has anyone tried these?

[Fadcode]

seen this little grinder on evilbay, just wondering if anyone has tried them, £87 each

link. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-New-9...-Sander-Sanding-Grinding-Machine/132705078296

 

[Wayne]

At that price it might be worth a punt.

 

[Bionic]

My only concern would be availability of replacement belts. To my mind it’s not a size I can recall seeing particularly although that could just be me

 

[mikehill]

Can't see any tracking adjustment ..
Ahh .. "angle adjustment wheel"
I doubt it can be great at that price but would love to see a review too

 

[Fadcode]

If anyone decides to have a go at one, let us know , and a review would be most helpful,

 

[greencloud]

I can't see it being much cop except for sharpening or maybe model making. At 950w running 2 belts its hugely under-powered. I also second the concern about odd belt size.

For comparison, I have made good use of an Aldi belt grinder which cost all of around £40 but the belts for that (50x686mm iirc) are still a faff to source varied grits outside of specialist abrasives suppliers.

I recently got a 1x30 with 125mm disc on the side from Axminster for a similar price (£82 but was on sale with a fiver off) and forgiving the small platen its incredibly versatile & effective - plenty of belts around too.

 

[mikehill]

I think the Axminster one is almost the same as the Machine Mart one. Good little starter machine. John on EM does good belts for it too

 

[snappingturtle]

680mm I wonder if that is a floor sander belt size, I converted my Lidil sander to run about that size, I just had to cut the belts down the center to fit but then each belt made two.

 

[HillBill]

My only concern would be availability of replacement belts. To my mind it’s not a size I can recall seeing particularly although that could just be me

You can get belts made to any size you want..

 

[HillBill]

To me, the adjustable speed is the big plus for that. You need to run at slower speeds for finer grit belts.. it could be a good bevel finishing grinder, or sharpening system with a few little mods.

 

[Bionic]

You can get belts made to any size you want..

Thats true but how does that compare price wise? I’ve never looked in to it because I assumed it would be uneconomic. I’ve got a little belt grinder I bought cheap a few years ago that I haven’t used since I got the last ounce out of the belts it came with so if you could give some pointers as to where is reasonably priced I’d be eternally grateful

 

[Dave Budd]

For that price, who knows.
There is no tracking wheel. The 'angle adjustment wheel' is actually the adjustable angle platen. The power is ok fo the size, you aren't using both belts at the same time even though they are both running. Think of it like a belt version of a bench grinder, with both sides fitted with abrasives to maintain balance on the motor spindles

Belts made to order are often the same price as off the shelf, but you often have minimum order sizes for each grit (normally 10 belts per grit). The fact that this is factory made suggests that the belts probably are available from proper abrasive suppliers (ie not b&q). Somewhere like abtec or bnd both make the belts up

 

[HillBill]

Thats true but how does that compare price wise? I’ve never looked in to it because I assumed it would be uneconomic. I’ve got a little belt grinder I bought cheap a few years ago that I haven’t used since I got the last ounce out of the belts it came with so if you could give some pointers as to where is reasonably priced I’d be eternally grateful

What size belts does your machine use?
As Dave said above, they are not any more expensive than off the shelf belts... Just a bit more of a wait for them to be made.
That machine in the link uses a very small belt. 40 x 680mm... so individually, the belts will be cheap, but you will use more belts because of the shortness of them.
Even in ceramic, you will likely only pay about £20 for 10.
My main grinder runs belts size 150 x 1220mm... I pay about £110 for 10 in each grit size in ceramic.. or about £35 in alu oxide
My radius master has belt size 50x 1220mm, so same length but a third of the width, and they literally cost a third of the price.
The grinder in the link... the belts are just over half as long and little narrower.. So the price would be around half of those on my radius master So maybe £20 in ceramic for 10... probably less than £10 in alu oxide.

 

[HillBill]

Just to add, after looking more closely at the pictures.. the platens are wider than the belts by a fair bit, and as the machine has to tracking ability, you wont be able to do plunge cuts with without cutting off some of the platen so they are the same width as the belt. But I suspect the belt will wander a little under pressure, which is why the platen is wider.

 

[Bionic]

That’s worth knowing about the made to order belts, thanks. Hopefully I’ll get my little old machine up and running again