DIY Grinder design

[tommywoh]

Haha my tensioning mechanism is just a over center cam design. ARcustomknives did an explanation video over it on his YouTube channel (his grinder looks freaking amazing btw) I know john grimsmo also built his grinder in the same way. Anyways my design is much easier to make without lots of machining to do. Anyways at first it was supposed to be a gas spring that will keep the belt under tension but from a design flaw and there are no gas spring with an extended length of 5 inches so I had to use a piece of 1/4 in bar to be the tensioner in this case. I think it will work out well since it will gives the belt way more tension than it needs because it doesn't compress and it theoretically lasts forever


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[mike-E]

ahhh, i see, i see. mick stryder used a similar, no spring mechanism on a horizontal grinder. i used the over center cam with a gas spring when i made mine. i thought about using a piece of flat fiberglass like a bow limb, but concluded that the gas spring would be easier to replace.

 

[Drew Riley]

Haha my tensioning mechanism is just a over center cam design. ARcustomknives did an explanation video over it on his YouTube channel (his grinder looks freaking amazing btw) I know john grimsmo also built his grinder in the same way. Anyways my design is much easier to make without lots of machining to do. Anyways at first it was supposed to be a gas spring that will keep the belt under tension but from a design flaw and there are no gas spring with an extended length of 5 inches so I had to use a piece of 1/4 in bar to be the tensioner in this case. I think it will work out well since it will gives the belt way more tension than it needs because it doesn't compress and it theoretically lasts forever


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I've got first hand experience with ARCustomKnives' machine... That over-center cam is really nice.

I did debate on using just a fixed rod or what not for the OCC tension, but ended up opting for the spring just for a little more consistency and potential adjustment. I also debated making my own "spring rod" with a a regular compression spring, as that would potentially last longer as well, with no seals to fail or cylinders to leak, but the 100lb gas strut I'm using now is still doing fine, and they're relatively in expensive, so I just haven't even bothered to try something else.