My New Burnisher/ Sander Setup.

[billymac814]

Here's my finished burnisher/sander I put together today. I've been wanting the one weavers sells for a while now but its expensive and I was afraid that the large diameter burnisher part wouldn't work on a lot of my inside curves.

Prior to this I had my wooden burnisher mounted directly to a motor, this allows me to add a sanding drum and it keeps the pressure off of the motor shaft as I went through 2 motors that way. I can't say for sure that's why they went bad though.

The motor I found at a flea market since my old one was hand start only as of lately and the other piece I got from Lee Valley. The sanding drum is one I had that mounts in a drill chuck, I removed the mandrel and drilled it out to fit over the shaft. The wood burnisher I've had for a few years now and below that is felt disks sandwiched between two washers, its good for creating heat and melting wax onto the edge. I also had the chuck as its what was on my motor. I have about 60 bucks or so invested not counting what I already had, it would cost about 100-150 if you had to buy everything to put it together, the biggest variable is the motor as they can be found for 10-15 bucks or bought new for 100+. Either way its significantly cheaper than the 500.00 Weaver one, the Weaver one is a lot nicer looking but that's not a big concern.

Edited February 18, 2013 by billymac814

[electrathon]

Looks good but I would recomend swapping sides with the sander and the burnisher. The poker on the burnisher is going to hurt you sticking out in the open like that.

[billymac814]

Looks good but I would recomend swapping sides with the sander and the burnisher. The poker on the burnisher is going to hurt you sticking out in the open like that.

Unfortunately that's not an option, one side is left hand thread. It won't hurt me though as there's a machine right beside it so its not anywhere I walk.

[Beaverslayer]

That looks real good Billy, well done. I would say that the main reason your old motors burned out, was because your burnisher was "direct mounted" to the motor. What this does, is cause side thrust on the bearings causing extra load and increasing the temperature of the motor, as well as prematurely killing the bearings. You won't have a problem with this setup.

One thing you may want to consider is a bigger pulley on the motor. This will increase the speed of the shaft that the burnisher and sanding drum are on, and will speed up your production time. I also noticed that your belt isn't that tight and there is not real easy way to tighten it as time goes on. If you were to change that 4L370 belt to an "A" section 37 inch belt, it will grip the pulleys a whole lot better even if it is a bit loose. An "A" section belt is "cogged" on the inside and has a much better power transfer ratio than a 4L belt.

Again, good work, it's nice to see ingenuity in the shop.

Just took another look at the "Business" end as immiketoo mentioned it. I see there are no grease nipples installed on the pillow blocks, unless they are "sealed" bearings on those, you should put grease nipples in them and keep them greased up, otherwise they will burn out in no time.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Beaverslayer

[immiketoo]

That's really slick. I like it and I want to make one, but I have NO idea how all the stuff at the business end attaches together!

[billymac814]

Thanks for the info, I was considering playing around with the speed, the reason I chose to go with the 1750 is mainly because that's what the Weaver one was set to, I don't think I'd want to double it but if I could go about 1/2" bigger on the pulley that would probably be good.

The belt isn't as tight as I'd have hoped however I don't get any slippage so I didn't worry about it, otherwise I was thinking about making some sort of hinge on the back of the motor with a screw type adjustment in the front to give me a little adjustment, Ill look into the clogged type belt though.

Lee Valley also sells one with the sealed bearings, I should have probably got that one, this one just has bushings, I didn't realize that when ordering it. Would grease cups still be a good idea? I did put a few drops of oil in the holes.

This stuff isn't my area of expertise so I'm pretty much winging it here with stuff I had laying around. Also I bought that motor and it didn't have any mounting brackets on it and none of the ones I had would work so that's why I had to make up my own, it would be much easier to buy one with mounting brackets.

That looks real good Billy, well done. I would say that the main reason your old motors burned out, was because your burnisher was "direct mounted" to the motor. What this does, is cause side thrust on the bearings causing extra load and increasing the temperature of the motor, as well as prematurely killing the bearings. You won't have a problem with this setup.

