Hello everybody. I welded up a single speed grinder with. 1.5 hp motor. It ran fine except the tracking was to the inside even with the tracking wheel all the way down. I used it anyway because even a jacked up grinder is better than hand sanding the entire way. I thought making it a variable speed with step pullies and pillow blocks would help solve the issue but it has made it worse. As far as I can tell everything is square. Do you have any suggestions or should I sell it for scrap and put the money in for a real grinder?
If you are not an experienced fabricator, or have the right tools buy one, or find someone that is. Your time can be better used learning the knife making end of this. Later with time you will learn to make tools.
Buy best grinder you can to start with. Buy it once and you will never be sorry.
Stanley,
While a variable speed grinder is wonderful and I'll wager you will end up with one eventually, your question about the tracking still needs t be addressed. Could be the motor shaft axis is not parallel to the grinder's.
The fact that the belt still wont center means there needs to be some more work done to the tracking mechanism or motor alignment. When calibrating the adjustment, use a new belt. Also be sure your idler/adjustment wheel has some crown in it. If it is not responsive, wrap a line of tape around the middle. A couple of layers will tell you if you're addressing the issue.
I would bet dollars to doughnuts that you have one or more of the following issues going on....
1. All the wheels are not "lined up"...meaning that the centerline of ALL the wheels on the machine (contact, idler, drive) are not spaced correctly from the machine's frame
2. Something is not "square" with everything else.
The red flag for me was when you said
I welded up a single speed grinder
. Chances are VERY good that when you welded things together, as the welds cooled/shrank, they ALWAYS will pull the parts being welding towards the weld. If you didn't compensate for this before hand, or have the parts securely clamped into some type of jig to keep then "square".
There's a good reason why the commercially available grinders cost what they do....you're paying for not only the pieces and parts, but for the precision of assembly too.
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
Stanley,
I had to build my own grinder due to a lack of funds. When mine wouldn't track, and I was relatively certain that it was "all lined up correctly", I added an adjustment to my idler wheel. I welded the axle of my idler wheel to a short (3") piece of square tubing. Then I went on either side of the axle and drilled holes in the square tubing and put a piece of all thread through the square and the angle iron that comprised the arm of my grinder. When I added a nut on either side of the angle iron, it allowed me to loosen/tighten the nuts to adjust tracking on my belts. It's a little more time consuming than turning a T handle, but I have a grand total of no money in my grinder. Now, it tracks great and is not as good as one of the machined varieties, but is functional. If you'd like some pics of the tracking adjustment, let me know.
I bought my 2x72 new and it came with major tracking issues. It was all put together well, however it likely took a bump in shipping that shifted the swing arm the tracking wheel sits on off square. See if your tracking wheel is square to frame and adjust accordingly. Mine was only off like 5-10 degrees and it was more than enough to make the it unusable.
My tracking wheel is adjustable. My wheel is bolted onto a long bolt onto a piece of square stock that fits around the post. I have a bolt that goes through on the backside so I can adjust the tracking. I got my belts to run on the machine and they are no longer contacting the arm and I only popped one belt! My belts still have tension on only the left side causing them to twist up when off the belt but it works for now. I am saving for a KMG. I'm buying the bare unit and using my motor. I'm working on a simple caping knife for processing my deer right now and I just need more belts. I might start posting pics soon too because my knives are looking half way decent. Heck I might try for JS in 2 years, but probably 3. Thank you everybody for the info.
If you can find a way, travel to a hammer-in. Kevin Cashen and JD Smith taught me how to forge a blade one night at Ashokan while they bs-ed and visited with their friends. It was an offhand thing for the two of them, but it was wonderful for me.
The amount one learns at one of the gatherings is just awesome. You seem ready for this sort of instruction.
Forgive me if you already know this, but someone who reads this may not.
take care,
hp
I got tired of fiddling with my grinder. I popped a couple more belts and I'm wasting money on only using half a belt. I cut the grinder up and it's going to scrap, eccept a nice piece of thin walled 1x1 that I'm saving for canister welding. In other news my KMG arrived a couple days ago and I'm waiting on my base plate. I have fresh belts on the way too. My forge is thawing out and I should be able to heat it and beat it soon. I have a few performs to grind when my plate gets here! I want to find a nice hammer in or something. I'm going to the Badger show up in Janesville. I might get to shake Mr. Cashen's hand, and buy a really cool knife while I'm there. Thank you guys for all the info.
