Water drip/mist on belt grinder?

J

James Hall

Joined
Sep 18, 2013
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85
I've got a 2x42 with a 1hp motor and modded to use 72" belts. I'm wondering if I could set up some sort of water drip or mist to hit the belt above the platen to help keep things cool during finish grinding.

Would this ruin belts? If so, are there belts that would stand up to this sort of use?

Thanks for the help.
 
Some belts are rated for wet and dry other are dry only. If you can bet this info off some sites, that would help. I'd call the manufacturer or email them and specifically give them your belt numbers and they will tell you.
 
Try some searches on here for "wet grinding." One guy used a gravity fed setup that dripped down a paint brush onto the belt. I think you'd probably need to setup a sheild so it didn't sling grit/metal filled sludge against the wall.

The benifits are definitely there from what I understand. The main one being no dust in the air and then a cooler belt/knife.
 
I'd be trying to keep the blade cool. Gavko has a video of something similar and he loves it.

Rhino-- yes, the motor is TEFC.
 
I just use a plain ol' spray bottle. I get the belt good and wet while its running and then after a few passes I give it 3-4 more "shots". I find that it makes some belts cut better because it allows them to fracture easier.
 
I had considered something like that but wasn't sure how long the water would last on the belt. Thanks for the tip.
 
Interesting, that this has come up today. A student for folding knives but maker of straight knives is delivering to me a drip system he uses on his disc sander. It will be portable however also to my 2 X 72. Frank
 
Last edited:
ONeill said:
I sprayed my belts down and all I got was a face full of water and grit .
Click to expand...

A lot of the water and grit launched at your face comes from the drive wheel at the back. This can be controlled with a mud flap on and behind the tracking wheel. I was rough grinding last week using two streams of water (not just a drip) at 3000 SFM without a lot of problems. It does seem like the coarser grit belts can be run faster without throwing a lot of water.
 
Nathan has all the answers all of the time. My friend Rod, told me to set up that mud flap with just a simple magnet attatchment . Frank
 
Just tried a spray bottle with 80 and 120 grit and it worked great. Unfortunately my higher grit belts are gators so I'll have to get wet/dry polishing belts next time I order. Thanks for the advice guys.
 
For post-ht grinding and finishing there is not other way around, really, water is your friend!!
Be aware though, that you can reduce the mess-spraying factor with flaps & fenders, but you need to take also care of the gunk that likes to build up between the platen and the belt eventually, and could ruin your flats finish...so check every now and then and clean up if/when necessary.
An automatic wetting rig is a plus, but a simple spray bottle with low belt speed is enough; the belt texture retains water for 1-2 passes.
 
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