Surface grinder belt conversion contact wheel

H

HSC ///

Joined
Nov 7, 2012
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I’d like to get the latest viewpoints
What contact wheel do you have? What size, make, material

How well does your contact wheel work and what would you differently?


thanks
 
Remember to make your wheel significantly wider than your belt

I made a hub for my grinder and then had someone put tread on it, and it works good.

But the solid aluminum wheel that I made while I was waiting works just as well.

The aluminum is easier to dress because you can just put a lathe tool in a vise and stick it on the table and feed across. The rubber wheel, you have to dress it with an abrasive.

Wheels need to be dressed to address any run-out or your finish will suffer
 
My first surface grinder conversion, I routed the belt so the dressing tool on the grinder could be used so I could dress the belt

Turns out it's unnecessary

A good belt runs and gets itself even very quickly. I have never found any need to dress a belt on my auto grinder
 
Size: about 170 mm in diameter, probably 70 mm in width.
Material: Aluminium
Make: DIY

Before this I tried two off the shelf rubber coated wheels. They were cheap-ish and had some runout/wobble that was messing with my flatness. I could not figure out a good way of dressing/truing them up. So I gave up and made this solid wheel. You need to pick the belts more carefully, as anything with a prominent seam will then bounce and create ripples (less of an issue with serrated, rubber coated wheels). But with the right belt the result is much better (for me).

I second the recommendation about the width. I now try to shift the belt up and down the wheel to even out the wear of the belt (I got that tip here on bf I think). And for that having a wider wheel is good.
(edit: oh snap, just realized this is about a proper surface grinder conversion, not belt grinder SGA. my bad)
 
Last edited:
HSC /// said:
Why is this important?

Thanks
Click to expand...

If the belt is the same size or wider than the wheel, whatever side of the belt that is hanging off the wheel won't wear, and if it wiggles back onto the wheel and starts cutting, it will have worn less than the rest of the wheel and will leave stripes.

Also, if your wheel is significantly wider than your belt, you don't need to mess with tracking every time you change belts.

I use 2" belts and my wheel is 2 1/8" and I wish it was wider.
 
The smartest thing I did on mine was switch to a 1 inch /wheel/belt. Don't forget that just because you converted a surface grinder to an abrasive belt does NOT change the way a surface grinder functions.
The best performance is to bit by bit work your way across the work piece. And then back the other way. To do so with a 2 inch belt takes forever.
Less grinding area also is easier on the machine. They are not designed for this type of resistance.
I have a few wheels. I started out with 2 inch and found them trouble some. Belts are not stone wheels and have lots of deviation in them. Reduce them to 1 inch and that deviation is reduced by 50%.
I milled my wheels down to about 1.05" I think - without going out and measuring.
That way the belt is backed at all times and I can still float it off either edge if the need arises.
Get specific measurements and have them made by Sunray. With two set screws I can remove my assembly and run a stone/composite wheel if I like.
 
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