Grizzly modifications

Ripper

Ripper

Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Messages
1,494
Hi everyone,
I'm not a knife maker, yet. Hope to be one soon. My girlfriend bought me a Gizzly grinder for my birthday last year (I guess to keep me out of trouble) I've been practicing with it, regrinding some knives and the such. I thought you might be interested in some modifications I've made to mine. It's not finished, but I got it up and running tonight and wanted to share (guess I'm kinda proud of it).If anyone is interested, I'll share any info on it when it's finished. I'd also like to thank Rob Frink for his work on the shaft and his friendly emails (Rob, I'll send you some info on it, if you like.I lost your other email address in a computer crash.)Here's how it looks so far:
20018226381468436977776.jpg

20018228040060434106410.jpg
20018227870620279640031.jpg

Motor is a 1.5 hp, I bought at Harbor Freight for around $90. The griz
motor will stand buffing duty.
Regards, Greg
 
Hi Greg

Good Job! You should be proud of the changes you made.

I am in the middle of almost the same project, just ordered the new shaft from Rob.

You are getting by with the motor in a fixed location by using the weight of the motor and the hinges as auto-adjusters for the belt length changes when you switch to a different speed pulley, and the funny-looking drive belt allows you to run the belt at an angle to the shaft without tearing up the belt or causing a huge vibration? Do I have that right?

If you use the smallest pully it runs at the original factory belt speed; the larger pulleys reduce the speed some with each larger size for the variable speed?

What did you do to modify the stand part of the Grizzly? Could you maybe post a couple of close-ups of that part?

I think you just saved me some money and a LOT of extra work. I appreciate the post very much!

Thanks,
Dave
 
Hello Greg!

Thank you for sharing! Your photos are great...and worth a thousand words! I think there are several people that have been anxiously waiting to see your results. It looks great!

How does it run? How did you fabricate the bearing support?

Sincerely,
Rob
 
Outstanding job Greg! I'm looking to upgrade my Griz this year. Between you and Rob I've got some great ideas, thanks. I'll be getting some parts from Rob soon. I'd like to add Rob's tool bar to the design as well. Looking forward to what Rob has in mind as well. Ah, back to AutoCAD.

Greg, what type of speed reduction do you think you have now?

Thanks,
Tom
 
Hey Greg,

Looks like your set to do some major grinding. I like the changes you've made, should make it a lot handier with the motor out of the way and varible speed. Good job :cool:

Bill
 
Great job I for one would appreciate the information about how your project was completed when you finish it.

For now could you tell us what inside diamater the grizzly is and what size pillow block and shaft you had to buy?

I am currently making a grinder and I was interested in buying the grizzly without the motor and I want to know what size the whell and shaft diameter is.

Thanks in advance for the info,

Jim Bunker
 
Hi everyone.
Thanks for the kind words. To answer some questions:

Dave,
you are exactly right about the motor weight and hinges as auto adjusters for belt length changes. The funny looking drive belt is from Harbor Freight, adjustable links and very pliable. You are also correct on the pulley to speed setup. I made the following modifications to the base:
1. There are two holes on each end of the base that do not go all the way thru both sections of the base. I drilled both of these all the way. I put a lag bolt thru one and into the the bearing support ( Rob ,this made up of sections of 2" X 6" that I glued and screwed together. I also fiberglassed the the load bearing surfaces.) The other, I bolted the sections together.
2. I also drilled another hole above these and inline with an exsisting hole and lagged that to the bearing support( again on the bearing support, the cutout where it overlaps the base is leveled by to screws underneath the cutout).
3. To better support the idler arm, I got scientific, and wedged a piece of wood under it by whacking it in to place. Works fine and is adjustable by whacking it some more.Some type of leveling jack would probably work just as well, but then you couldn't whack it. I really think you will need some support here.

I will add a brace up to towards the idler along the lines of what Allen Blade does on his machine and will develop a bench mounted tool support, soon I hope.
Here are some pics as you requested:
20018237272253054341950.jpg

20018237209789993671049.jpg

20018234695967015489642.jpg


Rob, it runs pretty smooth. You can feel a little throb at slow speeds but everything tracks well. The problem is that the cone pulley is not up to speed. If I can't find a better one,would you be up to trueing one for me?

Tom, I'm not sure ( I don't have the equation for it) The drive pulley is 1" the largest on the cone is 3" , motor rpm is listed at 1730. I have 8 and 10 inch contact wheels. Seat of th pants- I like it alot. Very controllabe, I mean much nicer!

Good luck to all on their projects. I'll answer any question I can.
Regards, Greg
 
The wheel that comes with the grizzly is an 8 inch and it has 3/4
inch hole in,the wheel grizzly has is a little on the soft side
you can get the block bearings for about 12.00 a set from
whole sale tools
here is there web address.
https://www.wttool.com/wtool/frames.asp;)
look under fasteners for the block bearings
By the way great job on the grinder now if one of use grizzly users
could find a way to set up a small wheel for them we would be in business any one out there have any ideas?:D
 
Jim,
the shaft is 1" thru the pillow blocks and turned down to 3/4" on both ends.Rob Frink made it for me, the best.Hope this helps.
Regards, Greg
 
Rob, when is a good time to call you?? i am interested in having you beef up my grizzly with VS with pulleys, better platen, small wheel attachment, etc.
 
Here's what I meant about adding a brace similar to Allen Blade ( his mounts to the motor by clamp).

