Belt sander

digr · #1 12-31-2006, 09:18 AM

This sander I made about 35 some years ago. At that time I had a buzz box and a wood lathe' The first idler pulleys were made of oak with babbitt bearings[hard to start in the winter at -20 below] They worked fine but you had to oil them every time you used it. The drive pulley I made on the wood lathe out of aluminum. It took a long time and I made the mistake of making it flat without a crown. I ended up using tape for the crown and it has worked fine ever since. Later I got access to a lathe and made the idler pulleys from aluminum. I drew this machine up if anyone wants to build one. The drawing has ball bearing spindle where mine has brass bushings. At the time I built this one the machines were selling for about 150 bucks now you can buy them for little or nothing but they are nothing like this one. If you want a project that will be around for many years I think it is worth the time. I used a 1/2 HP 1725 RPM motor with a 3" pulley driving a 2 1/2" pulley on the sander giving a belt speed of about 1900 SFM. It will take ether a 1" X 30" or 48" sanding belt. It has a 48" belt in the pictures. I forgot to mention that the it also has a tilting table which is nice for sharping saw blades and such.