1" X 42" belt sander

I have an old Rockwell 1 X 42" belt sander that has been sitting in my garage for 20 years because the surface material on some of the wheels has broken off. I researched it several years ago, and there was one guy who had some wheels made, and was selling them, but when I checked, he had already disappeared.

I was looking at a 1" Rikon belt sander at Rockler the other day, and it looked like a toy compared to mine. I have been bouncing ideas around, like using skate board wheels or using wheels off of casters, and found places on the web that sell wheels with bearings and flat surfaces. Problem is, they were all about an inch too large, as well as being 2" wide rather than the 1" I have. I think the spring adjustment would allow for the larger diameter wheels, but wonder about problems with the wider aspect. At about $10 per wheel I think I might be willing to play with it and see what I could do.

Any thoughts?

Rick

PS: I can see that the larger drive wheel would cause me to modify the table or its mount to bring the belt opening out farther. That seems feasible.

Rick, check out Kalamazoo sanders parts page. They still make parts for every sander they have ever made and may have some wheels that work. Some of the old Rockwell's look suspiciously like my Kalamazoo.

I have a dumpster rescue in my shop. I've thought about using MDF to make replacement wheels. Roller skate wheels may work better than skateboard wheels. VBX has most any bearing you could want.

Try JIM LIECHTY <jimliechty@yahoo.com> for wheels. I just order new ones for mine.

Cheers,

Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

I have the same sander. Bought in 1983. The idler wheel hard rubber surface split and came off. I have used it with no problems for the last 20 years using it with the outer surface missing.

Shopsmith manufactures a 1x42" strip sander.

http://www.shopsmith.com/service/stripsander/index.htm

+1 on JIM LIECHTY... great guy to work with!

Mike

Thanks guys,

Jim Liechty is the guy I tried to contact several years ago, with no reply. I will give him a shot.

The ShopSmith sander wheels won't fit, thank goodness. The price to buy a set is $127.10.

Tempting fix Duane, I will keep it as a last resort.

Jim, I read about guys making them out of aluminum bar as well as wood..

Thanks again,
Rick

If this is a hub with a tire on it, there companies who can recover your hub. Western Roller comes to mind, there are others.

Tony Joyce