2 arm 2x72 grinder build

B

bjansen

Joined
Feb 4, 2013
Messages
229
I finished this chassis this weekend. One more run to the hardware store and I will have the motor mounted and ready to go. The majority of the parts are made from 6061. Here are some pics during final assembly.













 
Looking good - that's 3/4" bar stock bolted together for the 1-1/2" tube? I like how you mounted the bearings/axle. You sure did a nice bit of work with all that jeweling - fancy!!!

How much travel does your tension wheel have? Looks to be plenty.

I like working with aluminum myself - did you source your aluminum local or order? Care to share the source if ordered?

Ken H.
 
that is some fine work right there. it appears to be all stainless hardware too. are you planning a cool-mist set-up? just an fyi, stainless and aluminum seize together pretty easy in threads. i think i saw a bottle of loctite though, that will help. awesome job, it will be an excellent machine in no time. since you have the space betwwen tool slots you might want to mount the small wheel holder on the underside of the arm. you could then drill/tap the tool arm for a separate wheel to allow you to get in tighter areas.
 
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Thanks. Yes it is 3/4" stock holding the tubes together. The 30lb gas spring has about 3.5" of travel, which is just barely enough to get belts on and off without moving the tool arm in and out.

The aluminum was bought from metals online. They usually have 25% coupons floating around.

What used to take me the most time (and the part I dreaded the most) was polishing the end cuts of the aluminum. On this grinder I used a roughing end mill bit and simply used that to finish all the cuts. That was much better than polishing and I think it looks just as good. The jeweling, although it may look time consuming, actually is fairly quick. I jeweled every piece on this thing in about 20 minutes total. It is actually covers up a bunch of nicks etc.

Mike I had not planned on a wet setup on this one, just like a rust free unit and a material that is fairly easy to work with. Thanks for the tip on the anti seize. I had not thought about that, but did use locktite on everything.
 
Mike. I Would not have thought about that little tip on the small wheel holder. I am going to do that. Great idea and I like the thought of an open ended idler wheel for easy on/off belt changes.
 
make sure you drill/tap off center high on the arm and you'll have clearance over the small wheel cross braces with a 2'' idler.
 
bjansen, I have followed your other grinder builds and this one is the best for sure. What I really like about your design is how close the tracking wheel pivot is to the tracking arm pivot...very close. I tried to do much the same thing with my modification of a Polar Bear Forge grinder kit and the result was tracking that is near perfect. Your grinder is beautiful. I would like to see it run if you have a video camera. Nice work all the way around. Larry Lehman
 
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I wish I had something technical to add to this but I really don't. I do however want to express how much I like it and how much envy I have at what you and some of the other guys on here are able to create! Just a thing of beauty to me! Bravo and keep us posted, I want to see this bad boy throwing sparks!
 
BJ, you surely did good with the grinder. Imagine, jeweling the ends - I'm happy if I just hit it with a bit of grinding after sawing.

I have purchased from Metals Online also, in fact, just got a sheet of aluminum from them last week. Have you looked at http://www.industrialmetalsales.com for aluminum? I purchased from them for my last grinder and saved a good bit of money on the order.

Ken H
 
Good look'n machine! :cool: (turn you camera the other way next time :p)

[video=youtube;-ZflSq0A52U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZflSq0A52U&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
Nice setup, I want to try this next month but, will my bench top drill press be enough to get it done?????????

Otherwise I'll go steel and Mig it all together.
 
Yes, your bench top drill press should do the trick - main thing is to have a decent vise to hold the aluminum on edge for drilling 'n tapping. While this grinder use 3/4" aluminum to advantage, 1/2" aluminum will do just fine. I've built two grinders using 1/2" and never a problem. AND - 1/2" is less expensive - 1/2" will run around $100 to $125 shipped for aluminum.... maybe $150 max depending on how the motor is mounted. Do you plan direct drive or pulley 'n belts? My first build was pulley 'n belt, but I MUCH prefer the last grinder with direct mount. The direct mount does require a bit of work for the plate to mount motor.

"IF" going pulley 'n belt, I really like the way Bjansen did the bearing mount - that's slick!

Later
 
Ken H, thanks I may consider 1/2, and I want a direct drive mount. I have gotten some smokin deals from 6061dude on fleabay for other projects Ill have to check him out again. Thanks
 
With direct drive are you planning for VFD and 3 ph motor? The best price I've seen on a new 3 ph motor is the Iron Horse motor I linked to before - $127 shipped for a 2hp 3450 rpm motor. The 1725 RPM is about $40 or so more. Not sure - either will work just fine.

Ken H>
 
Wow another superb grinder! Thanks again for the plans for the last one you built. I have all my material cut and drilled, tapped and counter sunk along with most of the parts from McMaster Carr. I got a motor for free but not sure if it will be a good one and I'm waiting to buy all the wheels I need. Thanks for sharing these builds my friend they are super impressive!
 
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