fact, the belt is a little easier to shape because it hangs off the edge about half its width.
The rollers I turned from a piece of 4 x 4 oak and contact cemented some strips of old inner tube onto. I said it was cheap! I may break down and get some nicer rollers - maybe. Some of the rollers that are used for boat trailers would work nicely but of course, they cost money.
It runs at a slow speed. The belt takes about 2 1/2 seconds to make a revolution. At this speed it does not burn the wood and it gives me time to make adjustments to the shape without cutting too fast. I use 150 to 320 grit belts but mostly the 220 and 320. I have a worn 320 belt that I use last and there is not a lot of hand sanding required afterward.
I use my hand behind the belt to form a shape or to put pressure exactly where I want it. I have some foam rubber sanding pads of various thicknesses that I use when I want a straight or flat surface.
The artfully placed plywood stick is to keep my fingers from going around the roller.
There is a picture of a much better design on Peter Matzhold's website. Check out his workshop pics. I don't have a welder though so I had to work with wood.
I hope this is of some help. A sander like this saves a great deal of time and simplifies the whole process. It is super for fine shaping curves. I also do most of my stem shaping with this sander.
If you have any questions feel free to fire away.
Dave
hiway
this is beautiful- mabe you can break it down - i will play w/ your design
but i m not too handy- one question i have is the break down on the speed. what size pullys did you use and the speed of the motor. where i came up w/ this post is that i have one half of the grizzley 2x72 knife shaper/buffer. i was going to ask them to sell me the rest. only thing is one speed on the grizzly. mabe you can give a parts list- like tyler did for the tool on rustcating the pipe. thanks for sharing your knowlege on making your own.
thanks very much
jim
this is beautiful- mabe you can break it down - i will play w/ your design
but i m not too handy- one question i have is the break down on the speed. what size pullys did you use and the speed of the motor. where i came up w/ this post is that i have one half of the grizzley 2x72 knife shaper/buffer. i was going to ask them to sell me the rest. only thing is one speed on the grizzly. mabe you can give a parts list- like tyler did for the tool on rustcating the pipe. thanks for sharing your knowlege on making your own.
thanks very much
jim
Jim,
I was afraid someone would want to get technical.
The two limiting factors will be the diameter of the drive roller on the Grizzly and the motor speed. If you are buying a motor get a 1725 RPM or slower if you can. The roller size you can't change. Smaller is better. Once you have a motor then you can adjust the belt speed by the two pulleys. I started with an arbitrary speed of one turn of the sanding belt per second (72" per sec.) As you'll see below, it came out a bit slower than that.
I just measured mine and here are the figures and calculations:
Motor speed - 1725 RPM
Roller Diameter - 2.75"
Motor pulley - 1.5"
Drive pulley - 6"
The drive roller turns at 1725 x (1.5/6) = 431 RPM
The drive roller circumfrence is 2.75 x 3.1429 = 8.64"
Therefore, each revolution of the drive roller advances the sanding belt by 8.64".
At 431 RPM the sanding belt speed is 431 x 8.64 = 3724" per minute or 3724/60 = 62" per sec.
If anyone is keeping track this is one revolution of the sanding belt in slightly over 1 sec not 2.5 sec as I mentioned in my previous post. So I can't count and my memory is flakey. Nothing new there!
As I mentioned, the speed is quite arbitrary although I estimate that the best speed is between 60 and 90 inches per sec.
I hope this helps. I also hope I haven't gone overhoard!
Dave
I was afraid someone would want to get technical.
The two limiting factors will be the diameter of the drive roller on the Grizzly and the motor speed. If you are buying a motor get a 1725 RPM or slower if you can. The roller size you can't change. Smaller is better. Once you have a motor then you can adjust the belt speed by the two pulleys. I started with an arbitrary speed of one turn of the sanding belt per second (72" per sec.) As you'll see below, it came out a bit slower than that.
I just measured mine and here are the figures and calculations:
Motor speed - 1725 RPM
Roller Diameter - 2.75"
Motor pulley - 1.5"
Drive pulley - 6"
The drive roller turns at 1725 x (1.5/6) = 431 RPM
The drive roller circumfrence is 2.75 x 3.1429 = 8.64"
Therefore, each revolution of the drive roller advances the sanding belt by 8.64".
At 431 RPM the sanding belt speed is 431 x 8.64 = 3724" per minute or 3724/60 = 62" per sec.
If anyone is keeping track this is one revolution of the sanding belt in slightly over 1 sec not 2.5 sec as I mentioned in my previous post. So I can't count and my memory is flakey. Nothing new there!
As I mentioned, the speed is quite arbitrary although I estimate that the best speed is between 60 and 90 inches per sec.
I hope this helps. I also hope I haven't gone overhoard!
Dave
Very cool. My father in law has a belt/disk sander that hasn't seen use in what looks like years. I might see if he wants to part with it. If not, it looks like off to the hardware store to buy parts for this fella. Well, maybe not right away, but sometime in the near furture. Thanks for sharing all this.