One thing you may want to consider is a bigger pulley on the motor. This will increase the speed of the shaft that the burnisher and sanding drum are on, and will speed up your production time. I also noticed that your belt isn't that tight and there is not real easy way to tighten it as time goes on. If you were to change that 4L370 belt to an "A" section 37 inch belt, it will grip the pulleys a whole lot better even if it is a bit loose. An "A" section belt is "cogged" on the inside and has a much better power transfer ratio than a 4L belt.

Again, good work, it's nice to see ingenuity in the shop.

Just took another look at the "Business" end as immiketoo mentioned it. I see there are no grease nipples installed on the pillow blocks, unless they are "sealed" bearings on those, you should put grease nipples in them and keep them greased up, otherwise they will burn out in no time.

It really just screws together, its not that difficult, if you decide to do it and have questions of where to get the parts let me know and I'll direct you to where I got it.

That's really slick. I like it and I want to make one, but I have NO idea how all the stuff at the business end attaches together!

[billymac814]

This thing is basically the same setup as an old fashioned grinder that you'll often see at flea markets and hard sales, someone could always start off with those too.

If I was doing this again I would run my 2x4s back farther towards the motor, I'm finding that the board is flexing enough because of the tension of the belt if it wasn't hanging off the edge I could screw it down and that would solve it but I wanted it hanging off to make it easier to do belts

[electrathon]

For belt tension you only want the belt tight enough to keep it from slipping. Any tighter and you are putting undue stress/heat on the motor bushings. For oil, if there are no oil ports, do not worry about it. If there are ports use only motor bearing oil. Many people use the wrong oil and do more damage then if they would let it run dry. Modern bearings are pretty good quality and hold oil well inside the metal.

[Northmount]

This shouldn't need much belt tension since there is not a heavy load on the belt. If you are pressing hard enough to make the belt slip, you will be deforming the edge of the leather. That said, you probably burned out the other motors due to overloading them (1/10 HP is not very much power). Also a lot of used motors have been run without being oiled for years, oiled with the wrong oil, etc. so the bushings get sticky, overloading the motor. If the bushings are an oil impregnated bronze, oiling them may actually wash the oil out of them.

Tom

[evandailey]

Lee Valley also sells one with the sealed bearings, I should have probably got that one, this one just has bushings, I didn't realize that when ordering it. Would grease cups still be a good idea? I did put a few drops of oil in the holes.

I can't tell exactly from the pictures, but are those holes on top of the pillow blocks perhaps for grease zerks? They may be set screws or something else. That just looked like where grease zerks would go.

[billymac814]

The belt really isn't tight at all as you can tell from the pictures, the end curves up very slightly even with the loose tension. Theres no real way of getting it too tight as its impossible to get the belt on, this was as tight as i could get it and still work it on. I think if it was a thinner belt it would be easier to get on but this thing is really thick and not too flexible at all, its different than the thinner belts on sewing machines where its fairly easy to walk them onIt doesn't slip and the curve of the board is so slight(maybe 1/8") that I'm not concerned with it but if I was doing it again I'd still extend the 2x4s back farther to make it more rigid. I also only had a short piece of a 2x4 laying around so I was using what I had.

I'm not pressing that hard, if I was it would actually tighten the belt.

This definitely just has bushings, it does have two holes on the top, are these oil holes? It doesn't mention oil or anything in the instructions it came with. I'm not too concerned really, if for some reason I have a problem Ill replace it with one with bearings

The motor is 1/3 hp, so were the other two I've been using but those two were both used and quite old motors so its hard to say what kind of life they had and if I burned them out. The one is still fine but the start up (capacitor?) no longer works so I had to spin it to start it, I didn't want to do that anymore with this one. This motor is off of a sump pump which already had a switch on it so I didn't have to worry about a switch.

I haven't used it yet other than to test it to make sure the belt didn't slip, I'll report back if there's any issues but I don't foresee having any major issues.

[Beaverslayer]

Billy, if the pillow blocks have bushings rather than bearings, then you do not have to oil or grease them. Over time, depending on the amount of use, the bushings will get worn and your shaft will wobble. Once this happens then you can replace them with sealed bearing pillow blocks and they will outlast your leather business.

