Building a Belt Grinder.....need a little help

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longgunner97

Joined
May 22, 2010
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I'm getting tired of doing verything on my 1x30 belt sander so I have finaly decided to build a belt grinder.I want it to be direct drive.My knowledge on electric motors and variable speed units is very slim.I know I want to use a 1 to 1 1/2 hp motor.I wanna use a variable speed drive for it.Do I go with a DC or an AC motor? What controller do I need to use?I would like to stick with 115 volt because I dont have a 220 outlet wired up in my shop.Any help with where i could get parts or pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.
 
The "Grinder in a Box" thread in the classifieds forum has a lot of questions and answers that pertain to this. You can use an AC motor, you need a 3-phase if you want variable speed. You will also need a VFD to control the motor.
 
You get the motor you can afford, or find a deal on !!!

DC with a DC controller, or 3 Phase AC with a VFD are the common ways.

I have both types.
 
You may have trouble finding a VFD to run a motor over 1 H.P. on 115 volts. I'd recommend a motor of at least 1.5 H.P., and heck, if you are getting that, upgrading to 2 horse wont cost you much more at all, if anything- especially if you have a good eye for scrap motors or spend a while looking on ebay or something for a deal. What you probably want is a 3 phase motor, a VFD of suitable size to drive the motor (the VFD will also convert your 220V single phase power to 3 phase 220 for the motor) and a 220V power source. Factorymation.com has good prices on VFD's. They even sell a 115V AC VFD for 1 H.P. motors for like $120 if you still decide to go this way. I would look for a TEFC motor (totally enclosed fan cooled) to keep out dust, and if you are building this grinder with a bader/wilton/JL type frame, I'd also look for a "C-face" motor which will bolt directly to the upright plate. Either get a VFD with a NEMA-4 type enclosure to keep out dust, or maybe keep the VFD pretty far away from the grinder and just have a remote speed pot and on/off switch at the grinder.
My .02.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Looks like I'm gonna be wiring in a couple of 220 outlets in the shop.I got another question concerning the motor.I have been looking at different motors online and in the description of alot of them it doesnt say if they are AC or DC.Does the 220 VAC mean its an AC motor? Sorry for the stupid questions.
 
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