Recommendation? I'm wheel confused!

[Knife freaky]

Sorry guys this is a REALLY dumb question! I'm planing on building a sling grinder some time in the near future and I'm confused on what type of wheels I need to get. I know I need the main contact wheel ( with the rubber around it.) but it looks like I need about 3 more wheels and I don't know what there called. I know you need different wheels for different places on the grinder. Since there pricey I want to get it right! I probably didn't explain very good so if you need any more info let me know! Thanks!

Daniel.

 

[KnuckleDownKnives]

If you are building a "sling" grinder "single intent grinder" you don't have a main contact wheel. It has a built in platen that is not interchangeable between that and say an 8" or 10" contact wheel. IMHO if you're going through the process of building your own grinder, I'd look into building something more versatile that utilizes tooling arms like the KMG, Wilmont, Pheer, Oregon Blade Maker, Northridge and many others. If all you want is a flat platen the sling would be enough for you, but you are limiting yourself. The steel is the cheap part of building a grinder. Most of your money will be tied up in the motor, possibly VFD and wheels which you need to purchase no matter what style you build.

Oregon Blade Maker sells good sets of wheels at reasonable prices. For a sling you'll need 2 platen wheels, a tracking wheel and a drive wheel. They sell complete sets for around $100.

 

[Knife freaky]

Oh! Ok! Thank you! Never really been around grinders much so I really didn't know what to look at! Haven't been completely sold on the sling so maybe I'll look at some different plans. Really wanted a Northridge but I don't think I can drop 2,000 on a grinder right now!

Daniel.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

If you are building a "sling" grinder "single intent grinder" you don't have a main contact wheel. It has a built in platen that is not interchangeable between that and say an 8" or 10" contact wheel. IMHO if you're going through the process of building your own grinder, I'd look into building something more versatile that utilizes tooling arms like the KMG, Wilmont, Pheer, Oregon Blade Maker, Northridge and many others. If all you want is a flat platen the sling would be enough for you, but you are limiting yourself. The steel is the cheap part of building a grinder. Most of your money will be tied up in the motor, possibly VFD and wheels which you need to purchase no matter what style you build.

Oregon Blade Maker sells good sets of wheels at reasonable prices. For a sling you'll need 2 platen wheels, a tracking wheel and a drive wheel. They sell complete sets for around $100.

There are actually three different types of SlInG grinder. Flat platen, wheel and combo. The wheel sling needs 3 wheels, the other 2 use four.

 

[KnuckleDownKnives]

There are actually three different types of SlInG grinder. Flat platen, wheel and combo. The wheel sling needs 3 wheels, the other 2 use four.

Thanks Kevin. I've only seen the one and haven't done a whole lot of research on them. Don't you have one? I just think they are very limiting, at least as a primary grinder. I found that out very quick only having a flat platen on mine starting out. Now having the small wheel and a larger wheel, lol if you've seen it, I can do so much more with a lot more ease and being able to switch them is doe me a must since I don't have room for more than one right now.

Daniel,
Are you actually building your own or are you planning on purchasing a grinder? What type of tools do you have/have access to? Welder, drill press? What is your budget?

Building your own you can space out your purchases and build quite a good versatile grinder. All the steel in mine, I have less than $200. I started with a flat platen so another $120 for the wheel set. I had a DC treadmill motor to get started but will be upgrading soon to an AC motor and VFD. A good decent AC motor brand new in the you can get less than $200 and a VFD for around the same. Call it $1000 and you're well on your way to something as good or close to as good as a production grinder. Space those out over a few months and it doesn't hurt like forking out 2k. If you're like me I ain't got 2K to drop at one time, and if i saved it, it would prob be spent on something else.

 

[Maelstrom78]

Nice timely information there. I've been poking around with the thought of a dedicated horizontal grinder set up. Mine flips but it would be super nice to have a dedicated one.

 

[Knife freaky]

Thanks Kevin. I've only seen the one and haven't done a whole lot of research on them. Don't you have one? I just think they are very limiting, at least as a primary grinder. I found that out very quick only having a flat platen on mine starting out. Now having the small wheel and a larger wheel, lol if you've seen it, I can do so much more with a lot more ease and being able to switch them is doe me a must since I don't have room for more than one right now.

Daniel,
Are you actually building your own or are you planning on purchasing a grinder? What type of tools do you have/have access to? Welder, drill press? What is your budget?

Building your own you can space out your purchases and build quite a good versatile grinder. All the steel in mine, I have less than $200. I started with a flat platen so another $120 for the wheel set. I had a DC treadmill motor to get started but will be upgrading soon to an AC motor and VFD. A good decent AC motor brand new in the you can get less than $200 and a VFD for around the same. Call it $1000 and you're well on your way to something as good or close to as good as a production grinder. Space those out over a few months and it doesn't hurt like forking out 2k. If you're like me I ain't got 2K to drop at one time, and if i saved it, it would prob be spent on something else.

I had kind of decided to build a grinder because A. I like building stuff. B. It seems a lot more cost effective. The only production grinder I've found that is halfway in my budget is the grizzly 2x72 and that just seems like it runs way to fast. As far as budget and tools I could probably do about $1000 if I spaced it out and tools I have a drill press in my shop at the moment as for everything else I could easily get because we live out on a ranch so we got tools and stuff lying around everywhere! However I was hoping to not have to weld simply because I am not very comfortable with it. I can do it but it's not pretty!

Daniel.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Thanks Kevin. I've only seen the one and haven't done a whole lot of research on them. Don't you have one? I just think they are very limiting, at least as a primary grinder. I found that out very quick only having a flat platen on mine starting out. Now having the small wheel and a larger wheel, lol if you've seen it, I can do so much more with a lot more ease and being able to switch them is doe me a must since I don't have room for more than one right now.

Daniel,
Are you actually building your own or are you planning on purchasing a grinder? What type of tools do you have/have access to? Welder, drill press? What is your budget?

Building your own you can space out your purchases and build quite a good versatile grinder. All the steel in mine, I have less than $200. I started with a flat platen so another $120 for the wheel set. I had a DC treadmill motor to get started but will be upgrading soon to an AC motor and VFD. A good decent AC motor brand new in the you can get less than $200 and a VFD for around the same. Call it $1000 and you're well on your way to something as good or close to as good as a production grinder. Space those out over a few months and it doesn't hurt like forking out 2k. If you're like me I ain't got 2K to drop at one time, and if i saved it, it would prob be spent on something else.

Yes, I have the flat sling. It has served me well, and compared to a grizzly, I think it's nicer and it is cheaper. It has its limitations, and I would like to be able to swap tooling arms. Hence, I'm building another grinder at the moment. I could keep going on the sling and have no real issues, but I have an opportunity
to get my water jetting done free right now, so I'm going ahead with a second machine.