What grinder is in your shop

I finally had some time to play around with my TW-90 now that the belts arrived... so nice to have a real belt grinder and not some HF crap. Just wanted to share my excitement for anyone that might be considering one.

My grinders dont get used for sharpening or thinning, but they do get used for refinishing, and its been awesome for that.

What kind of belt grinder are you using?

 

Jon,

That is one hell of a grinder upgrade, especially one just for refinishing!

 

KMG and i hope to get a 2nd one down the road (or build a 40 inch big wheel grinder )

 

the only thing that is weird for me about all of this is that equipment in the US runs the opposite direction of equipment in japan... i.e. buffers and grinders run away from you not towards you... thinking about installing a reverse switch on my buffer and grinder

 

be carful on running a grinder in reverse tracing can become a problem (least ihave heard ) if you have a VFD it might have a switch built right in
i mounted my buffer to run away due to if anything gets grabbed it goes away from me

 

Pretty sure Murray Carter has his grinders all laying the opposite direction so that the belts move the same direction as his waterwheel.

As for grinders, you don't even want to know what I have. Haha. I would LOVE TO be able to afford a KMG, however.

 

I have a custom built 2 x 72, with a VFD, and a 3 HP, 3 phase motor. Sometime I like to lean into the work a tad. I stall 1 and 2 HP single phase motors...

Butch is correct, most VF Drives, have a reverse built in.

 

reverse is kind of built in, but i need to add the switch for it.

 

That's one hell of a grinder for refining Jon!!

I just ordered a Pheer 454 without a motor last week. Its a 2x72, full NEMA4 VFD, etc. I got the 6" drive wheel, flat platen (basically the KMG setup...he gets them from Beaumont), and a 3/4' small wheel with its own tool arm. The price was wonderful for what looks like (and the reviews all say...is) a very solid machine. I have my own Leeson 2hp 3ph motor, so I saved a chunk there as well.

I'll be sure to post up a review here once I get it up and running, if you guys like?

 

Murray sure does have his grinders running the other way.

 

2HP KMG and 1.5HP 9" Disk sharing a VFD via 2 plugs and a socket. I installed a reversing switch in the KBAC-27D and drive my grinder in reverse at slow speed to sharpen above the platen.

 

I'm really glad to hear how you're using your VFD Doug. I have the 27D also...and I wanted to run two separate motors off of it, but was told that they had to be the same type motor for the VFD to work. How did you set yours up if you don't mind me asking?

 

Cris.
Don't mind at all. I figured the current draw difference between the 2HP (5.6 amps) and the 1.5 HP (5.0 amps) was small enough to just give it a try. Neither motor has high start-up load. Of course they are both 230V - 3 phase motors. The plugs and socket are just 20A 4 wire twistlock from Home Depot. The most important point is to power down the VFD and allow the indicator LEDs to go dark before you unplug the motor. The VFD has fairly large capacitors in it which take a while (30 -45 sec) to discharge.

 

Wonderful! My motors are 230v/3ph as well. I figured a 1.5hp was more than enough for a disc grinder so that's what I got. My VFD converts 120v/1ph to the 230/3ph as well, so it may be different.

But at least I know its possible. Thanks again my friend!

 

Oh, also...I was going to run mine on a switched system, so I didn't have to unplug anything.

 

If you go the switched route, be aware that 4 pole double throw switches are hard to come by locally, but they can be found online. Just make absolutely sure power is off and the LEDs on the VFD are dark before throwing the switch. If not, it could damage the VFD. I chose the plug route because it is much easier to accidentally flip a switch than to accidentally unplug a twist-lock plug.

 

i have mine on twist lock so i can swap from mill to grinder. the new shop will have VFD for each but will keep the plugs so if i need to later i can add a 2nd grinder with ease

 

Good call there...I think I'd go with the plug also. I think it's also best to take this to PM's lol, we've derailed the thread pretty drastically =p.

 

Yea, sorry about the detour. Let me try to put it back on the rails. Here are my two grinders. I know, shop is messy.
But this pic is a couple years old. I have added a mill and a bunch of stuff since then.

 

You guys give me grinder envy. For the guy who just wants to dip a toe into the knife making quagmire, how bout those Jet or similar belt disc combination that are 115 v single phase half or 3/4 horse motors? I am guessing that there are not VFD for these and they probably go too fast for thining?