2x72 small wheel attachment

[cangooner]

I think the next addition to my grinder will be a small wheel attachment. As I see it, I really have two options:

1) buy a ready-made set such as that sold by Origin Blade Maker (there are others with various options: steel vs aluminium body, rubber vs stainless vs mild steel wheels, etc., but that's the brand that comes to mind

2) make 'em.

Since I built the rest of the grinder (and because it would be a hell of a lot cheaper!) I'm leaning towards the latter. If any of you have gone down this road and have suggestions/warnings, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Victor Creazzi]

I often use 11/16" OD brass bushings on a 1/2" bolt. Just stack as many as you need to get wide enough. It's good to go plenty wide 2-1/2" or so as the bolt head sits proud of the bushings and chews up the belt if tracking isn't right on at start up.

Edit; you need to keep the sfm down with this set up to keep the bushing rpm down.

 

[Bruno]

Victor's idea is probably the cheapest solution, but for me I do prefer the wheels to be hard rubber. I bought mine. But then again I also bought my grinders. One thing I am thinking of though is building a 3d one for the sole purpose of running the small wheels attachment. It doesn't need a strong motor or a lot of versatility.

 

[Victor Creazzi]

I would add that my cheap and easy solution would not be good for extended work times. Bronze bushings are not very good at the speeds involved and heat pretty rapidly. I mainly use it for notching which can be accomplished fairly rapidly.

 

[32t]

I often use 11/16" OD brass bushings on a 1/2" bolt. Just stack as many as you need to get wide enough. It's good to go plenty wide 2-1/2" or so as the bolt head sits proud of the bushings and chews up the belt if tracking isn't right on at start up.

Edit; you need to keep the sfm down with this set up to keep the bushing rpm down.

Could you round the bolt heads off?

Use a channel lock to hold the head. you don't need much for tightening I assume.

There I go using that assume word again.........

 

[Victor Creazzi]

Could you round the bolt heads off?

Sure, but so far I have only used this size wheel for notching and the bolt head is not in the way.

The way my wheels tighten the bolt end could actually be hand held, no channel locks needed.

 

[Substance]

I bought mine, of eval bay and its been running perfectly for a few years now
have the 2", 1" & 1/2" wheels, the only issue is you cant use the under 1" wheels for hollow grinding or fullers etc as the bearings are bigger that the contact diameter
remeber to run them at slower surface speeds as the bearings are spinning a lot faster than the bigger wheels

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/KNIFE-MAKING-SET-SMALL-WHEEL-HOLDER-5-SMALL-WHEELS-Fits-2-Belt/331423105697?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=1&asc=20131003132420&meid=4807f897adee4d369f7af573b832b3f6&pid=100005&rk=4&rkt=12&mehot=ag&sd=331500229814&itm=331423105697&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

[cangooner]

Thanks - that's one of the sets I'm considering so it's helpful to have some user feedback.

 

[cangooner]

Well I finally got around to buying a set of wheels and a holder a couple of months ago, and then got sidetracked and have only just got them mounted. I bought this from TRMaker, based in Turkey. He sells on ebay, but I first saw his stuff on various blacksmithing facebook groups. In case anyone is looking for other options for something like this, I'm very happy with the quality, the price was decent, and shipping surprisingly quick (they arrived just about when the covid lockdown was starting here in Canada - no idea what shipping times would be like now).

My original motor was from a treadmill and I had to mount the belt to the left to keep its flywheel from removing itself, which is why the writing on the holder is upside-down. On most grinders it would be flipped to the other side. Also, I really need to clean the shop one of these days...

 

[Substance]

Looks good, my OCD would pull it apart and reassemble with the stamp right way up though lol