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Belt Sander: a Lathe-Driven Garnet-Belt Sander (Shop Notes, 1919)
A shop belt sander for dressing wood surfaces: a 6 in garnet-paper belt running over four crowned wooden pulleys, one driven by the lathe, pressed down onto the work with a hand float.
Best belt speed about 2,500 ft per minute; leave about 1 in between work and belt.
Source: Popular Mechanics Shop Notes for 1919, p. 3235. Picture: the article's drawing.
Intermediate
Unknown
Instructions
1
1
Turn the pulleys
Turn the pulleys
Build up four solid wood pulleys 10 in across with 8 in faces and turn them in the lathe with a very slight crown; too much crown harms the belt.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Board4 built-up pulleysTools needed:
Wood Lathe2
2
Mount the pulleys
Mount the pulleys
Mount one pulley on a firmly held arbor in the lathe and the other three on iron-pipe shafts on a frame (drawing). Turn and file a true journal on each pipe, pour babbitt bushings in the pulleys, and cut oil grooves in the pipe or babbitt. Supporting the shafts on one side lets the belt slip off; supporting both sides is stronger.
Materials for this step:
Steel Pipe (thick-walled, threaded ends)3 shafts
Unknown Metal1 babbitt bushings
Pine Lumber1 frameTools needed:
Metal File
Skimming Ladle
Hand Saw
Hammer3
3
Make the belt
Make the belt
Cut 6 in garnet paper (No. 1 1/2 for general work) so the ends just meet over the pulleys. Glue the smooth side at the joint, splice it with a strip of cloth about 1 in wide and then one about 3 in wide, cover each side with paper, and clamp between two small boards.
Materials for this step:
Sandpaper1 6 in garnet paper
Cotton Cloth1 piece
Animal Glue1 pieceTools needed:
C-Clamp4
4
Set up and run
Set up and run
Run the belt at about 2,500 ft per minute using the lathe's cone pulley. Set the work about 1 in below the belt on a table or a low sliding platform (two sets of tongue-and-groove joints at right angles), start the machine and press the belt down with a float like a blackboard eraser, or a roller.
Materials for this step:
Pine Lumber1 platform, floatTools needed:
Wood LatheMaterials
7- 4 built-up pulleysPlaceholder
- Placeholder
- 1 babbitt bushingsPlaceholder
- 1 platform, floatPlaceholder
- 1 6 in garnet paperPlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
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