Making a DIY 2x72" Belt Grinder from Treadmill Parts

[@LiamO5991]

I have watched approximately 20 builds of belt grinders, the detail and plans provided are great! Best video I have come across to date

[@MakingStuff]

Thank you!

[@yetanotheaverageguy]

Fail early and often. Failure is an excellent teacher. Cool build. Thanks for documenting and sharing.

[@MakingStuff]

There's no substitute for effort, even if it leads to failure. ;)

[@yetanotheaverageguy]

Any info about sourcing the rpm display?

[@MakingStuff]

Link to tachometer is in the video description and on web page.

[@yetanotheaverageguy]

Thank you. Guess I could have looked. Appreciate your quick reply.

[@BeckTools]

at about 11 minutes in I realized your primary skill is in electronics. You really did a good job on the custom controls box. It's clearly not your first time. The metal fab part was good but not your strong suit. lol Great job! It looks great! I love this video because I'm weak in the electronics side and strong in the fab side. I enjoyed seeing how you did your controls box.

[@stevehaines6857]

If they dont like the music their computer has a volume button. Thanks for showing the issues and corrections needed thats the most helpful aprt for those wanting to do a build . Keep it up!!

[@nifty1940]

You got that right mate. The mute button is the greatest of all inventions.

[@kjbigslim]

I liked the music. Can't be too picky with free music anyway.

[@dariostino]

Nice build, and good on you for pointing out the glitches!!

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks!

[@billroberts8571]

Real good video bro lot of knowledge thank you I like these treadmill motors.there small with a lot of power you can get a lot of speed out of them

[@boots7859]

Cool. Collecting treadmill motors for my little shop and this was exactly what I was looking for.

[@alexanderbesliu-surkic135]

Thanks for sharing your difficulties! Being honest is much more important than building a perfect Belt Grinder! ;)

[@kenanderson2642]

You are one smart crafty guy

[@MakingStuff]

Thank you!

[@defendthebelt7795]

Premium construction!! That's a serious diy belt grinder.thumbs up.

[@MakingStuff]

Thank You!

[@georgedennison3338]

FYI: Serpentine belt idler pulleys, (Dodge/Plymouth are best because they have a flange), and a belt tensioner are great for making 1 x 72" or 1 x 42" belt sanders. Because of the flanges on the pulleys, you don't need an alignment mechanism. The idlers have sealed ball bearings. You can use a smooth drive pulley from serpentines as a drive pulley on the motor. Use someone that non-slip adhesive tape for traction.

[@SuperGrover]

Very very nice work, and I like that you pointed out the issues, I had similar problems when I built mine. The music on the other hand, watching first thing in the morning with a hangover, holy crap! :D

[@trevorhoward3328]

I like your design on the belt adjustment wheel. As well as the compression spring being integrated is cleaner and more compact.

[@heru-deshet359]

This is one of the sweetest builds I've seen, brother. The satisfaction value is priceless.

[@MakingStuff]

Thank You!

[@joefriday1982]

Excellent build. I was going to comment on maybe using different music, but then after seeing you, I decided using anything but metal would be inappropriate. Thanks for sharing and I was impressed by the cleanliness of your drill press table!

[@mattbowie9479]

Very well done. Great video an wonderful craftsmanship

[@MakingStuff]

Thank you.

[@whatme3473]

I am making one in the next few weeks just getting materials up together. Grate info cheers.

[@Tinkering902]

Pretty smart stretching out the spring!

[@robertseth1629]

Awesome build man with great audio too. I loved it. Making one the very same as yours soon just gathering up the parts first. Good idea of stretching the spring. I will be doing that. Also I like the two colours you used the green platten looks cool against the black. Job well done sir

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks you.

[@ronhart8857]

Very nice job, looks great, and it's yours to use, and save time building more stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[@bicivelo]

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing your experience and ways to improve on it. Great build!

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@randymcdonald1419]

liked the vid.enjoyed the music. thanks. it takes a lot of different folks to make the world work.

[@MakingStuff]

Thank you!

[@guitarsarge]

This is a great video! I've watched it several times as I plan my build. Digging the ingenuity.

[@dimitarstoiloff4101]

Amazing work man!

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks a lot!

