Ski Builders Forum

Wow, awesome. I must admit looking at the pictures at first I was skeptical, but then I got to the base shots. Looks outstanding! You might consider building a steel frame for it down the road just to make it last longer.

No liquid cooling I take it. The metal structure would allow some liquid cooling too (you wouldn't want all that wood getting wet)

Nice work!

twizzstyle, tahnks

i trade it with your red one plus a makita thicknesser anytime
under one term:
you send me your ear defenders too, you would'n need them anymore anyway!
LOL

you are right, steel is the way to go with it
i have something in mind to allow wet sanding on that ply frame, not sure it will work

when wet sanding you use 80 ~120grit alu oxide? or you can go finer?

btw you auto feed construction is amazing

fa wrote: btw you auto feed construction is amazing

Thanks I'm still pretty proud of that

I use 120 grit ceramic belts. That's the finest grit Econaway sells (that's where I order my belts)

Rightly so Twizz

I was thinking how a cheap homemade belt grinder could be made and came up with this suggestion.

Parts would consist of:
2 conveyor rollers ($20 on ebay for used ones)
Base plate (MDF or whatever)
Mounting brackets (Made out of MDF or metal)
4 Bearings
2 steel rods as axles
2 steel rods for band tensioning
2 springs
Metal support plate behind belt
Custom belt from previously mentioned suppliers
And some small parts (Bolts and stuff)

Your existing powerful drill as engine

You could pretty much do it for sub $100

I haven't incorporated water cooling but if you want a mess you can just spray some on there.
Tell me if it seems completely stupid. Will the drill engine burn?

good idea.
I'm pretty sure a b=drill would not have enough torque unless it was a drill press motor.

I have a high torque motor but I am confused on the belt tensioning method described here for easy belt changing.

MontuckyMadman wrote:
I have a high torque motor but I am confused on the belt tensioning method described here for easy belt changing.

Havn't really thought about belt changing
I guess the support plate behind the belt has to be quite sturdy as well since it can only be supported on one side if the belts are to be changed.

I also saw these extension springs the other day and thought they may be another idea for the tensioning

You'll probably want some kind of skew adjustment so you can keep the belt centered. Liquid cooling would be VERY beneficial, so if you do build something try to keep it metal instead of MDF. That at least gives you the option of liquid cooling if you wanted to add it later on.

gladegp, 2-3 grinders i ve seen have a avarage belt speed of about 65km/h
you might want to check the revs of the drill to the driving roller perimeter
the conveyor rollers will be spinning quite fast (probably more than 2000rpms) so maybe you ll have to balance them

last month i balanced (it wasn't really needed, i just was curious) the ply drum i made, with the help of 4 skateboard bearings


i was surprised how sensitive this was
i could trace the weight of an M6 nut (2.2grams) taped at the drums perimeter (balancing end up with screwing 2 M8*15mm bolts to the sides, 4cm inwards the perimeter)

funny, the feeding rollers in my sander look very much like your tensioning design


springs are 8 cm long, from an old desining desk lamp


off topic, yesterday i profiled 2 poplar/maple ski cores using 36grit alu oxide paper

fast and accurate

well after looking into all the parts and pieces to do this and fabrication time i found a guy selling one for 500 bucks and I think I may buy its only 6" wide but it a wet belt fontaine.
These are just impossible to find that are decent for under 2K.

as always...bs. Easy to find <2k, simpler to build for <1k. But I'm glad you solved your problem though after squeezing everyone here for yet another idea you'll do nothing with.

Brazen wrote:as always...bs. Easy to find <2k, simpler to build for <1k. But I'm glad you solved your problem though after squeezing everyone here for yet another idea you'll do nothing with.

wtf???? group hug time!

congrats on the grinder MM (if you end up buying it). 6" will be ok for most things you do, you'll love it.

Brazen wrote:as always...bs. Easy to find <2k, simpler to build for <1k. But I'm glad you solved your problem though after squeezing everyone here for yet another idea you'll do nothing with.

There are 4 on the market all grindrites right now all right at 2k. Justcausd you found one for 1500 doesnt mean they are all around and btw 1500 mine as well be 2k.

100 grit al oxide:






after trying both, i think si carbide cuts better
dam, i love grinding bases what ever the paper!

hey MM, buy, build, steal, just get a grinder
you gonna love it

Wow, fantastic finish!

It is very liberating being able to grind your own bases, isn't it