cannibalizing a grizzly grinder?

G

greenfeet

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Mar 2, 2008
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operator error as it may, but im really hating this grizzly. my belts have tracked off several times to the inside and started cutting a pretty deep grove into the frame.

anyone ever given any serious thought to cannibalizing a grizz 2x72 to make a better grinder? i think the motor is worth more than what i paid for it.

im thinking i could use the motor, add some step pulleys to slow it down. then use at least the top wheel. come up with the body and i would have something near a kmg clone?

any thoughts?
 
Seems like even the grizzly ought to have a tracking adjustment. Is it damaged or worn out?
 
The Grizzly does have a tracking adjustment.
Sounds like it may be assembled incorrectly. The 2 I have owned never did anything like that.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
The Grizzly does have a tracking adjustment.
Sounds like it may be assembled incorrectly. The 2 I have owned never did anything like that.
Click to expand...

I'm with Bill. There is indeed a tracking adjustment, but it's not nearly as precise as the higher end grinders out there. I own a Grizzly, but I've never had any problems with grinding into the frame. Maybe some pics of the setup would help evaluate the problem.

To answer you orig. question, I've thought about mods to do to my Grizzly, but haven't really sat down to figure anything out just yet. Soon it will be a secondary grinder so I'm not too worried about it.
 
I picked up a used Griz grinder a few summers back. As I had to dismantle it to ship out to Hawaii, I found out first hand there are a few adjustments related tracking. There's the obvious tracking knob at the top. But what I had to monkey with was the two hex nut settings at the top and middle of the vertical shaft. The middle one is loosened to extend the shaft (higher means more tension and seemed better) as well as rotate the shaft. I believe the top one also loosened the top head assembly on the shaft and permitted rotation as well, but I can't remember for sure. Anyway fiddling with those adjustments and making sure the two wheels' surfaces are lined up with each other helped A LOT!

g1015.jpg


I met a guy at Indian George's (Paul I believe, has lots of skin ink) who did some serious retro work on his Griz.

  1. He separated the entire grinder assembly from the motor shaft.
  2. He set up step pulleys on both motor shafts.
  3. He rigged up two pairs of arbor bearings and created two independent shafts with step pulleys: one for the belt grinder and one for the buffer.
  4. He cut the outside half of the grinder assembly base plate off and welded it back on at a 90° angle downward.
  5. He mounted this at the edge of his table/bench so the belt grinder hangs off past the edge so it doesn't throw grindings on the bench.
  6. He rigged up a shelf off the edge of the bench that holds a deep tray of water to catch the grinding waste and to dip the steel he is grinding into for cooling.
  7. He leaned the grinding assembly back at an angle and triangulated a brace off the back of it to the bench for support and rigidity. This allows him access to the contact wheel and the platen without having to readjust for either. (Seems like it might be tricky getting comfortable grinding on a platen that isn't straight up and down.)
He can step his speed off of either shaft of the motor and drive either the belt grinder or the buffer independently. Indeed, that is a requirement. He emphasized the importance of this and said, "Don't try to run both at once!"
 
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Im in agreement with the others.However,if you don't like the grizzly you could buy one of the Grinder In A Box kits and use the motor,wheels,etc off the grizzly to build a higher end grinder.
 
yes the grizz does have the adjustment. although mine is VERY strange. if i have it set just right to start, once i start grinding, or change belts (from like 40 to 200) it sometimes is completely out of whack and throws it off or into the base, depending on how i had the adjustment set prior. as the grinder is so fast, it happens just as fast and has ruined a few belts in a split second. while it is working right. the belt rides half way off the top roller away from the grinder and it is right on with the lower. i think that top head sags too much its old, maybe needs to be worked on. someone did tell me that i can use tape or something around the top roller to improve tracking.

i think i will use the motor with the addition of some step down pulleys and reconfigure the rest. but i have to do this as cheap as possible.

thanks all.
 
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That does sound like the upper wheel does not have enough crown, for that thing to be so twitchy. If it did have enough crown the belt might track off to the side but it would happen a little more slowly. The tape in the middle of the upper wheel will probably help significantly.

~Alden
 
tape should work, but it sounds like you might need to adjust the vertical shaft up so that the belt is held in place.
 
ATX said:
tape should work, but it sounds like you might need to adjust the vertical shaft up so that the belt is held in place.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I think the grizzly has enough of a crown to hold things together. At least mine does. I definitely needed to do some vertical shaft adjustment, and it won't be the same for every belt. I've found that when ordering different kinds of belts, especially some of the more economical ones from Supergrit, there can be a variance in length. Not so much the case with Norton or Klingspor, but it's something to keep in mind.
 
Some things I have done to the Grizzly: I added another spring for more tension which helped considerably, worked on the alignment of the upper wheel and added some tape to the upper wheel. I use the Grizzly a lot for leather and 3M fiber belts but a word of warning: don't leave the belts on the machine when not in use, they keep getting longer and longer. A friend is looking at adding a third adjustable wheel on his Griz to help with belt whip and tracking. This sounds like a great way to solve a lot of problems.
I have a Burr King that works like a charm but I still have to adjust the tracking when I change belts. I just assume that the belts are not completely true and it is not a fault of my Burr King or my Grizzly.
The Griz is a great machine for the money and well worth the little effort it takes to get it working well.
 
I leave belts on my Grizzly all the time. I have never had one stretch.
 
It all about Belts, Belts, and Belts. Better belts track better. Make sure you have enough tension. Mine is set just so I can just change a belt. I had a belt I used before I moved in march but I went to slip it on the grinder last week it had gained at least 2''. It was not on the grinder. I still use mine as it came out of the box two years ago, except I did add the 10" wheel.
 
Aloha Phil,
Do you have any pictures of the modified Grizzly by chance. Sounds interesting. I picked up a heavy duty DC motor, variable control. I would like to build a grinder with the grizzly parts and use the grizzly motor for woodworking. Thanks
 
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