[@K3Flyguy]

In regards to all the negativity with your welds, if it holds it is a functional weld. I have taught welding for years. Some students that just have the knack, others should just stick with nuts and bolts. Most fall somewhere in-between. Your welds without a doubt will hold just fine, and that's their only function. On the topic of your grinder, seriously very well done! Great video construction, music was appropriate for the topic, editing was good, lighting good, in all nicely done! One thing you may consider, I suggest you need a few stickers on the grinder. Perhaps AC/DC, KISS, METALLICA, and or RUSH, and then paint some flames where appropriate! I'm just having fun with you, but in all sincerity thank you again for sharing your time, and skills with us!!!!

[@MakingStuff]

No it hasn't fallen apart yet, LOL. Thanks for your comment. Knowing my luck I'd get some type of content ID strike from KZbin even for a sticker.

[@snoopdog68]

Much respect and well done. you keep it simple and dont seem to fuss over the little Things. I have a lathe and milling machine so I dont think I will have too much trouble building one.

[@billsmith987]

I'm looking to build one of these. Need it low profile. Thanks for the video👍

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@mars1952]

Nice tip on converting that spring!

[@xyz-bz1fc]

That is one heck of a terrific looking and well built tool box! Well done! I would like to dabble in metal work, but not sure what type of welder to buy. It looks like a lot of fun.

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks 👍

[@cjc1216]

awesome , sir you gone and got yourself another subscriber

[@marksstudio]

Buddy it might be a little out of square, but I loved your video. Now I know how to put to use the treadmill motor I've been saving. Good job man.

[@MakingStuff]

It hasn't fallen apart yet, lol. Thanks for watching!

[@psychojon88]

What a awesome build ! Great job

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@YvesPartouche]

wonderful job. Congratulations from France

[@MakingStuff]

Thank you. Glad you liked it.

[@patw999]

Hello, I built the exact same model except it was right hand drive and had the exact same problem with tracking. There's a guy here who built the first of this style, can't remember his name but after watching his video 20 times it turned out that the top swivel piece for the tracking roller ended up being the problem. I had made it just a bit to far to the inside by the belt, it needed to be closer to the metal upright. Once I got that fixed it ran a lot better as far as tracking went. Great shop build though Thumbs up!!

[@rooseveltemidiodesouza2720]

Thank you my friend for engineer, Very good utility knife in my office. I am Brazil.

[@niksechtniks]

14:45 you could weld on 2 more nut's and screw in the bolt's a bit above the bottom of the inner pipe. if you do that on both side's you could get the extra wobble out.

[@fredfleming261]

nice job i have that same motor was wondering if the pipe welded to flywheel could be a couple inches shorter maybe 3 inch ???

[@NicolasBana]

A super project ! I'd recommend adding an emergency stop button though, or at least a machine type start/stop. Otherwise a nice, well rounded project !

[@elesjuan]

and maybe some grounding...

[@bobbg9041]

Don't put your tongue on the DC Wires! But I'm going to say the 12-24-36 volts are pretty safe as long as your dry. Looking at the power supply the Amps are not that high its about 2-6 amps of current chances are you won't get bit by it You will on the 120 Volt side. But its a DC motor. At any rate the Electrical box was fully insulated by the plastic housing, you'd have to do something pretty dam dumb to get shocked with it. Its highly unlikely. I'd be more concerned touching a light switch with wet hands.

[@roadwarrior211]

Gonna start working on one of these soon, Thanks for the awesome video.

[@lennyf1957]

Giving you a thumbs up in spite of the awful music 'cuz it was a great build. Nice job

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for watching! Music on newer videos is gone, can't remove it from old videos.

[@t.a.6454]

How has everything held up on it? I want to do the same thing but I worry about welding that tube on the flywheel. Seems crazy it doesn't mess with the rotational balance. Great job!

[@MakingStuff]

All good. I use it all the time, nothing has broken on it yet.

[@JeffreyVastine]

Nice when you can take someone's junk and turn it into a useful tool. I enjoyed the little "'Mae It Extreme" format in the video, but prefer there is a dialog covering the what, why, and how which is beneficial to a broader audience. Peace!

[@bobbg9041]

He used new materials, Junk would have been using a old bed frame and that type of metal too.