20018233685025081576731.jpg

Regards, Greg
 
Greg
good idea for the brace it keeps the side to side movment on the arm
solid and it makes it track great.
I slowed mine done close to yours,I made different size pullyes
and threaded them so on the side were you put your buff I spin one of my pullys on in back of that I put a lesson 1hp on a swing plate
see Robs Frinks page he has a picture on his home shop part and you will see the plate I made for my coote grinder.I put the plate and motor in back behind the pulley and turn the lesson on I have pullys from 8 inches on down you can really slow them down with those big pullyes,Go get yourself some big singler pullyes and use them to slow you rig down even more.I have a belt like you have from grizzly and you can't wear them out they are tough.
Nathan><>
 
I played around with my griz a little more this evening. Mine came out of the box running smooth and quiet!

I noticed that if I push too hard while grinding on the contact wheel, the belt has a tendency to skate across the wheel. If I grind on the right side...the belt moves to the left, and if I grind on the left ...then the belt moves to the right. I think that adding the brace from the top to the base like Greg has sketched in will help a great deal. Also I think the tension spring is a bit weak and a stiffer spring will make a big difference. After studying Greg's pictures and looking at my griz, I think we can get a big honking 14" wheel on it! :cool: ...and a beveled grinding disk on the other end of the shaft.

I'm thinking that the pillow block bearing support can be made very beefy with some mounting provisions for attachments..(i.e. small wheel..?)

Hey Taz...you've got mail!

oh! dinner is ready...gotta run,

Rob
 
I think some of the skating on the wheel is also do to grizzlies
contact wheel I think they are a little on the soft side
I think you could put a 14 inch wheel on it,take the uprught arm off
and mill the groves that is already there for the stop mill it up
and you should have room to extend the shaft up and make room for the
big wheel.that is my 2 cents worth I may be off but I think that is on the right track.
Nathan
I would still like to see a small wheel on the griz ?
;)
 
I like what you have done to your griz. Just got back from a week in the Three Sisters Wilderness (aaahh, I do love my job). So had to go back and read all the threads I missed.
Here is another idea to consider.
Instead of using the base plate that comes with the grizzly idler arm to attach the arm with the idler pulley to your bench-top, remove it (the piece that looks like an upside-down T) and just bolt the other piece (with the round socket that the idle arm base piece slides onto from the right) right onto the side of your block that the pillow blocks are attached to. All you need to do is drill some holes in the lower flat part of the piece that has the socket welded to it, drill and tap some holes into your base block, and bolt it all together with some socket head cap screws.
This is basically what I did, I just bolted it to the right end bell on the griz motor. This had the effect of stiffening up the arm that has the idler pulley on it because the attachement point of the idler arm was no longer on the bench top but was further up along the length of the idler arm. I have found my griz to be much more stable with this midification, plus you could still use the block of wood, or you may find you don't need it.
Mr. Frink:
How about a sanding disk that threads onto the end with the contact wheel? Either with the contact wheel on (like on some of the Cootes, I believe) or with the contact wheel off. I think the other end of the grinder (the buffing end) would tend to vibrate more due to its longer shaft.
Just a thought.
I sure do love to see these new ideas for improving the Griz.
I just got some digital photos made (thanks to my sister) of some of my modifications, so hope to have those for you all soon.
 
Wapiti,
Your modification makes alot of sense. If I decide to make another base I think I'll use it, thanks.

I have put the support arm on mine. Here are some pics: (thumbnails)

The arm is made out of an aluminum tube from Home Depot. It works well. I also added a spring inside the exsisting spring on the idler assy. Here it is: (you can also see that the arm is attached by hose clamp to the idler arm)

For the time being, I have the Grizzly tool rest mounted on a 2X4 and clamped to the bench itself. It seems to work fine and can be mounted lower to use with the contact wheel. I'll bolt it on when I finalize how I want to attach it. I think angle iron will work better here.

If anyone is interested, my platen is made of 2" wide aluminum strip (from Home Depot and much flatter than their steel stock), this is coverd with graphite tape and attached to a piece of wood with carpet tape. It has been pretty durable and has not warped or anything. Here's the back side of it:
Last pic, my buddy and head of security,Ripper, on the job.
Everyone take care.
Regards,Greg
 
I just take the wheel off and run the belt right on the shaft with a little tape on it. I had to extend the slot in the arm by about an inch and a half. This works really good for slowing the belt down when using fine belts too (I only flat grind anyway) takes about two minutes to take off the wheel, wrap the shaft with tape, and start grinding.
 
An idea on tool rests for the grizzly.
One thing you can do is drill and tap some holes on the side of the left side (when facing the machine) of the angle bracket that you have bolted your aluminum and wood platten to, and then just bolt a slotted piece of steel to it. At the front end of the slotted piece of steel, drill and tap a hole and you can attach the tool rest piece that came with your machine. Now you can slide the tool rest in and out, and angle it as well. If you don't have access to a tap and die set, just drill the holes all the way through and use a nut-lockwasher-bolt combination. I think you will find that this makes the tool rest much more stable and user-friendly. At least I did.
Just another idea.
I have pictures of my tool rest, but alas, am still trying to get in on the WWW.
Wapiti
 
Hi,
Belstain, I had thought about trying that, but decided to go in a different direction. I'm glad to know it works. I remember reading somewhere about a fella who turned the idler assy around backwards and ran the belt off the taped up (or hose covered) shaft of another motor as a type of small wheel grinder. Reading your post reminded me of that, I think I'll try it soon. Thanks

Wapiti, Thanks for another great idea. I would love to see pictures of you machine.

My regards to everyone, Greg
 
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