28-12-2011, 05:15 PM
Hi,
Thanks David; yes it's coming together quickly now in fact today I've given it a test run.
I believe J Simble and Sons used to stock all the Picador range of bearing mounted spindles but I don't know if Simble's are still in business.
The raw materials cost very little; I bought a car load of black iron offcuts for a tenner and as you know David I've already made a 4" belt sander from some of them and I still have plenty left. I have splashed out and been very extravagant though and bought a large compression spring off eBay at £2.50. I'm awaiting delivery of the spring and hopefully this will give a greater range of belt tension. At the moment it is tensioned with a car valve spring which works perfectly but I might not have enough adjustment for the new leather honing belt when it arrives; I received a message to say the honing belt has now been despatched from America.
I've put quite a few hours in even spending most of Boxing Day working on it. Today I decided to sort out the two pulleys and drive belt. As usual the pulleys I have in stock didn't fit either shaft so it was a case of doing a bit of lathe work. I opened one pulley bore out but the other was a taper lock type so I mounted the boring bar in the cross slide and made the bore parallel at 1.5" Dia then made a tight fitting steel bush and added a 3/4" Dia bore to match the shaft. This was drilled and tapped right through both pulley and bush to accept a 6mm grub screw.
Boring pulley to receive bush and drilling through pulley and bush.
I had a suitable length "Z" belt in stock so roughly assembled everything and powered up for the first time. The grinder and motor were not secured to the base board and this allowed the belt to slip on the motor pulley; the motor and grinder were then gently pushed apart bringing on the drive whilst I watched the abrasive belt for tracking but it was perfect so I let it run at speed for a few minutes before switching off.
Wonderful; it works.
So far I've put a lot of work in on this grinder but once it came to life under power it was well worth it. The hardest part is now over but I still need to assemble it proper and add tool rests etc. What a pity I live in such a terrible climate as I would have enjoyed blowing it over with a spray gun.
Even the weather cannot dampen my spirits as I'm delighted to have reached this stage.
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks David; yes it's coming together quickly now in fact today I've given it a test run.
I believe J Simble and Sons used to stock all the Picador range of bearing mounted spindles but I don't know if Simble's are still in business.
The raw materials cost very little; I bought a car load of black iron offcuts for a tenner and as you know David I've already made a 4" belt sander from some of them and I still have plenty left. I have splashed out and been very extravagant though and bought a large compression spring off eBay at £2.50. I'm awaiting delivery of the spring and hopefully this will give a greater range of belt tension. At the moment it is tensioned with a car valve spring which works perfectly but I might not have enough adjustment for the new leather honing belt when it arrives; I received a message to say the honing belt has now been despatched from America.
I've put quite a few hours in even spending most of Boxing Day working on it. Today I decided to sort out the two pulleys and drive belt. As usual the pulleys I have in stock didn't fit either shaft so it was a case of doing a bit of lathe work. I opened one pulley bore out but the other was a taper lock type so I mounted the boring bar in the cross slide and made the bore parallel at 1.5" Dia then made a tight fitting steel bush and added a 3/4" Dia bore to match the shaft. This was drilled and tapped right through both pulley and bush to accept a 6mm grub screw.
Boring pulley to receive bush and drilling through pulley and bush.
I had a suitable length "Z" belt in stock so roughly assembled everything and powered up for the first time. The grinder and motor were not secured to the base board and this allowed the belt to slip on the motor pulley; the motor and grinder were then gently pushed apart bringing on the drive whilst I watched the abrasive belt for tracking but it was perfect so I let it run at speed for a few minutes before switching off.
Wonderful; it works.
So far I've put a lot of work in on this grinder but once it came to life under power it was well worth it. The hardest part is now over but I still need to assemble it proper and add tool rests etc. What a pity I live in such a terrible climate as I would have enjoyed blowing it over with a spray gun.
Even the weather cannot dampen my spirits as I'm delighted to have reached this stage.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