If you put a few more screws into the base it should reduce the flexing of that plywood. One of the main reasons you would want the belt tight, is to reduce belt wear (kind of like wheel balancing/alignment) if the belt bounces while rotating, then the belt will wear in a funny pattern, then the whole thing will vibrate over time. By using an "A" section belt with the cogs the belt will compress smaller and contact the pulleys on more of the surface and allow for less belt tension.

[billymac814]

There's no where to put any more screws, I could put a filler block under it and get screws a little farther out past where the table ends. Its very slight though, it was more pronounced before I screwed it to the table, now its just the very end and hardly noticeable.

I don't foresee me wearing this out any time soon but next time I will get the one with bearings. I assumed this one had bearings and the other one had heavier bearings by the way it was worded. As soon as it starts to wobble ill replace it.

Are those belts you're talking about the same width and are they as heavy and stiff as this one? I just picked this up at tractor supply along with the pulley, I didn't pay much attention to it other than the 1/2 wide part and picked a length I thought would work.

One other thing I may do is put a shield behind the sanding drum to keep some of the sawdust from flying around everywhere. I'd rather it end up on the floor than the bench.

[needles]

i like it it cool.... I want one.....

[Beaverslayer]

Yes an "A" section belt is pretty much the same width as a 4L belt, there's a good chance the tractor supply place will have them. If you've ever looked at the belts on your car engine, you'll notice that now-a-days they are all "cogged", a far superior design over the solid belt. Here's a picture with a bit of information on a cogged belt:

If you ask for an AX37 or an AX36 either one should be a stock item.

Good idea about the dust guard, that way the motor wont fill up with flammable particles and cause some unwanted reactions.

[billymac814]

Thanks, that looks like it would make it more flexible too which might be a good thing.

I have a big sheet of kydex that I don't use much, I might use that as the guard. I noticed the older weaver setup has a guard but the one in their catalog doesn't. Its handy having the sanding drum right here to use. In my old shop I had a belt sander near by and used it but the new shop I've been using my finisher its not as close by, not a big deal when I'm doing larger runs but for the occasional use this will be handy to have right at my bench.

[Beaverslayer]

The flexibility of the belt is what makes it far superior than a regular belt.

I designed and engineered car washes for 20 years in a past life, I spent a lot of time designing drive systems for them. I used to know by memory the formulas to determine the horsepower transfer from the motor to the item being driven, but all that eludes me today, not that you would need to know this.

Glad to be of help in your quest to make your shop more efficient.

[billymac814]

Ill order a belt the next time I place an order at McMaster Carr. I don't get to Tractor supply too often and I don't recall seeing the clogged ones there.

Thanks again for the info

The flexibility of the belt is what makes it far superior than a regular belt.

I designed and engineered car washes for 20 years in a past life, I spent a lot of time designing drive systems for them. I used to know by memory the formulas to determine the horsepower transfer from the motor to the item being driven, but all that eludes me today, not that you would need to know this.

Glad to be of help in your quest to make your shop more efficient.

[SOB Holsters]

nice work man, that's awesome!

[billymac814]

I made the dust shield today, it was a fairly simple ordeal but should at least minimize the dust a little bit or at least concentrate it to one spot instead of all over. I secured it with snaps just in case its ever in the way ill be able to easily remove it.

[needles]

nice work, i want to play in your shop, its got loads and loads of toys......

al

[billymac814]

nice work, i want to play in your shop, its got loads and loads of toys......

al

I do have my share of toys, I doubt ill ever have enough toys though. If you're ever in the area feel free to stop by

[needles]

thanks if i get the chance to travel over, I'll definitely pop in, I'm a typical English tea-holic though so you'll need to get the kettle on...he he

[AndyL1]

Nice work on this man! I've been thinking hard on how to go about moving my burnisher from my cordless drill to a more hands free setup. This is great! Now to hunt for a used motor.

Side note: Thanks for the info on your shop press mod. I got mine all squared away yesterday and can't wait to start using it. Need to get my dies made up.

Thanks,

Andy

[billymac814]

You might have to settle for coffee. I do lack a stove. That's one toy I don't have

thanks if i get the chance to travel over, I'll definitely pop in, I'm a typical English tea-holic though so you'll need to get the kettle on...he he