Surface Grinder Conversion

Jonathans

Jonathans

Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
588
I'm finally getting around to converting my surface grinder to belt.
I've seen a fair amount of discussion regarding belt width, and wheel choice.
Has it ever been concluded whether a 1" or 2" belt is a better way to go?
What hardness wheel is most desired? Smooth or serrated?
Thanks for any help!
 
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1" is deffinately the way to go, given the choice. As for wheel hardness, 70 durometer is the old stand by. But I would prefer a 90, or even 95 durometer, serrated wheel. From what I have learned, a 1" belt and a harder wheel is the more efficient option.
 
I use a 2 in serrated wheel in 95 duro . Harder is better, anything less than 90 duro is to soft for surface grinding. Using one inch belts will leave a slight imperfection on wider stock at the edge of the belt. It is best if the belt is a little wider than the stock. I plan on getting a 95 -100 duro smooth rubber wheel as well. From what I have seen it will leave a nicer finish than the serrated, but will not be as fast as the serrated is at stock removal. The wheel does not need to be large, 4"- 6" works well.
 
I use a serrated wheel at IIRC 90 duro with 2" (50mm) x 2 meter belts. Works great!
Was going to insert a pic, but that only seems to work from a URL... but a pic of the machine is on my Facebook page if anyone wants to see it!
 
Whether you decide to go with 1" or 2", get your wheel about 1/8" wider so that the belt can lay completely flat on the wheel. This will help when you dress the belts. Personally, I think 2" is overkill, and would stick with a 1.125" wheel of at least 90 duro. Go with serrated if you plan on removing a lot of material at once. If you get the bore and web of the wheel to match the stones that your machine uses, you can just mount directly to the hub without modifying anything.

A lot of guys go with 2" wide wheels because they think it'll grind more material faster, but that's not how surface grinding works if you're truly looking for a flat finish. You should work across the piece you're grinding from front edge to back edge, in incremental passes, rather than trying to take a full width pass all at once. Doing it this way, you're only using a very small portion of the belt on each pass, so you really don't gain anything with a 2" wide wheel, and it would actually take longer to clear the piece.
 
If you do the conversion well, you will be amazed at the results. I resisted converting my machine from stones for years. Big mistake. Then after I bought another, newer surface grinder, I decided to convert the older one to belts. Now I use the belt machine for about 95% of my surface grinding and if I had to get rid of one machine, it would be the one with stones. Currently I'm looking at getting a small, high quality vacuum table for the belt machine so I can do G10, woods, alu and Ti pieces easier.
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
If you do the conversion well, you will be amazed at the results. I resisted converting my machine from stones for years. Big mistake. Then after I bought another, newer surface grinder, I decided to convert the older one to belts. Now I use the belt machine for about 95% of my surface grinding and if I had to get rid of one machine, it would be the one with stones. Currently I'm looking at getting a small, high quality vacuum table for the belt machine so I can do G10, woods, alu and Ti pieces easier.
Click to expand...

I have a Boyar Schultz 6x12 that I would like to convert. Are there plans for making the conversion?
 
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