Rob, You are the encyclopedia of helpful hints. It is great that someone on the other side of the world brings so many good tips into my shop. Thanks again.
I hope to see you one day Rob on my bucket list is to see the mountain ash---go up the Murray and then to Normanton to see that giant croc cast---I am 70 so i had better pull my finger out..I am in the best state of Oz in wa
Another tip. With your open belt setup on that machine, you can use the back of the belt to get a polished finish. Just don't get the stock near the rollers.
I got onto the idea of buying 4" (100mm) belts and cutting them in half, with a craft knife by placing the belt around a block of wood and cutting them in half. I did not realise they were so easy to tear by hand.
Thanks for that Rob. I have a 'Power file', which is basically a narrow (12mm in my case) belt sander. 12mm belts are hellishly expensive, but I can get 3" belts locally, with the correct loop length quite cheaply. I had wondered about cutting them to size, but never realised that they would just rip down like you showed. Fantastic tip Sir!
I hadn't thought of tearing up my old belts. That's a great tip. I recently acquired a very old belt sander that took belts which were half an inch larger than anything I could buy. It was a very satisfying job to modify it to work with the smaller belts. Now I don't know how I ever managed without one! I've built some wooden guards for mine so that I can hook up my shop vac and it makes almost no mess or dust.
Hi Rob, Useful tip One man's junk is another man's useful resource! A lot of times it is all in how you view something. A item may no longer work the way it was intended to work, but there could be a way to use an item for something else or as a valuable source of parts or a resource material. Think of Rob finding that aluminium wheel by the side of the road. Most people would look at it as a wheel or perhaps potential scrap metal money, but Rob looked at it as a source of quality aluminium. People throw things out all the time, they may no longer wish to use an item, they are de-cluttering their lives, the person who owned it may have left or died, having a garage sale is too much hassle. Sometimes something simple may have broken or worn out and the people do not have the skill set [or time] required to fix things. I have even heard a story about someone finding a large screen TV on the nature strip, perfect working order just the batteries in the remote were flat, some people are that stupid. Of course some people have upgraded their TV's to flat screen or HD or HD plus whatever.
It's amazing what gets tossed out for sure. I picked up my woodworking bandsaw off the kerbside (in pieces and including the motor) and put it together and it's great. So wasteful these days. Cheers Rob
Thanks for that. I was looking for videos dealing with belt bump and found an unexpected solution in this video. I have a 2"x24" grinder and can only get low grade belts locally, which suffer badly from belt bump. However, when I checked my Makita belt sander it has 4"x24" sanding belts and I can get good quality belts for it. I just cut one in half and fitted it to my 2"x42" and no belt bump.
Make your rollers wider Rob to take a 4 inch belt--might save some mucking around..I made a double belt sander 4" wide and 48 inch long--one heavy grit- one fine..Its a go to tool for a lot of people..Easy to make so why not.. I like your videos--- always provoke thought..
I could Ian, but this works OK for me. I've had the old girl a very long time. Never seen another one like it anywhere. Super useful machine. Cheers Rob
Nice tricks Rob. Thats a great sander. I bought a Ryobi a couple of years ago and it is crap. I probably need to put a bigger motor on it. I got a couple of belts over 10 years ago. They were from a very large industrial sander over 6 ft long and 2 .5 ft wide. Still using the material and still save all the small pieces as you say the more you use it the finer it gets. regards from the UK
Hi Gary, You occasionally see the old 1970's smallish Taiwanese linishers going for about $50 on Gumtree (like Craigs list) and they are a good buy. That's what I would get if I was looking for one. The later stuff seems a bit crappy, as you say (and not cheap either). Cheers from Oz. Rob
@@Xynudu Yeah now I have had the belt sander a while stuff the bench grinder..The only bench grinder that gets turned on is the green stone grinder for tungsten carbide
Right Oh Daddy Oh, Have an ancient American made knife sharpener that like yours is ok for length but not width. Hmm , can I cut in half, yes you can says Aussie Jack & here is how you do it. Twice as nice at half the price & I thank you Big Time. Thanks again from frozen solid minus 45 degrees celsius Canadian prairie boy.
If you can get belts cheap, or free, and cut them down, you're on a winner. To try and split them any other way would be pretty difficult. This is a dead easy trick the belt man showed me, and I thought it was worth a video. Cheers Rob
Even though it didn't come with that motor, you did well to find that linisher for $5, Rob. Can I ask how powerful that motor is? And how well does it perform? Glenn.
Hi Glenn, The motor is a Chinese made 1/3 hp. It has plenty of power for that application. You will never stall it, as the sanding belt will slip first. It's an almost identical motor to that on my small/medium sized wood bandsaw. Cheers Rob
Thanks for the reply Rob. That's great news. Been looking around for a motor to make a linisher. I've been under the impression that I need at least 1/2hp. But just this week I grabbed two 1/3hp motors out of my neighbours hard rubbish. Sounds like I might be in business.
It depends on how big the sanding belt surface area is, and the corresponding friction/drag, and the belt speed. Many home built linishers are quite large (for some strange reason), so 1/2 HP may be required, particularly if the belt speed is high (which puts more load on the motor). But for small/slow ones like mine, a 1/3 works fine - much the same as the wattage of most hand held belt sanders. Cheers Rob
Good tip. Now I am thinking there must be a method of tapering the ends and making up the belts from long strips, which we can buy from Harbor Freight. Do you have Harbor Freight in Australia?
