Issue with grinder and drive wheel (Shaft/Wheel too short)

D

Don Nguyen

Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
1,043
I'm about ready to finish my GIB, and my Sunray-Inc wheels come in. I get a drive wheel with 7/8" bore because my motor shaft is that diameter.

However, due to the way the motor is mounted and how the wheels are placed, I can't get the drive wheel to line up with all of the other wheels because the motor shaft isn't long enough (or my drive wheel).

Any solutions, or did I mess up with planning this thing out? Is it a really big issue if the drive wheel is out of line by 1/2"?
 
This Might be 1 option.
A drive wheel shaft, Pillow blocks and a coupling.
I have been running this for 12 years with no problems.


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David has a good recommendation. I believe that is a love joy coupling.

Now if your drive wheel is out of by alignment by 1/2", you will have tracking issues. You could make another drive wheel that is 1/2" wider and then you would use the outer portion only. If you do that, do not crown that wheel since the belt will not be centered.

How are you off by 1/2"? Does that motor have a freakishly short shaft?
 
Another option is to make your setup non direct drive like a kmg setup. Then the drive shaft can be any length you want.
 
Here are some pictures with my issue. I think what I might do is switch out the tooling arm places, though I will have to paint some parts again and cut the arms slightly. Still would be less to do that than the pillow blocks, I think? Certainly less money and waiting than to get a new drive wheel...

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This is the length from the main upright to the contact wheel.
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Same length here.
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One of the issues I'm having is that there is some slop to the fit. When the wheel is farther on the shaft it's snug, but too far out and it's no good.

EDIT: I wonder if anyone else with the GIB has similar issues? On some 56c frames the shaft length is even shorter than on my motor, which is a 143tc.
 
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I built mine with a Beaumont drive wheel; it works. I used the Alu drive wheels because I have never had slippage or loss of traction once I went to direct drive on my KMG or this GIB. The aluminum wheel set screw is in the circumference of the wheel instead of angled from the side like the Urethane.
 
Im in the middle of doing a GIB myself, I made up a wider drive wheel for mine so there would be some room to let the belt center up on the contact wheel.

On yours you could certainly get your contact wheels in closer, do you really need the locknuts between the wheel and the platen plate?
 
Don,

I suggest "do not" build your grinder from the contact wheels working back to the drive wheel...

I recommend you mount the drive wheel first and then work forward to the contact wheel and tracking wheel.

It appears you have enough room to mount that drive wheel on your shaft. Once mounted you then can figure out the spacing for the other wheels.

You should be using washers not nuts as spacers for those other wheels.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. It makes more sense to think of it that way.

I was using the nuts between the wheels and platen so that I didn't have to have so much tension on the contact wheels; they have a lot of drag when I tighten them up any bit. If I didn't use those nuts they practically seize up...

EDIT: I'll check to see if I can find thin hex nuts or a different method to mount them.
 
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A washer will give you enough space for that. Just make sure the washer is not to big of a diameter. They make lock washers in that size that will work as a spacer.
 
Hard to tell from the pics, but are you using washers, or bushings in between your nut and contact wheel bearings? Do you know if there's any kind of bushing inside the contact wheel, in between your bearings? If not, that may contribute to some siezing.
 
knife to a gunfight said:
Hard to tell from the pics, but are you using washers, or bushings in between your nut and contact wheel bearings? Do you know if there's any kind of bushing inside the contact wheel, in between your bearings? If not, that may contribute to some siezing.
Click to expand...

I'm using the 10 gauge bushings from USAKnifemaker. I think the 2" economy wheel doesn't have the spacer; I'll check on the 5".
 
Don Nguyen said:
I'm using the 10 gauge bushings from USAKnifemaker. I think the 2" economy wheel doesn't have the spacer; I'll check on the 5".
Click to expand...

I see. Could be that your inner bearing races are binding on the inside of the wheel. You might see if you can make a spacer for the inside and see how things go. That will at least allow you to eliminate that nut and buy you 3/8 of an inch or so.
 
Don Nguyen said:
I was using the nuts between the wheels and platen so that I didn't have to have so much tension on the contact wheels; they have a lot of drag when I tighten them up any bit. If I didn't use those nuts they practically seize up...

EDIT: I'll check to see if I can find thin hex nuts or a different method to mount them.
Click to expand...

You should have spacers between the bearings in the wheels that support the inner race. That would allow you to tighten the axle down as tight as you want without creating a bind.

Without that a good work around would be to use the washers between the wheel and the platen plate like you have; and put the lock nut on the opposite side, the left(outside) of the platen plate
 
ANeat said:
You should have spacers between the bearings in the wheels that support the inner race. That would allow you to tighten the axle down as tight as you want without creating a bind.

Without that a good work around would be to use the washers between the wheel and the platen plate like you have; and put the lock nut on the opposite side, the left(outside) of the platen plate
Click to expand...

Holy batman, that would actually be a really good solution...
 
David Sharp said:
Come to think of it that is exactly what I did.
Click to expand...

I did too initially. Months later some uneven wear started to show up on one of the contact wheels (I use a 4" and 2" on a multiplaten setup) and traced it back to not using the drive wheel as the foundation all the other wheels are aligned with.

With the GIB once you know the distance of the drive wheel is from the main standup you can then use that distance to figure where the center of the drive wheel is and use that information for mounting all other wheels centers lined up to the drive wheel.

That way not matter what other tool arm you install you can mount the wheel exactly to the center and have dead nuts accurate tracking.
 
David Sharp said:
I built mine with a Beaumont drive wheel; it works. I used the Alu drive wheels because I have never had slippage or loss of traction once I went to direct drive on my KMG or this GIB. The aluminum wheel set screw is in the circumference of the wheel instead of angled from the side like the Urethane.
Click to expand...

Just as an FYI, my 6" BMW drive wheel with 3/4" bore has an angled set screw.

http://www.beaumontmetalworks.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=52
 
If using BMW drive, idler and contact wheels, keep in mind that all 3 have different widths. That means that the center of each wheel needs to be in line with one another, but that means that the left side of the wheels will all be different distance from you pr baseline or frame.
 
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