Question On My GIB Build.

[Willie71]

Yea it does. What is even worse, I have at least a half dozen motors. I have a Marathon 3 hp still in wrapping,but its single phase and even larger than this one. I am going to look at all mine again to be sure I don't have something else. Can I use say a 1 1/2 hp or 2 hp with the same VFD that I have ? Not sure I am going to have a use for the drive pulley when I find a motor. I donot want to be at the low end of power, so what should I go with as a step up on motor ?

Look in the manual. The one I have works with 1.5 or 2hp. 1.5 can run on 110, but it has to be 220 for 2hp. There should be jumpers if you have the 27d.

I sent you a pm re: motors.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Before you cut the base, consider that you can easily reverse a 3phase motor by swapping 2 wires. So since that motor is not face mount, you will need to put a base on it anyway, just mount the motor to the bench on the opposite side.

 

[Dennis Towns]

Yea I don't want to get into cutting the base. My VFD is the bigger one the 29 for 3 hp. I am guessing going smaller on h.p. will not be an issue, going bigger might be. After all the $$$$ and time I hate to end up with some kind of Morph looking setup . I even found I had another 3hp 3 phase smaller version motor, but it has the open ends and not a front mount. I think I will just try to sell some of the ones I have and just find what I need to fit it. By the way, what does it mean when a motor says Split Phase ? I found a couple of small Daytons I have and they say that. One is 1/6 hp and the other 1/4 hp. What would be the Cats Meow to have on this grinder ?

 

[Kevin McGovern]

You'll want at least 1.5 hp. 1hp is the minimum in my opinion. You can't have too much hp

 

[Dennis Towns]

OK let me run this by ya'll. I need an inch, 1" , if I cut the base loose and weld an inch spacer to the bottom of the motor plate. I have a large knee milling machine, I can mill to make sure it is uniform and then re-weld it to base. Do you think making that change would do bad things to the complete set up ? And, would you let the motor rest on base plate or go more than the inch and put like a rubber pad under it? I hate not using what I already have, and already bought drive wheel and the new VFD. I have bought all quality products and spent close to $1300 to build a strong ( 3 hp ) top shelf grinder . What would some of you do ? Or spend a couple hundred more and find a 3 hp that will fit ? How can I know the height of another motor ? Thanks

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

It should be fairly easy to cut the base off along the upright, weld it on 1" risers of 1X2" bar ( assure they are flat), and weld that on a new base plate would solve your problems. I wouldn't worry about any divergence in alignment if you use even thickness riser bars.

Just remember the old rule:
Measure twice .... cut once.

 

[Dennis Towns]

Thanks, just needed another opinion. I have all the tools materials and faith I can do it with no problems. I am no machinist but get around my machinist armed shop pretty good. Been a decent fabricator too so that being said I feel pretty confident changing the plate a little. I will keep ya posted. Be safe.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Thanks, just needed another opinion. I have all the tools materials and faith I can do it with no problems. I am no machinist but get around my machinist armed shop pretty good. Been a decent fabricator too so that being said I feel pretty confident changing the plate a little. I will keep ya posted. Be safe.

Keep in mind the motor shaft length. Once you make the changes you propose, will you still have enough shaft engagement on the drive wheel? The benefit of the face mount motor is that once bolted to the upright there is more shaft sticking through the other side, and the shaft is sure to be 90° to the upright, Which is critical for proper tracking.

 

[Dennis Towns]

None of that will change. I am raising the face up 1" the motor will still mount face to plate. Here is what I have before I do the change. Its within probably 9/16 - 5/8 from a tight fit, so I am going with at least an inch. Don't want to have to do it over again. This is the face bolted tight to the plate. Thanks

 

[Kevin McGovern]

None of that will change. I am raising the face up 1" the motor will still mount face to plate. Here is what I have before I do the change. Its within probably 9/16 - 5/8 from a tight fit, so I am going with at least an inch. Don't want to have to do it over again. This is the face bolted tight to the plate. Thanks

Got it. From the other pictures it looked like it wasn't a face mounting motor.

