Building a bench for a Grizzly Belt Grinder?

hathegkla

hathegkla

Joined
Feb 3, 2010
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201
so I picked up a Grizzly 2x72" yesterday (its huge :eek:) and I noticed its going to be a bit high mounted on my regular work bench. before I was using a 30" laid on its back but I'm going to run the Grizzly vertical, or mostly vertical, possibly with a brace between the wall and tracking wheel area for stability.

anyway I need to build a separate bench for the grinder thats a bit lower. its going to be small, just big enough to mount and maybe hold a pan of watar. I'm wondering if anyone else has done this. but I want to know if some 4x4's for legs and a couple of cross braces will be enough. I want it to be stable and not vibrate too much.

something like this?

bench.jpg
 
childzplay said:
I'd like to know this too. I'm trying to figure out where to put my new Grizzly 2x72.
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lol, well I think I'm just gonna go for it so I'll let you know how it goes. I have some 1/4" plywood I salvaged from the dumpster at work, I think I'm going to glue 3 or 4 pieces of it together to make the surface of the table, screw in some 4x4's and maybe reinforce them with some brackets. and use whatever wood I have lying around for the cross braces. I think the heavier the better with this monster. its gonna have to be a little bit more stable than your average bench grinder stand.
 
Don't make the same mistake I made building a stand for my Grizzly. It's 22" deep by 24" wide, with 4x4 legs, 2x4 top-frame & braces, and doubled 3/4" plywood top. With the grinder mounted, it's sturdy enough, but it's very top-heavy.

If I were to build it again, I'd make it twice as wide and deep enough to tip the arm all the way horizontal with the bench against the wall, just for the counterweight effect.


Doc
 
drdoc said:
Don't make the same mistake I made building a stand for my Grizzly. It's 22" deep by 24" wide, with 4x4 legs, 2x4 top-frame & braces, and doubled 3/4" plywood top. With the grinder mounted, it's sturdy enough, but it's very top-heavy.

If I were to build it again, I'd make it twice as wide and deep enough to tip the arm all the way horizontal with the bench against the wall, just for the counterweight effect.


Doc
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will do, I'll go as heavy as I can and definitely go wider than 22x24. I have a decent sized space next to my bench where I store my blacksmithing stuff, but I have plenty of room for that elsewhere. maybe I'll see if I can scrounge some more wood and go with a 2" thick tabletop.

though I was considering attaching the arm to the wall somehow. I can always forge a bar and screw it into the wall if things seem too top heavy. it would just make adjusting the angle of the arm next to impossible.
 
How about forging a bar and bolting the table to the wall? ;^)

That's actually what I'm considering doing.

Doc
 
drdoc said:
How about forging a bar and bolting the table to the wall? ;^)

That's actually what I'm considering doing.

Doc
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yeah I actually thought of that while I was out getting some 4x4's, probably easier than attaching it to the grinder lol. I think I'll build the table and see how it does. if I still think its not stable enough I'll just forge a bracket and attach it to the wall.
 
I made my stand in the style of a hand truck/dolly, so I can move it around easily. I do 90% of my grinding outside. This prevents a lot of dust in my shop. Also its made to grind while sitting down. I'll try to get a pic on here soon.
 
Plywood sheer panels or diagonal braces on the legs will give you a lot more stability than just horizontal bracing.
 
I wouldn't fasten it to the wall, Id keep it off the wall a good few inches, the transfer of vibration will occur and cause more noise than what is necessary. Just build a bench to your height, use some 4x4 legs and diagonal braces, 3/4" plywood is more than substantial as the surface as long as you use a couple runners in the middle of the table for support. If you are worried about it being top heavy, fasten it to the floor. Just speaking from my own experience.
 
I used 2x4's for my legs but i also used 1x6's for the cross braces so there is more surface area and screws to keep everything from moving. Heavier is definately better, go with at least 3/4" thick for your worktable. For a bucket of water I have a $5 bar stool from home depot and stand the bucket on it. It fits perfect under my platen which I have overhanging the front of the bench. You can trim the legs for height but it sure beats building something that can be had for $5. Cause of the way the Grizz is built the only way you will get a bucket under it is if you have the belt hanging off the side of the bench.


The same stool also multitasks as a cutting board, welding table (a little char never hurt nothin), die grinding vise, whatever.
 
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My walls are block , so all benches are lag bolted to the wall , I get no vibration , and no annoying band shake when doing hand finishing.
 
So I went a little overboard with the weight but it works great. I sandwiched a junky tabletop I found in the parking lot at work in between 2 pieces of plywood with a bunch of gorilla glue and screws. The legs are 4x4's and I braced them with boards and L-brackets I salvaged from an old broken book case. It only cost me about $20 in wood, screws, nuts and bolts (with plenty of screws and bolts left over).

There was absolutely no need to bolt it to the wall, this thing is rock solid, doesn't vibrate or move around at all.

It ain't pretty but it does the job. Its still a little high though. It'd be a good height if you were sitting on a shop stool but for standing or sitting in a regular chair its too high. I might saw a few inches more off the feet if this setup doesn't work out.

beltgrinder.jpg
 
It looks real good, great budget too. What dimensions did you end up going with on the top?
 
childzplay said:
It looks real good, great budget too. What dimensions did you end up going with on the top?
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actually that's a good question :confused: probably like 3' x 4' its pretty deep, the arm can be angled all the way back with a little room to spare. it gives me some extra space to store my box of blacksmithing tools underneath. but the space behind it is pretty much wasted...unless I want to get crud all over my stuff.
 
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