Again thx to dcknives I made a few small changes. Using an oregonblademaker adjustable tool rest, welded a larger rest to it, I'm clumsy and need the extra space. Wheels and D bracket from same place. Instead of a spring for the tube that supports the tracking wheel I used a gas spring from princess auto: 34lb 4-3/4 inch Utility Gas Spring 8559205, $12. Drilled holes for the spring's mounting bolts using a 17/64 bit and an M8x1.25 tap. Using a standard 1.5hp AC motor from Princess Auto, got it on sale for $103!! Works great. Platten is a nasty looking combo of 2 inch angle iron and flatplate I had kicking around, not pretty but it's flat and true. Pillow bearings from Princess Auto 3870011 around $12 I think. Step pulleys from HomeHardware $38 each. 5/8" x 4" 4 Step V-Cone PulleyCHICAGO DIE HH Item #1455-501 I just happened to have some UHMWPE lying around, cut it with a bandsaw. Shims run full length of the tube you can see the top of them above. Nice and slippery and no need to lubricate ever. Shim below. Gas spring. I'm making 2 more of these things for a couple of friends so who knows I might figure out some sort of change/improvement in the process. In retrospect the pillow bearings should be facing the other way to facilitate access to the grease zirks, but I think the grease is only for bearing position adjustment, once set it's not going to be changed. I don't think the grease gets to the bearings themselves, anybody know? I also welded a 2nd set of nuts on the lower crosstube, not sure what they'll get used for yet though. Actually I'm not sure if the 2nd tube is even needed at all, somebody enlighten me please. I'm new to the knifemaking world so any build suggestions are very welcome. cheers, Rob
Nice build Rob! I use the lower receiver for my adjustable work rest. I also have a goose neck LED work light that slips in there. However, I am converting the light to a magnetic base so I can use the work rest and have a light. Maybe three receivers are in order? For shims I used HDPE strips from an plastic oil jug. They hold the pillar firm and yet it still slides up and down. I dusted them with graphite. I have added a mechanism to release the release the tension when changing belts. One complaint was it's hard to reach over to the back of the grinder to press the pillar down. Prototype seems to work okay. Good luck with your projects. Dan
Yes to the grease making it's way into the bearing. There is a grove in the race and one or two holes that it goes throw. So you give it one or two shots till new grease flushes the old grease out the sides. I went with hitch tube so there's no need for shims and grinding of the welds. Only thing i changed as the plans on dcknives is very well put together. But tweaking to personal preference is the best thing when custom fabercating. That's why I love my job haha
That makes sense. It's the first time I've worked with pillow bearings, when I first examined them I thought the bearing was installed misaligned, then I noticed the elliptical grind around the inner race, then I discovered you can adjust the position of the bearing in the housing. Pretty cool.
they are a great bearing in projects where misalignment may be necessary or you just plan old messed up haha. they can handle a large amount of abuse and misalignment and are on the affordable side. nice looking grinder tho im itchin to get mine done!
