2x72 teaser shot

Mike Jones

Google Master
I finally got around to cutting out the frame for my 2x72" NWG (will be welded in the end though) Only have the basic frame cut out, no holes drilled yet.
hpim1776.jpg

hpim1777.jpg


My drive wheel is homemade too! (and so will my tracking)
hpim1778.jpg

hpim1779.jpg

Made of 8 layers of 5 ply 1/4" Baltic Birch (Russian Birch) welded to/bolted onto a 11" bolt that I found for about $1.50 that I put a key slot in.

What'cha think!?!?
 
Will do, Bill.

It's going to be quite different from a regular NWG, because of the circumstances of the materials. I had an easier time getting 12 feet of 2" x 3/16" square tubing than trying to get the 4x4, 1x1 and whatever else was in the instructions, so that's all it's made out of, and then of course, the 1.5" tool arm.

I ended up spending $110 on a motor, $50 on the steel, and about $35 on all the nuts and bolts (including the "drive shaft" bolt) and $16 for a 5x5 sheet of baltic birch plywood. I'm guessing I'll spend another $60 on the step pulleys and the link belt, and then hopefully only $60 on a 4" and 8" contact wheel total. I'm really hoping to get this thing under $350.

By the way, I got a REVERSIBLE motor specifically for this project. Hint hint ;) (even though you advised against my idea, Tracy) I hope to be getting most of this put together this weekend, and hopefully have the wheels in in a few weeks.
 
Well I just ordered the two contact wheels that I'm getting, just about $30 for both, including shipping :eek: 70a durometer, precision ball bearings, :eek: Shipping was 1/3 of the cost too! I'll definitely let you guys (especially Tracy) know how they work, because I mean... <$20 for a 8" wheel is a pretty good price, even if it won't have square cornered edges (I think it means rougher plunge lines probably)

I'll be ordering the step pulleys (and link belt) and a few belts from USAKM soon.

Once I get the step pulleys and the link belt, I'll be finishing up the drive wheel.
 
Well I just ordered the two contact wheels that I'm getting, just about $30 for both, including shipping :eek: 70a durometer, precision ball bearings, :eek: Shipping was 1/3 of the cost too! I'll definitely let you guys (especially Tracy) know how they work, because I mean... <$20 for a 8" wheel is a pretty good price, even if it won't have square cornered edges (I think it means rougher plunge lines probably)

I'll be ordering the step pulleys (and link belt) and a few belts from USAKM soon.

Once I get the step pulleys and the link belt, I'll be finishing up the drive wheel.

Those rounded corners seem like it will make it hard to get a smooth grind good luck .i used a grizzly 10" wheel on mine and had bearings installed. it works great. but a contact wheel is no where to scimp. let me know how it works or doesn't work
 
Those rounded corners seem like it will make it hard to get a smooth grind good luck .i used a grizzly 10" wheel on mine and had bearings installed. it works great. but a contact wheel is no where to scimp. let me know how it works or doesn't work

I bet it won't seem too bad, coming from a HF 1x30 :eek: But thanks for the heads up that it could cause some issues. I'll probably take some sandpaper with a file backing to give a more squared corner, once the wheels are delivered.
 
Just make sure that you have room for your drive wheel. I see that your bottom bars are shorter that the plans make sure it mounts to the end of your bench or you wont have enough clearance . 2thumbs looks great so far....
 
Jeff: If you mean shorter as in height wise, they're 2" square, and the drive wheel should have enough clearance (at least an inch, so I'll probably stack 1.5" square on top of it). Right now, setting the drive wheel on the 2" square, it has about 1/2" clearance, so stacking 1.5" would give about 2". (that should be enough, right?)

Thanks for all of your help so far, Jeff. :D
 
Well my contact wheels arrived today. The 4x2" wheel seems really nice, but the 8x2" is smaller than I had expected.

The 4" wheel had a bit of a radius on the corners, but I will probably square it up if it's an issue.

The 8" wheel... It's not very much of an 8x2" wheel. With the taper from the 2" down to the "face" of the wheel, it goes to about 1.5" at the very flat part. I'll sand part of it off, to give me a 7.5" wheel or something around there, and then it will be probably about 1.75" wide. Is that a major issue, if I track the belt to one side when I'm working on plunges? Here's two pictures.

hpim1798.jpg

hpim1800.jpg


Hope someone can help answer if 1.75" is an okay size, or if in the worst case scenario, I split my belts to be a little narrower.
 
I got one of each of those to look. I was NOT encouraged by the 8x2. I think that isn't going to work at all. It is simply too narrow.
The smaller one MIGHT work as an idler but I wasn't encouraged by that either.
I tossed them. (what good is one caster wheel)

If you can get that outfit to have a true 2" wide tread, it might be something to look at.
 
Thanks for letting me know, Tracy. I'll still try it out, because I have it and it won't cost me anything more to try, but I won't get my hopes up too high.
 
Please have all your safety equipment on when you fire it up and try it. I know from experiance that a belt slapping you hurts like H__L! But on the brite side IT'S looking good dog! Keep going and make it pretty.
 
Good luck.. Do you have anymore build pictures...

No new pictures yet. Now that I have all of the parts I need, I will be able to keep working. I couldn't do too much until I had that 4" wheel, and I had to get some 2" x 1/8" steel for a flat platen extension, and I needed a few longer bolts, and I got those too, so I SHOULD be done shopping mostly now. And with a 3 day weekend coming up, I'll be able to get most of it done then.

I really appreciate your interest in this build. It won't be disappointing :)
 
Just wanted to say that I'm still working on this, and right now I just glued up the plywood pieces for the tracking wheel. I'm going to be making a tutorial of how to make one. It's really inexpensive to make, because the plywood was $16 for a 5x5 sheet, *Used some of it for the drive wheel too*, and the bearings for it were about $3 each, so I only have about $8 in this tracking wheel.

I should be bolting a bit today, and then the rest will be done tomorrow and Monday.
 
The smaller wheel looks like it just might be ideal as a tracking wheel.
Good luck on the larger wheel. 2thumbs
 
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