 

[Dennis Towns]

See if ya'll can think of anything before I sew it up later. I went ahead and put that locator tab on the spacer leaving it 1/8 inch shy to fill with weld from bottom. I also milled a 1/16 valley each side of joint weld for ( fingers crossed ) better penetration and lock them together. I did not do the bottom cause I think it needs all the foot print of the 1/2". Your thoughts ? I will clamp something solid across both pieces and weld in segments.

 

[NC Biker]

See if ya'll can think of anything before I sew it up later. I went ahead and put that locator tab on the spacer leaving it 1/8 inch shy to fill with weld from bottom. I also milled a 1/16 valley each side of joint weld for ( fingers crossed ) better penetration and lock them together. I did not do the bottom cause I think it needs all the foot print of the 1/2". Your thoughts ? I will clamp something solid across both pieces and weld in segments.

Cooter, I think you're way over thinking this. I just bolted mine up to the base and then the motor adds additional support when it's bolted to the main upright and then to the base plate. This makes mine as rigid as can be and after three years of use, I've never once wished I'd welded mine. I have always found the K.I.S.S. principle to work the best.

 

[Tin.Man]

Also see if you can find a similar weight but shorter gas shock. Save you a ton of headaches down the road as far as tracking goes. You want the tracking arm close to parallel to the tooling arm when the shock is compressed but you don't want it bottomed out in compression. Great looking build so far man.

 

[NC Biker]

Also see if you can find a similar weight but shorter gas shock. Save you a ton of headaches down the road as far as tracking goes. You want the tracking arm close to parallel to the tooling arm when the shock is compressed but you don't want it bottomed out in compression. Great looking build so far man.

Good point! For the best possible tracking you want the axle of your idler bracket to be parallel with the bottom of your belt. With a flat platen this will have your tracking arm close to parallel to your tooling arm like tin.man points out. The problem with this is that the shock Jamie suggests will not allow you to lower the tracking arm enough to get it in that position. The solution is to either raise the upright support by making a new longer one, or finding a shock that will allow you to lower the tracking arm further. The problem is not as bad when using a contact wheel or small wheel, but something to keep in mind when your adjusting a belt and setting the angle of the tracking arm. Below is a diagram that I hope shows what angle you want based on the type of attachment you're using. The silver rod represents the angle of the idler bracket axle that you want when the shock is compressed.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

That is one of the issues I address in my version of this build. I made the upright that the tracking arm pivots on much higher. I also used a shorter shock. This results in much better tracking.

 

[Dennis Towns]

As far as the welding issue, I had no choice. I had to build a 1" spacer to raise my motor face plate in order to use a 3 hp motor I already had. And my motor does not have a foot base. So after I got the 2 plates welded I bolted it together before painting and measured the gap under the motor. I then built and screwed a Delron Flat under the motor to give it some extra support.Its an awful large motor to just hang by 4 = 3/8 bolts. I over killed the spacer block by welding seam grinding it down some and adding a splice strip across the seam. Paint is drying as I type this. Guess I better order a couple belts to see how it tracks. The welding was sorta a pain to keep it drawing back and forth and keeping it straight.And I already ordered the shock and got it in. I ordered a 60# shock. I don't have a problem ordering another one , they aren't expensive. You have a MSC number for what I need ? Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[NC Biker]

Cooter, I can't help as far as a new shock as I used a 60# version of the one Jamie had listed, I made the adjustment by making a a new vertical support out of 1/2" plate I had laying around. On the new piece, from the center of the middle bolt hole on the bottom to the center of the bolt hole on top where the tracking arm mounts is 14". I talked to Jamie about changing the height of this piece in the kit, but it would make it impossible to use the Priority Mail flat rate boxes he ships in. I can tell you that making this modification made a tremendous difference in the tracking on my GIB. I hope this helps.

 

[Dennis Towns]

I have plenty of 1/2" plate. My plasma will not cut that thick so I will just make straight cut lines with porta band and the shape the ends. Might as well do all the changes before I put it all back together. I want it as bullet proof and proficient as I can make it. I might have to put my grinder off a little while to finish a machining job for a company I ignored over the weekend getting involved with my grinder and a wildlife call. happens.

 

[Dennis Towns]

Just to double check, this is the part you were talking about making 14" between bottom center hole and top pivot hole ?

 

[NC Biker]

Just to double check, this is the part you were talking about making 14" between bottom center hole and top pivot hole ?

Yep, that will do the trick!