[@lazyh-online4839]

@@bobbg9041 ironically, the alloy bed frames are made out of would likely have made just as rigid/durable of a machine as the new material. Bed frames have to support huge amounts of potential load without much in terms of support over long spans, so they're a surprisingly tough type of steel.

[@johnmclarnon5890]

Yeah, like taurus dragon stated, your welds need a lot of improvement. I was a certified boiler maker, and I also have been welding for 30 + years and the welds have to be perfect. Take some lessons from a certified welder and stop drawing the beads and push them, holding the torch at a 90 degree angle to the workpiece and you will get much better or perfect welds. Also, watch out for the cold lap, this is proof that your welds are only connected to one of the base metals. And yes, your inventions/designs are AWESOME, keep up the great videos. Cheers

[@valveman12]

Great job on the metal sander.

[@lazyh-online4839]

Powered grinders typically have lower surface feet per minute, grinders like this are typically designed to operate at much higher surface feet per minute, up to just over 7000sfm, while Sanders typically top out at around 4000sfm but many don't even do that. The good thing about this is that the higher speeds ironically help prevent belt wear, for two main reasons. One, the higher belt speed allows more heat to be carried away by the metal chips, and two it prevents clogging of the abrasive, neither of these benefits are found in a belt "sander".

[@peterjones6945]

The easiest way to get large compression springs is visit a motorcycle junk yard. Front forks and rear shocks come in all sorts of lengths and diameters. Rusty rear shocks with 'blown' dampers are real cheap, rarely more than thier weight in scrap value

[@baddinosaur1548]

Cool video. You really know how to make things. For the rest of us, we have to buy our stuff. Thanks

[@tommymadux3646]

I love your spring converter. You think I can go to me.local home depot and find that tool in stock and on the shelf and think they will load it for me in my car?

[@joefriday1982]

And major props for the hall effect sensor!!

[@tomweightman9341]

I enjoyed the video and the music. Learned a thing or two.

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@allanlavallee7171]

Nice build

[@MakingStuff]

Thank You!

[@archangel20031]

Extension springs can work like they were compression springs, you just have to mount them differently.

[@daveshepherd7582]

I thoroughly enjoyed this build and music aint a big deal if the content interests me. Good Job!

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@michaelweyl6880]

Awesome build my man. And thank you for sharing what design flaws there were. Great insight into building my own. Pretty bad ass doing that on the fly with no plans.

[@Dennis-zx1ez]

Great video and grinder!!

[@MakingStuff]

Thank you!

[@markgrevatt4867]

Wow excellent build love to make the same 👍👍👍👍

[@MakingStuff]

Glad you liked it, thanks for watching!

[@keithburgoyne3366]

Great video! On a side note. Do you know how to tell if your sensor was made in China? @ 9:00 the wiring calls for "BRACK". Lmmffao!!!!!!

[@MakingStuff]

Yes it does. Thanks for watching!

[@intelligenceservices]

i wonder if it's possible to temper a stretched out spring. i've read that if you quench it too quickly it will be brittle, too late and it's too soft.

[@GotItMade]

Very much dig it.

[@MakingStuff]

You need to make one!

[@mnastreeservice]

Nice job!

[@MakingStuff]

Thank You!

[@buckaroosol]

Awesome man, nice toys, nice work!

[@MakingStuff]

Thank You!

[@buckaroosol]

Making Stuff np thank you for the video

[@5j1o3h6n]

nice informative vid and link to cutting list.very helpful as i make my grinder,cheers from the u.k.

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@damiensuziesodenkamp8290]

After stretching the spring you should put it in the oven at about 280'c for half an hour and the will stress relieve the wire and give you a much longer life from the spring. Im a spring maker by trade.

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try it.

[@MRNVCDIY]

Great video

[@MakingStuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@tomasistudios2618]

I am building my first 72 in belt grinder. The hole thing is built but I cant get real poser out of the tread mill motor. It spins up to speed but then i apply pressure to the belt and it comes to a stop. I am at a loss to figure out what is going on. Any help would be great.

[@MakingStuff]

Sounds like your motor driver may be bad.

