What is the desired speed for the belt in a belt grinder?

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Mikel_24

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Sep 19, 2007
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Hello there,
I am building a belt grinder and I was wondering what is the desired speed for the abrasive belt. I recall reading somewhere that 30m/s is ok but I am not sure about that. I made a search using google but couldn't find what I was looking for.

I will be buying the motor (220) and having the drive wheel machined (probably) so before I select the rpm's of the motor and the diameter of the wheel... I need to know the speed of the belt.

Right now it is going to have only one speed. I will install a controller later on.

Thanks in advance,
Mikel
 
30 m/s is too fast for me , I use 15-20 m/s for rough grinding at 40 grit, and for medium 8-9m/s, and finishing fine grits at 4 m/s...
30 m/s corresponds to roughly 5900 - 6000 sfpm which is too much for most of the work... I recommend if you will use one speed only you may find the belt running at 3000 - 2500 sfpm (15 m/s - 13 m/s) will be adequate for most of the work. The faster speeds will burn wood, heat steel too much after HT, lower speeds means more control...
 
I don't think i could have just one speed. I run my grinder from 9000 sfpm down to 500sfpm and it makes a huge diffrence. I would say you should use rather a 3 or 4 step pully so you have some diffrent speeds. Design it so your fastest speed is around 3500 - 4000 sfpm and the rest of the speeds will step down from there.
 
1000-5000 SFM is a nice range. If I could have only 1 speed, I guess it would be 2000 SFM.
 
guys

The 3M website gives 25 to 35 m/s for working stainless steel and 20 to 25 m/s for carbon steel when using a Trizact abrasive. see web link below

http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediawebserver.dyn?6666660Zjcf6lVs6EVs66Sc&vCOrrrrQ-

Some of the structured abrasives recommend higher speeds for optimum performance but they still perform well at 20 m/s.

I run a variable speed AC drive which yields 1.5 to 20 m/s. There are few times when I find need for a faster speed. The lower speeds are great for sanding end grain on hardwoods, ivory, bone etc.

Hope this helps

Jim Arbuckle ABS JS
 
JTknives said:
I don't think i could have just one speed. I run my grinder from 9000 sfpm down to 500sfpm and it makes a huge diffrence. I would say you should use rather a 3 or 4 step pully so you have some diffrent speeds. Design it so your fastest speed is around 3500 - 4000 sfpm and the rest of the speeds will step down from there.
Click to expand...

Was the 9000 a misprint JT? I wouldn't want to be too close when the belt came apart at that speed.

Fred
 
If you are going to be using ceramic belts; they are built to run at the higher speeds 5400 sfm and work best with good pressure against the moving belt. Thats the main reason for choosing a high horse power motor to run your grinder, such as a 2 or 3 horse unit.

Fred
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Was the 9000 a misprint JT? I wouldn't want to be too close when the belt came apart at that speed.

Fred
Click to expand...

wow did i say 9000 i ment to say 9000 ;). yep i sometimes run that fast but it all depends on what im doing.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. We just found a nice source for motors that, unless they screw us up with the shipping, will allow us to buy over 2hp new motors (3000rpm) for a fair price. That will also help keeping the diameter of the drive wheel reasonable and therefore, it's price. Any advice about having the drive wheel rubber coated or not? I have seen them in both flavours...

BTW, what does "sfm" stand for?

Mikel
 
Mikel_24 said:
Thanks for all the help guys. We just found a nice source for motors that, unless they screw us up with the shipping, will allow us to buy over 2hp new motors (3000rpm) for a fair price. That will also help keeping the diameter of the drive wheel reasonable and therefore, it's price. Any advice about having the drive wheel rubber coated or not? I have seen them in both flavours...

BTW, what does "sfm" stand for?

Mikel
Click to expand...

Its surface feet per minute, Mike.
 
My favourite grinder runs at 6000SFM or 100M/sec. I also have a slower variable speed grinder that is used for sharpening and fine detail touch up work only.

I find belts last longer on the higher speed grinder but you have to be able to anticipate well ahead of time what is going to happen because the high speed and coarse belts sure do remove material fast.

George
 
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