Grinder in a box! DIY grinder kit

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I've got mine up and running and wanted to post a few pics of the way it is setup. Where would be the appropriate place to post the build pictures?
 
My kit arrived this afternoon. I felt a little guilty because the tiny lady who delivers our mail said she almost dropped it on her foot loading it into the truck...good thing she missed!
I am enjoying the pics of people's grinders. Mine will be a while in assembly, I am going to sandblast and paint the frame parts, since it will take me a few weeks to come up with the $ for wheels.
Thanks again for putting this together, Jamie.
 
It is not 100% yet. Still waiting for a few indexable 3/8" levers.
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The machine is very smooth and the belt tracking works perfectly. I made the workrest from a Beaumont tool rest with some modifications that you can see.
While running, there is about 1/16" runout on the belt itself. None of the wheels appear to have any runout. USA knifemakers told me that the less expensive contact wheels have no bearing spacer and there would be more runout than if I used the Beaumont wheels that do have a spacer.
Anyone else have a little belt runout? Could just be the one belt I have tried too. Other than that, this thing grinds with no belt wandering or bogging down with the 2hp motor.

Had to add a pic of the last knife I made about 5 years ago. I was practiceing on a file and it looked good, so I finished it using the old grinder (Multi Tool) you see in the pics above
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Nice build. I like the way you did the toolrest. It looks like you painted it just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

I just noticed, did you weld most of the parts?

Eric
 
Bolted it first and checked for alignment and fit, then welded everything. I liked the John Deere green from the JL grinder so green it was!
 
I like the way it turned out! I like that method of work rest as well. I have a feeling we'll see a number ways to skin that cat.

Jamie
 
The grinder looks sweet, I hope it grinds as good as it looks!

Some of the belts I have bought do have some runout, so it is very likely that what you are seeing is just the belt.
 
Wow. This thread kicks a$$. Jeez, this thing costs not much more than the steel in the kit would off the shelf! And it fits in a flat rate! Bravo! I'm getting one when I have the scratch, which thanks to this design and most reasonable pricing, won't be long.
 
That looks great looks like I’ll have to paint mine not sure what color but since I have to take it apart again I’ll paint it before I put it back together. I’m going to wear the bolts out every time someone posts a new picture I see a modification I need to make.
 
Finally got it finished. It runs like a champ and tracks perfectly. Very stable design. I'm using two pretty strong springs for tension. I like a tight belt.

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I'm using a 2hp 1800rpm motor, and it is true that I could use more speed. However, since most of the time this will be running a small wheel, I'm not worried about changing motors right now. I have the motor switched into my VFD which also controls my disc and my KMG.

--nathan
 
Chris, I will eventually do that or order a 3600 rpm motor. Right now I'll use what I've got, but I'm going to build a horizontal grinder at some point, so I can switch the drive wheels/motors at that time. It's a great grinder, and the 4" drive wheel puts me at a good speed for the small wheel.

--nathan
 
silver_pilate said:
Finally got it finished. It runs like a champ and tracks perfectly. Very stable design. I'm using two pretty strong springs for tension. I like a tight belt.

EERF1.jpg


I'm using a 2hp 1800rpm motor, and it is true that I could use more speed. However, since most of the time this will be running a small wheel, I'm not worried about changing motors right now. I have the motor switched into my VFD which also controls my disc and my KMG.

--nathan
Click to expand...

Woah, are you a southpaw too? Did you have to modify any of the kit parts to build it "correctly"? ;)

How slow is it compared to the Grizzly 2x72?
 
Haha...no, I'm not a southpaw, but I built it that way because of a mistake on my part. It's no biggie and actually works out better as for motor position relative to the switch system I have. There's no special mods you have to do to build it that way. I ended up contersinking the holes on the wrong side of the base plate for the upright and didn't want to re-do it, so I just left it as is.

With the 1800 rpm motor, it is MUCH slower than the Grizzly. Keep in mind you basically have an 8" drive wheel with the grizzly on a 1800 rpm motor vs. the 4" drive wheel I have on the EERF. That can be a good thing when you're doing detail work, but a bad thing when you want to hog metal quickly.

--nathan
 
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