[@ВячеславМастер-у2г]

А мне всё понравилось. Молодец мастер. Теперь ещё ленточную пилу собери, вообще отлично будет.

[@jjmorrissiey]

Great video and machine!

[@randomiaer6322]

awesome build

[@xwd]

Love your build very different from other KZbin videos, Good Job. Would you please tell us about the rollers from where you get them or you bought them? You didn't put that in the description. Thank You.

[@MakingStuff]

I got them on ebay. The seller I bought them from no longer has them on ebay, but if you search for 2x72 grinder wheels there are plenty to choose from.

[@lazyh-online4839]

Longboard wheels seem to work well, many models are already the right width and shaped pretty straight and square, very little if any modification to make them work depending on your design.

[@pwntagerz]

Neat grinder! Been planning on making one for years but I ended up buying one of the Polish ones on Ebay cause I figured I'd screw something up

[@donfillenworth1721]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

[@opstube]

building stuff with metal, with metal. great :)

[@Derbittguy]

safety tip. when converting the spring run a rope tbrough center of spring in case it lets go.

[@MakingStuff]

That's a really good idea. I'll remember it for next time.

[@bobbg9041]

You better park your tractor at my house for Safety!

[@dennisbanka5134]

very impressed with the idea of using a tread mill motor on a knife ginder and other shop equipment so after seeing a number of builds using a tread mill motor I tried one also. However i didn't have as good of luck as others seem to have. I have no tork and can stop the motor with little pressure applied to the belt. I even changed out the original controller to a dimmer style and rectifier and had about the same luck. Is it just me expecting to much from the motor. I have a 2.5 hp dc motor, 120 volt @ 17.2 amps. I have a 5" pulley on the motor with the flywheel still attached, running it at 2,000 rpm and stalls more like a 1/3 hp ac motor. any ideas to fix the problem

[@MakingStuff]

I can stall mine if I press hard enough at slow speeds, but the controller detects this and tries to pick up speed. Not really sure what is going on with yours.

[@dennisbanka5134]

my treadmill 2 1/2 hp motor has no detect circuit only 2 wires black and red. I only apply Little Pressure ( 1" wide 1/8 " thick) and can stop it with one finger pressure. I've used two different controllers. Could the motor be bad?

[@therealsparkman]

How have those belt wheels held up over the years? I'm not crazy on the idea of poly wheels if they wear out quickly. I understand trying to limit expenditures to keep costs low, but I think that these wheels are vital component for a belt grinder build. Pretty cool though. Love the idea of the treadmill motor, as they have more torque than an ac motor. Cheers!

[@MakingStuff]

They have held up fine. No problems at all.

[@amalfi460]

Finally some good music

[@nickpa8871]

I don't like your weldings , but love your spring converter ...lol

[@gfontesrey]

muy buena licuadora y muy buen diseño . Te queria preguntar si la banda de color verde es mejor y si fuera de base de cerámica? . muchas gracias

[@MakingStuff]

Se basa en cerámica

[@jajolillo34]

Gday I seem to have the same problem on the vertical wheel, because it rotates very little and there is a little play between the metal boxes What u think?

[@mark37thms]

Awesome video and awesome site kepp em comin!

[@azmark6894]

The music is great - your project, your music! :) Thanks for sharing your experience brother, I got a lot out of it.

[@demonwolfish1]

Na mit der Musik,ich weiß ja nicht....

[@joehanna2231]

Great explanation and tips. Subscribed.

[@NulledMedia]

I like the idea of adding the RPM, but can you calibrate the display for the belts surface feet per min instead of the motors RPM?

[@TheRedhawke]

How did you cut the smile into the piece of steel so you could change angle of grind ?

[@MakingStuff]

I had a welding shop cut that piece out on a plasma cutter. It only cost $20 for the steel and to have them cut it. More info at www.makingstuff.info.

[@peterciurea7771]

The MC 60 control board usually is used along with a beefy reactor connected in series with the DC motor. It looks like a decent sized transformer with only 2 leads coming off. The reactor's inductance along with the heavy flywheel helps to mitigate the fairly poor performance at lower speeds. Have you had any problems running your sander/grinder at low speed? If yes, you might want to consider adding back the reactor on the black leg of the motor. The board is also known for it's soft start "feature", where it fails to start if the pot is set in a particular range and needs to be taken back to zero to allow starting- as it's expecting a treadmill type usage, of beginning at speed zero and increasing. There a number of mods, each with different degrees of impact, Clipping the RPS 3 resistor has been the easiest reported mod to tone down the "soft start"

[@boatbuilder1954]

Nice build and good information at end of video Thanks!

