Welcome back everyone we're here in the middle of nowhere we're doing some work
getting our boots dirty and there's nothing worse than having to do some
grinding in the field so I've been inspired to build something I would love
to be able to just grab the go-kart belt grinder from the shop throw it over my
shoulder pull it anywhere and grind anything it's definitely the best tool
for the job but the thing is a 750 pound beast that also needs that nuclear power
point energy it's just not feasible I'm gonna be answering the question that
nobody's asked can I build something like the go-kart belt grinder in order
to make this grinder work we're gonna have to start from scratch I think we're
gonna start off with two wheels that I'm gonna machine out on the lathe we attach
a frame that's gonna space the wheels out to run a 2 by 42 inch belt and then
power it by some sort of power unit to help drive these two wheels in order to
have the best power unit it needs to be compact lightweight wieldy versatile
portable rugged dependable and of course powerful
the chainsaw it's been perfected over the last hundred years it's definitely
the best tool to use can I make the most powerful portable belt grinder let's
head back to the shop and see if I can build a chainsaw powered belt grinder so
here's my plan I'm gonna be reusing the clutch off the side of the chainsaw I
want to add this flexible coupling to drive the wheel so I got to figure out
how I'm gonna add this coupling to this clutch so let's tackle that next
now that the driveline and the axle have been machined out I want to build a
billet aluminum drive wheel so let's build ourselves one that'll be able to
handle the RPMs this piece is sixty sixty one seven inch round will work
nicely for this wheel
I've got the billet aluminum wheel all finished up we've got the groove inside
here for the belt hopefully this will help the belt track it such ridiculous
rpms as you can see the pulleys flopping around on this flexible driveshaft
coupler so we're gonna need to tie the pulley in and give it some support to
the frame of the power unit so let's tackle that next
here's what we got I went ahead and made two Drive rollers one is just a hard
wheel that has some crown in it and then one's a contact wheel that you'd
normally see on a belt disc sander and we'll play around with which one works
best so we can change these out when need be and then we have this pull out
sleeve and this is what's gonna provide the tension for the belt so here's the
spring that I'm using it's off of a porch swing that I got from Home Depot
and I've actually cut it in half and then I had to grind down the the
diameter so it fits nice and snug in there so really like the way this looks
so strap next and a platen and we'll get this thing going
Oh smell of leather
holy moly I didn't have this ten years ago I think the concept for a portable
belt grinder is totally doable now that I know that it works we can make the
scream out aluminum to tried to lighten it up a little bit more the strap worked
great I can just let go of the saw and it just swings to my side I don't have
to drop it in the mud power holy smokes this thing has a lot
of power having a flat platen on the grinder man amazing I've never had that
accessibility for out here in the field bail tracking spot-on worked way better
than I anticipated it not having you those moving parts to come loose just
adding these two rails on the side the best thing ever I think this fits right
in with the arsenal is my chainsaw and my hot saw know I got my portable
grinder too and I can just throw all three in the back of the truck and I can
almost do anything pretty special that was super fun thank you guys for joining
me I gotta get back to work and I'll catch you on the next one