Review WIP: Full Featured 2x72 for under $1500?!? Housemade Gen 4 Revolution Kit Build

[Crag the Brewer]

Thanks Crag! I did my best to “tram” everything, but after welding the stem to the bottom the table it warped a little. Not enough to see by eye, but it manifested itself on the first blade i ground. Pissed me off! So I spent the better half of sn afternoon tweaking it true. I think I have it right now. We’ll see if it holds adjustment.

Same here...... Pulling one direction, great.
But everything isn't the same pulling my blade across the belt in the other direction.

Most likely an inherent flaw of all tilting tables.

 

[Bühlmann]

I’m now outside the original scope of my thread, but I think this is a worthy & important addition. I have a Jet 1100 canister dust collector for my shop. I used it with a temporary hookup to my 2x42 grinder I was using before building this one. It makes a significant difference in the amount of airborne dust generated during grinding, and this is 10x true for handle materials.

An old trash can left from the previous owner of my home, 3x 5’ sections of 4” galvanized duct, a few plastic Dustright connections lined with metallic duct tape, a few sheet metal duct terminations, two blast gates, and some silicone sealant. This makes a permanent rigid dust collection system for the grinder. The trash can acts as a high volume collection vessel for most metal dust and heavier particles, with enough volume to allow gravity to overcome the vast majority of particles from going up the suction, preventing premature wear on the impeller & collector unit parts. Wood, Micarta, G10, etc dust will most likely go all the way through, and that’s good for me and my shop.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Excellent setup.

A tip on making the edges of the catch funnel safer is to put some edge guard on it. It can be the plastic strips that come on bandsaw blades or the stuff you get at the auto store for car door edges.

A piece of 1/4" mesh expanded metal, rabbit fence, or heavy filter screen placed in the catch funnel also keeps small parts and blades from going down into the trash can.

 

[Bühlmann]

Excellent setup.

A tip on making the edges of the catch funnel safer is to put some edge guard on it. It can be the plastic strips that come on bandsaw blades or the stuff you get at the auto store for car door edges.

A piece of 1/4" mesh expanded metal, rabbit fence, or heavy filter screen placed in the catch funnel also keeps small parts and blades from going down into the trash can.

Those are excellent ideas, thank you Stacy!

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I’m now outside the original scope of my thread, but I think this is a worthy & important addition. I have a Jet 1100 canister dust collector for my shop. I used it with a temporary hookup to my 2x42 grinder I was using before building this one. It makes a significant difference in the amount of airborne dust generated during grinding, and this is 10x true for handle materials.

An old trash can left from the previous owner of my home, 3x 5’ sections of 4” galvanized duct, a few plastic Dustright connections lined with metallic duct tape, a few sheet metal duct terminations, two blast gates, and some silicone sealant. This makes a permanent rigid dust collection system for the grinder. The trash can acts as a high volume collection vessel for most metal dust and heavier particles, with enough volume to allow gravity to overcome the vast majority of particles from going up the suction, preventing premature wear on the impeller & collector unit parts. Wood, Micarta, G10, etc dust will most likely go all the way through, and that’s good for me and my shop.

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Are you planning on using it all the time, or Just with handles?

I'm working out dust collection too (in my head)
But I'm thinking of making an enclosed box with suction ports that attaches to my table underneath with strong magnets.
I pull it off when grinding Steel, only using it to capture wood/micarta dust.

I'm terrified of sparks in a dust collector.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Put a couple inches of water in the bottom of the trash or catch container. If the system is set up right, no hot sparks get past the "Spark Bong".

 

[Bühlmann]

Yep, between volume, a baffle, and a bit of water, my worries are alleviated. I get what you mean though. My health & a clean shop overrule the remaining bit of risk in my mind.

 

[Lehbauer]

Definitely need a spark bong.....
about a month ago, hmmmm what that smell. smells like burning. look at propane heater, look around the grinder motor. hmm nothing. Startt everything back up again, and there's the burning smell. What the hell. Open the shop vac that I have piped into a hack dust collector. There it is, bunch of micarta, wooddust, and metal filings smoldering away. Glad I noticed it and now in the process of building a better system.