[@AndrewBrowner]

must have funny treadmills where you live, never seen one made from steel tube or angle iron before, what about those rollers the belt rides on what part of the treadmill were those off of?

[@lazyh-online4839]

It's not always common but some older ones I've seen in the states has those metal parts especially under the covers. The rollers are actually on every single treadmill I've ever seen, keep in mind people don't like tearing up their carpet/flooring when moving stuff around their house so rollers are on all that I've seen.

[@buihongtan0800]

Please indicate basic size

[@langhilau]

Looking at the heights of your welds it appears you either need to slow down the wire feed or increase the amps a bit. The last thing to consider is you are moving the gun to fast since the puddle is not leveling itself out, but instead it is just making a mound of non-penetrating metal.

[@NurchOK]

Awesome video and thanks for the explanation at the end.

[@lanenunez8225]

Can you explain a little about how you build that speed control box so can try to build it my self thank you

[@MakingStuff]

It's the one that came out of the treadmill. Just google MC-60 speed controller. There is a ton of info out there about them. Very easy to hookup.

[@dennischavez7886]

I was recently given an old treadmill, when I open it I notice it has a choke, do you use that on your building of this grinder?, thank you very much

[@MakingStuff]

No.

[@Issac_G]

This is so badass! This has to be my next project been wanting one for years

[@Afisch00]

Not to have a dumb question but with the tachometer, where did the power come from? Did you have two power cords going into outlets or did you wire it in with the 120?

[@MakingStuff]

The power comes from the wall transformer that I cracked open and put in the enclosure.

[@Afisch00]

@@MakingStuff I did see that. I was curious where it was getting power from. I'm guessing it was wired in with the same power that is powering the board. I can't imagine that tachometer is drawing that much voltage/amperage

[@AndTheCorrectAnswerIs]

Love the build and especially the RPM guage. One question though...Its always recommended on every grinder build video I've seen to use a totally enclosed fan cooled motor TEFC. Grinding obviously creates lots of metal dust...which is not good for an open housing motor. How has your motor stood up over time?

[@MakingStuff]

Been using it over a year now and no issues. I don't grind on it like a knife maker would, but I still use it a lot for metal and some wood.

[@ambosssteel6943]

very good video! :) regards from Kurdistan

[@richardbrown295]

that into is very cool

[@steveallshouse158]

Nice product! Trying to do a similar project but don't know too much about different types of welders. What size/type of welder would I need to accomplish a project near identical to this one?

[@MakingStuff]

I used a 30 year old cheap 120v MIG welder. Didn't make the prettiest welds, but it worked. Any low end MIG (or better) that makes halfway decent welds should work. Normally I use a TIG welder but it was out of commission at the time.

[@fisharmor]

Thanks for the tip on the tach. Been trying to build my own. However I'm not sure (even from Amazon comments) whether those tachs can output a signal to another system (like an Arduino) instead of just displaying the speed. Any ideas?

[@MakingStuff]

Its just a hall-effect sensor. You should be able to send output to an Arduino. I was able to see the square wave on my oscilloscope.

[@fisharmor]

Sweet, that's exactly what I was looking for! If it's making a square wave then there are some other electronics in there since the HES's I've played with seem to output an analog signal as opposed to a simple on or off.

[@juanmanuelgarciaortega2591]

2:14 .....The easiest step in the entire tutorial is to take the tractor to open the spring .....:) :) :) congratulations very good machine

[@MakingStuff]

May favorite part too. Thanks for watching!

[@diggingga6197]

could i make one of these with just bolting stuff together?I dont have a welder of any kind.Thanks.

[@MakingStuff]

Yeah, I'm sure you could make one with no welder. You would have to come up with a different way to make the drive wheel, but I don't see why not.

[@rwes2940]

Ive been looking into making one of these. Do a search, there was one on here that was all bolted and no welds