My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

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Scratch
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My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by Scratch »

I've been wanting a 2X72 belt grinder for a while now, and after getting a free working treadmill that I had no need for about a year ago, ( I've made it a personal motto of mine to only run when being chased by zombies) I decided to build one. I really liked the idea of Jeremy Schmidt's grinder with the tiltable belt, but wasn't sure I really needed that. Plus I didn't have a lot of 3/8" steel left over and didn't want to buy more. I liked the simple design of DCKnives grinder and had all the steel so I decided to go with that one.

I bought a set of wheels on eBay right away so I would be committed, then got some belts and after taking way too long, I started to build. Sorry for the "No Progress Pics" thing as once I got started, I kind of got into a groove and forgot to take pics.

Normally, when I build a tool, I paint them all the same color. Machinery gray. And this one was going to be the same. I might throw in some black too just to be crazy. I really liked the simple look of this one and planned on it looking pretty much just like this when complete.
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But that tilting belt thing from Jeremy Schmidt's design kept bugging me, so I thought that if I thought I could somehow incorporate that into my grinder, I would at least TRY to do it. It turns out I could, and it works pretty well too!

One thing I didn't like about the DCKnives grinder design was to change the belt, you have push down on the top of the Pillar with your hand, to loosen the belt and remove it. In Dan's design, he attached an 8-Ball to the top to make it more comfortable to push on. I've seen others using a golf ball, a novelty skull, a baseball etc... but I didn't really like that idea that much. I've seen other designs with a lever to pull down and I thought I'd try to incorporate that into the design, so I drew up this lever and mount, (highlighted in yellow) then cut it out on my CNC table.
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The lever worked awsome! I even had a 2" stainless steel ball bearing laying around so I used that as the tip. It LOOKED really good too...
A little TOO good I thought to myself. Too good to be on this boring, simple, gray grinder that I was building......


At this point in the build I found myself using the lever to compress the pillar all the time because it worked so well and looked so nice. During this time I kept thinking the lever and mount reminded me of something......
STEAMPUNK!

It was then that I decided to make the worlds first "Steampunk Belt Grinder." (I couldn't find one on the Google so I'm making that claim right now damnit!) I'm not really into steampunk, but I do appreciate the look, and I've always wanted to make something functional in the steampunk theme. Now I guess I have a piece of functional art!

Again, no progress pics were taken but here are some pics of the finished build.
Enjoy!
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When tipping it on it's side, I can use the same work rest by sliding it out and turning it a quarter turn.
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5a.jpg
Last edited by Scratch on Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I think I'm the oldest 10 year old boy on the forum...
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by Scratch »

I incorporated a working Voltmeter into it too.
6.jpg
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Steampunk has gears right? Good lord I hope so! I used enough of them!
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Added a little personal touch to the back with a nod to who I got the plans from (Dan from DCKnives calls his the BG-272. This is the BG-272SP!)
13.jpg
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by acourtjester »

Holy Gear Train Scratch that neat, is there a place to buy the steampunk gears or did you cut them.
Looks much better than Battleship Gray (sorry old Navy guy :HaHa )
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by ben de lappe »

That's awesome Scratch. :Wow Sooo much better than battleship gray. (aircraft gray too! :HaHa )

Any plans on steampunking the plasma table?
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by steel 35 »

Very nice, especially the right hand pull!
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by WyoGreen »

Ahh man, just when I thought I had figured out the design of a 2 x 72 belt grinder, you go and blow up my mind with possibilities! :-?
Dang it all, back to the drawing board!

Thanks for the inspiration, Steve
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by Larry83301 »

Very nice belt sander, hadn't thought of steampunk design. Looks great!


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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by Scratch »

acourtjester wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 9:59 am Holy Gear Train Scratch that neat, is there a place to buy the steampunk gears or did you cut them.
Looks much better than Battleship Gray (sorry old Navy guy :HaHa )
You get to keep the oldest 10 year old title :Yay
Thanks all, I'm sure there is a place to buy gears for steampunk decor, but I just cut them out. I know a guy with a CNC plasma cutting table. :wink:
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by acourtjester »

Great use of the small scrapes :HaHa
where did you get the big spring inside for tension.
i see you even used some of the faux rivets :Like
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by Scratch »

acourtjester wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:46 pm Great use of the small scrapes :HaHa
where did you get the big spring inside for tension.
i see you even used some of the faux rivets :Like
The spring came from my mystery bucket of random springs that I've been collecting for 20 years. We all have one of those buckets don't we? It's rusty, about 3" long, an inch wide, and worked perfect. No idea what it's from.
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Re: My new 2X72 belt grinder

Post by acourtjester »

Thanks yes sir spring box in my shop too. :Like
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by tinspark »

Awesome. That's one of the coolest things that I've seen built in a while.
Love the "working voltmeter"too!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by weldguy »

Absolutely one of the COOLEST looking projects posted on here in a while. Scratch your projects have blown my mind for years! Thanks for posting another one. So awesome!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by Scratch »

Thanks all, it was fun to build.
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by DXF »

Excellent! :Like

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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by greggomc »

Awesome.
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by TrinityFabworks »

This is awesome! Blows my mind what people can come up with! I've been planning on building another belt grinder, this definitely changes some things!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by james.davis »

That looks great.
Thanks for sharing.
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by dholt87 »

Combining art with functionality, I think you're on to something BIG!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by Ironys »

That Sir is awesome!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by Plasmamsn »

That is truly amazing!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by weldtheworld »

Awesome build man!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by RobertJohnson »

Awesomeness!
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by levesquea »

Amazing job. The perfect Belt Grinder with an amazing LOOK.
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Re: My new 2X72 Steampunk Belt Grinder

Post by ETCWeld »

Very Nice!
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