sharpening belt sander from Lee Valley--need motor

[Zach England]

Does anyone have experience with this?

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...,43072&p=44884



I have decided I want a little slack belt sander for sharpening and this seems like a relatively low-cost way to try it out, but I need a motor for it. Can anyone recommend one or at least a site to use to look for one? I am not familiar with electric motors and the terminology and options available are a bit over my head.

Thanks, as always.

[Rick Fisher]

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.a...tname=electric

Check out this 1/3 hp motor..

It has a 1/2" Shaft, and is about the right size.. its $40.00

No idea how that machine would work, but motors that size are pretty cheap.. 1/3hp should be more than ample.


PS.. If you buy that .. I would get some extra belts.. they could be hard to find other than at lee valley..
I would love to hear how it works.. also like to know if they have any belts higher than 1000 grit..

I have Festool 6" ROS pads that are 1000 - 2000 and 4000 .. always wanted to figure out how to use them to sharpen chisels..

[Zach England]

OK, thanks. What would be the best way to slow it down? 3450 RPM seems a bit...um...dangerous?

[Dave Lehnert]

Lee Valley is a good place to get belts but 42" is a standard size. You can get a limited grit at Lowe's or Sears.

[Zach England]

Is there anything that uses the narrow belts and connects to a 6 inch bench grinder? I can find ones that use wider belts, but not these narrow ones.

[Ted Calver]

Zach,
I'm in the same boat. I ordered one of those and it has been sitting on a shelf in the garage waiting for me to find a motor. I know zip about motors. I wish Lee Valley would sell the darn motor too.

[John McClanahan]

I don't understand why Lee Valley doesn't also offer these with a motor installed.

I have a Craftsman 42" belt/disk sander that can run both 1" and 2" belts. It comes ready to use, and goes on sale for around $100.

John

[Ron Kellison]

I've had one of these for at least 10 years. I fitted it out with a used furnace motor (1/4 HP) that I got for free from an HVAC dealer in town. When they change out a furnace they usually just throw away the old squirrel cage blower & motor. Most of the time the motor just needs to be cleaned and lubed before you put it back into service. Another good source for small electric motors are the surplus shops.

I use this little sander for so many things! It's great for sharpening!! I generally use one of the 9-micron belts from Lee Valley which equate to roughly 1000 grit. I've used a leather belt with green sharpening paste for polishing. I have a wide assortment of belts for both metal shaping and sanding. If you can find a 3M Scotchbrite belt they are incredibly handy for removing rust and polishing metal.

The small table is a joke because the single wingnut which is supposed to lock the table down doesn't always do the job and the angle will change. I also had to shim beneath mine with masking tape to get it to stay at 90-degrees to the belt. This isn't a problem when sharpening a knife because you will be using a slack potion of the blade rather than pushing the knife against the backing plate. Leonard Lee demonstrates sharpening a kitchen knife with one of these units and he does it from the BACK side of the sander (1000-grit belt) and the edge of the blade pointed away from him. I can personally vouch for the fact that if the blade edge is pointed towards the belt it will slice through instantly and your expensive belt will just fall to the floor.

Get a motor, a few belts and adjust the table. You will be a happy camper!

Regards,

Ron

[Zach England]

I am starting to think that I might just get this one:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-X-...c-Sander/H8192

Then, with the disc, I could get rid of my worksharp, which does not really get used much anymore.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I bought one of the Viel belt sharpeners from Lee Valley.. I tossed a Grizzley 1/2 hp motor that was reversible on it, but the used furnace motor sounds like a great idea if you can fine one..

I am not a lathe wiz kid, but I find the machine is really great for sharpening Lathe tools. I outfitted the machine with a Oneway Wolverine and a Klingspor Gold 220 grit belt you can get a pretty impressively sharp tool very fast.

[Zach England]

Thanks for all the input. I think now I am leaning towards the Grizzly H8192 I linked to two posts above. Does anyone have any comments about that?

[John McClanahan]

If you want a belt sharpener on the cheap, Harbor Freight and Grizzly both sell a 1x30" sander. Klingspor has 1x30" belts as fine as 430 grit.

John

[Dave Lehnert]

If you want a belt sharpener on the cheap, Harbor Freight and Grizzly both sell a 1x30" sander. Klingspor has 1x30" belts as fine as 430 grit.

John

I have the Harbor Freight model and it is worth the $25 I gave for it but it moves way too fast for my liking.

I just picked up a used shopsmith unit ($25) and it works very well. You can also run it in reverse.


I know a lot of people just pass over the thought of a Shopsmith but they can be had used for a good price. Some make what is called a Mini Shopsmith and use to power the add on tools, A mini lathe, and an extra saw to set up a Dado set.

[mreza Salav]

I have the Lee Valley sander. Got a couple of motors (furnace fan) off Kijiji for $8 and $10. I have a 1/4hp on it and is sufficient.
I sharpen everything on it (lathe tools, chisels, carving tools, plane baldes, etc). The great thing about it is you can change belts (girts) in 3 seconds, really!
It's better to put a reverable motor on it as you might want to change the direction of belt movement.

Have been happy with mine.

[Callan Campbell]

I am starting to think that I might just get this one:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-X-...c-Sander/H8192

Then, with the disc, I could get rid of my worksharp, which does not really get used much anymore.

I have a Grizzly 1 x 42" belt sander/ disc sander, possibly the unit you're posting about[sorry, I can't get the link to load with my connection] I took the disc off since I have no need for it[multiple belt/disc sanders in my shop] and about the only trouble I have with the belt sander is that the tracking for the belt is a bit cranky. I never seem to get that smooth of a running across the steel platen that supports the belt. I too have a fairly cheesy support set-up for the steel table on my earlier model sander, you have to eyeball the table alot with a known square or angle setting since the single bolt doesn't hold the table locked in, much like the post on the Lee Valley unit.
I know Grizzly has updated this machine with a unit that has different tables and possibly a better belt tracking system. That's probably the one you gave us the link on. I like my older machine enough, even with its two short comings to say buy the newer Grizzly, or even a used older one like mine. The 42" belts seem much more common when shopping for replacements, so I wouldn't be tempted by a cheaper 1 x 30" unit that you see around for less money.
These little guys do so much freehand sharpening easily, I think they're like a secret tool that many woodworkers don't know about. I don't regret buying mine at all, and they take up very little bench space to boot.