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Plans for 2"x72" Knife Grinder/Sander No welding required

I just ordered my plans on Wednesday (on ebay - don't ask me why I chose ebay instead of Tracy's website. I am really looking forward to building this and getting started.

I was wondering. I will be able to get a 1/3 HP motor for free. Will that be beefy enough to get the job done or should I really consider looking for a larger motor.

Also, I've wondered... To make the motor variable speed, could I rig up a household dimmer switch to the motor's power supply or would that throw things out of wack? :confused:

Jason
 
Short answer no. It may slow the motor some in freewheel state. You load it that way and use it your going to fry your motor. Plus the dimmer is probably not going to handle this kind of load either. BAD IDEA.
 
Short answer no. It may slow the motor some in freewheel state. You load it that way and use it your going to fry your motor. Plus the dimmer is probably not going to handle this kind of load either. BAD IDEA.

Good to have that question answered before frying my motor. Would a "Router Speed Control" like the one seen here work?

I'm just not sure how to slow down my motor without spending a hundred dollars to do it.

Thanks for your help.
Jason
 
just get the 3 step pully system. its way cheeper and covers all the speeds i need. also you must have a motor larger than 1hp. i have a 1.5 and thought it was not strong enought but then i tightned the belt and man talk about power. grinding a 1.5" flat grind with 220 grit and it powered right through it. once your belt gets broke in thats when you feal the power.
 
thats a good idea to widen the stance of the pelow blocks. gives more saport
 
JT Love the rotating wheel assembly you made. I have been lurking here for a bit and am getting very close to building this grinder. Do you have the plans available for you rotating wheel assembly? What size contact wheel is that you are using?
Thanks
Swifty
 
I'll second that offer (welding the assembled grinder) to people on this forum that live near the San Diego, CA area & don't have welding equipment. help other people when you can...

jerry
 
I just ordered my plans on Wednesday (on ebay - don't ask me why I chose ebay instead of Tracy's website. I am really looking forward to building this and getting started.

I was wondering. I will be able to get a 1/3 HP motor for free. Will that be beefy enough to get the job done or should I really consider looking for a larger motor.

Also, I've wondered... To make the motor variable speed, could I rig up a household dimmer switch to the motor's power supply or would that throw things out of wack? :confused:

Jason

sorry for the slow reply but i slipped away between the holidays for family vacation. A 1/3hp motor won't be enough. Certainly it will turn the belt but with any pressure on a flat platen setup, you will stop the belt.
Those router slow down gizmo's have been around for years. I remember when I was 12 years old my grandfather taught me how to use a router to make signs on redwood boards to sell. I used one of those back then, we burned out one router and then threw it away. They will burn up your motor. A light dimmer switch won't work either. Hands down, the slickest motor set up is a VFD (frequency drive controller) and freqeuncy 220v 2hp (or 1hp) motor. Lot's of ching - but really, really, nice.

A triple pully set up is a really effective low cost way to get three speeds out of your set up. Changing the speed using a triple pully is as simple as stopping the grinder, manually moving the V belt from one set of pulleys to another set which takes less time than reading this sentence.

Hope that helps...
 
i can change speed in like 3-5 sec.
 
I'll second that offer (welding the assembled grinder) to people on this forum that live near the San Diego, CA area & don't have welding equipment. help other people when you can...

jerry

I'll third that. I can weld up the assembled grinder if you are near south central Minnesota. I'm an hour southwest of Minneapolis-St.Paul. It appears we will have a no weld-welding circut set up here soon....
 
Well got my NWGS built last week. Now just waiting on my VFD setup to get here, just going to use a 2hp standard with 3 step until it arrives. Great job on the design Tracy, thanks!
 

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o glad some one else used my idea for a rotating head
 
Yes, JT thanks it works great. I had to experiment with a few different designs to get it the way I wanted it but it works perfect. Great idea BTW.
I am now in the process of working on a rotary head for it as well.
 
I'll third that. I can weld up the assembled grinder if you are near south central Minnesota. I'm an hour southwest of Minneapolis-St.Paul. It appears we will have a no weld-welding circut set up here soon....

Glad to hear that! I am building 4 of them at the moment!

Just kidding, I will weld my own.

Great set of plans!:thumbup:
 
I ordered my plans yesterday, like everyone here keeps saying awesome customer service so far. I recieved an email back from Tracy within no more than an hour of so. He let me know that the plans would ship on Tuesday because the post office was closed today. Can't wait to get started.

Are the plans for the rotating head that JT built included in the plans now? If not are they available from JT? What are everyones thoughts on a 1hp motor. I'm hoping it will workout well, since it is basically brand new and free. I'm sure I will have lots of questions in the next several weeks.

Thanks
Mike
 
Mike,
You will want a 1 1/2hp motor at a minimum, 2hp would be ideal IMO. You will find that the 1hp just will not have the power that you will need. The rotating head that I built, based on what JT made, was simply a piece 1/4" mild sheet cut and shaped to fit my needs.
 
I would think that by the time you purchase the bearings for the wheels you linked to the savings, IMHO, would not be worth it.
 
Actually I have access to the bearings and the wheels already, they would cost me nothing. I'm just wondering if they would hold up?
 
tcm i see that you cut off the extra steel by the 8" contact wheel. i left the end square so i can mount a table rest that will be adjustable :D
 
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