# 2x72 Belt Grinder Lathe Attachment?



## Ack (Mar 13, 2009)

Has anyone ever seen or attempted to make a 2x72 belt grinder that attaches to the headstock of a lathe? 

This is mostly out of curiosity.... But with the right design this could be a very cool set up to grind different materials. Or am I off base here? Anyone share my vision? Lol

I YouTube'd the idea but didn't come across anything.... Just wondering what others have seen in their journeys.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

If it attaches to the back of the headstock it might work, but I would never consider a sharpening tool that requires me to remove what I was turning.


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

Well I don't see why it couldn't be done. However I use my handwheel a lot and it would drive me nuts if I had something attached to it and couldn't grab it whenever I want to inspect a piece of put a chuck on and off. Look at the Nova Comet. They have lots of attachments that fit on the hand wheel side of the lathe.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It might be simpler to get a grinding wheel attachment to fit the left side of the headstock.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*maybe not a great idea ....*

First, there is the metal particles that will get onto your ways and maybe into your project.

Second, there is the possibility of a hot spark igniting some fine dust around the machine.

Shielding for safety could be cumbersome?

A dedicated sharpening machine just makes more sense to me, although a variable speed grinder does have some advantages.


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## Ack (Mar 13, 2009)

I dabble in some Knife making so that's what I use the 2x72 for. I was sort of envisioning an attachment the slides up in similar fashion as your tail stock does and connects to your head stock, which would spin the belt in some way. 

I guess I was looking for something that could be slid on and off the lathe bed. Not sure how practical it would be but it might work.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

Grinding around a lathe is never a good thing.


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

Here is the Nova Comet to give you some ideas.
http://www.teknatool.com/products/lathes/CometII/Nova_CometII.htm


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Ack said:


> Has anyone ever seen or attempted to make a 2x72 belt grinder that attaches to the headstock of a lathe?
> 
> This is mostly out of curiosity.... But with the right design this could be a very cool set up to grind different materials. Or am I off base here? Anyone share my vision? Lol
> 
> I YouTube'd the idea but didn't come across anything.... Just wondering what others have seen in their journeys.


I've never come across anybody actually using their lathe to either run a sanding belt or wheel. Occasionally a newbie will ask why nobody does it. The answer which has already been stated several times is that the grit is not something that you want on the lathe. Even a single particle can make a mess of sliding the tailstock or tool rest or ruining the Morse taper socket in the headstock or tailstock. Things are bad enough with wood shavings, but at least they don't cause actual damage to the metal.

I've seen a Harbor Freight lathe that has an outboard sanding disk. If Harbor Freight does something, that is sufficient reason to not do it. :laughing:

One other factor that hasn't been mentioned is speed. If you have a turning that is large and out of balance mounted on the lathe, it will be necessary to remove it before sharpening. Otherwise, the whole lathe and sharpening assembly will be shaking and that will prevent you from getting a good edge on the tool.

Just buy an 8" slow speed grinder (slow speed is relative, in this instance it means 1800 RPM as opposed to 3600 RPM) for about a hundred bucks and outfit it with a couple Norton 3X aluminum oxide/ceramic matrix wheels (approximately 40 grit and 80 grit) and you will be good to go. There are lower cost white aluminum oxide wheels (hardness J or K) that will work just fine. The only drawback iws the huge amount of grit that flies all over the place.

Next, you will want to get a Wolverine fixture and a Varigrind jig or equivalent to sharpen your tools. A few turners use belt sanders of various kinds to sharpen their tools. Unless you get one that is specifically designed for sharpening woodturning tools, you will next have the issue of designing a way to hold the sharpening jigs. It seems that most turners like the hollow grind from the grinding wheel because it enables them to hone their tools with a diamond pocket hone.


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## Jim Beam (Oct 10, 2012)

Ack said:


> Has anyone ever seen or attempted to make a 2x72 belt grinder that attaches to the headstock of a lathe?
> 
> This is mostly out of curiosity.... But with the right design this could be a very cool set up to grind different materials. Or am I off base here? Anyone share my vision? Lol
> 
> I YouTube'd the idea but didn't come across anything.... Just wondering what others have seen in their journeys.


There is a plan for making this in the current issue of Popular Woodworking.


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## Jim Beam (Oct 10, 2012)

My bad. There is a complete set of plans and instructions in the current issue of Woodsmith magazine.


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