I have lots of pics so if you want to see all of them without interrupting commentary, please hold off on any comments until you see my post labeled "Finale". That said here we go.

Started building this close to a year ago and have finally got it into a usable form. A 2x72 Belt Grinder/Sander, made mostly from two $5 yard-sale treadmills and salvaged material I already had. These grinder/sanders are typically used by knife makers but they are very useful for most any grinding/sanding operation. Only work left to do on it is mounting it onto a stand and a paint job. It is just setting on my table-saw out-feed at the moment but still very usable. I designed it to be switchable from vertical to horizontal and to be able to pivot the flat platen and a 10" contact wheel in and out without having to have a separate off machine storage location for either.

Purchased parts, BTW it was not that cheap and I did not build it to save money, mostly just for the experience :

I believe this is everything I purchased.
SprdShtPurchase.jpg

Some pics of purchased Items: The "D" platen, contact wheel, tracking wheel, and the electronics enclosure.
Purchased.jpg IMG_3821.jpg


I am sure a lot of you will recognize the Oneway grinding fixture base/lock. I used a 40psi gas spring for tension.

WolverineJigBase.jpg 51mMM1sQmTL._SL1100_.jpg

The build:
Treadmill Motor Mod (Don't need steel grinding dust inside a permanent magnet motor)
Just realized that about $20 can be added to the cost for plumbing parts used to mod the motor.
Used a PVC adapter, floor drain, and magnets to hold filter material to capture grinding dust that might migrate back to the motor. It's not shown but I replaced the three wires with a round power cord and install a liquid tight fitting for the cord. In the processed I also reversed the rotation of the motor(switched the red and black wires in the cord.
IMG_3258.jpg IMG_3269.jpg IMG_3270.jpg

To be continued, out of pic space.