No Harbor Freight in Australia. I have seen a video on RUclips where a guy shows how to join belt ends to make your own from long strips. I've never tried it. I can't say if you would save much. Just so long as they stay joined. Cheers Rob
Hi Rob ! I hope you're NOT right about this 2" wide ... I just made mine for 50mm wide belts ! ... but IF you're right we have to use you nifty lirrle trick ;-))
Good tip, thanks mate!
Cheers from the US!
Rob, You are the encyclopedia of helpful hints. It is great that someone on the other side of the world brings so many good tips into my shop. Thanks again.
I hope to see you one day Rob on my bucket list is to see the mountain ash---go up the Murray and then to Normanton to see that giant croc cast---I am 70 so i had better pull my finger out..I am in the best state of Oz in wa
Another tip. With your open belt setup on that machine, you can use the back of the belt to get a polished finish. Just don't get the stock near the rollers.
I got onto the idea of buying 4" (100mm) belts and cutting them in half, with a craft knife by placing the belt around a block of wood and cutting them in half. I did not realise they were so easy to tear by hand.
Yes, tearing is the way to go. I was shown this trick by a shop selling sanding belts and other abrasive consumables. Cheers Rob
Thanks for that Rob.
I have a 'Power file', which is basically a narrow (12mm in my case) belt sander.
12mm belts are hellishly expensive, but I can get 3" belts locally, with the correct loop length quite cheaply.
I had wondered about cutting them to size, but never realised that they would just rip down like you showed.
Fantastic tip Sir!
Glad you like it Gary. Great way to save money and get belts for obsolete sizes. Cheers Rob
Well done. Cheers from Newfoundland
Brilliant Rob thanks
That's really cool!
I like how you keep re-purposing things from sanding belts to that tray... very nice.
Adding that to my bag o tricks!
I hadn't thought of tearing up my old belts. That's a great tip.
I recently acquired a very old belt sander that took belts which were half an inch larger than anything I could buy.
It was a very satisfying job to modify it to work with the smaller belts. Now I don't know how I ever managed without one!
I've built some wooden guards for mine so that I can hook up my shop vac and it makes almost no mess or dust.
They are a great machine to have.
Mine gets plenty of use.
Cheers Rob
Terrific Tips!
Thanks so much for your great video work!
Take care and be well!
Hi Rob,
Useful tip
One man's junk is another man's useful resource!
A lot of times it is all in how you view something.
A item may no longer work the way it was intended to work, but there could be a way to use an item for something else or as a valuable source of parts or a resource material. Think of Rob finding that aluminium wheel by the side of the road. Most people would look at it as a wheel or perhaps potential scrap metal money, but Rob looked at it as a source of quality aluminium.
People throw things out all the time, they may no longer wish to use an item, they are de-cluttering their lives, the person who owned it may have left or died, having a garage sale is too much hassle. Sometimes something simple may have broken or worn out and the people do not have the skill set [or time] required to fix things.
I have even heard a story about someone finding a large screen TV on the nature strip, perfect working order just the batteries in the remote were flat, some people are that stupid. Of course some people have upgraded their TV's to flat screen or HD or HD plus whatever.
It's amazing what gets tossed out for sure.
I picked up my woodworking bandsaw off the kerbside (in pieces and including the motor) and put it together and it's great.
So wasteful these days.
Cheers Rob
So simple but so effective - great tip Rob.
Thanks for that. I was looking for videos dealing with belt bump and found an unexpected solution in this video. I have a 2"x24" grinder and can only get low grade belts locally, which suffer badly from belt bump. However, when I checked my Makita belt sander it has 4"x24" sanding belts and I can get good quality belts for it. I just cut one in half and fitted it to my 2"x42" and no belt bump.
Pleased to help out. It usually works out cheaper as well.
Bloody butey.
Rob to the Rescue again!
Thanks, I didnt know I could do that.
Ian. T
It's a good trick. It was shown to me by a guy in a tool shop selling sanding belts. Cheers Rob
Bloody awesome tip. Thanks for sharing!
Make your rollers wider Rob to take a 4 inch belt--might save some mucking around..I made a double belt sander 4" wide and 48 inch long--one heavy grit- one fine..Its a go to tool for a lot of people..Easy to make so why not.. I like your videos--- always provoke thought..
I could Ian, but this works OK for me. I've had the old girl a very long time. Never seen another one like it anywhere. Super useful machine. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu A loyal reliable machine is always welcome to any handyman
Nice tricks Rob. Thats a great sander. I bought a Ryobi a couple of years ago and it is crap. I probably need to put a bigger motor on it. I got a couple of belts over 10 years ago. They were from a very large industrial sander over 6 ft long and 2 .5 ft wide. Still using the material and still save all the small pieces as you say the more you use it the finer it gets. regards from the UK
Hi Gary,
You occasionally see the old 1970's smallish Taiwanese linishers going for about $50 on Gumtree (like Craigs list) and they are a good buy. That's what I would get if I was looking for one.
The later stuff seems a bit crappy, as you say (and not cheap either).
Cheers from Oz. Rob
Also great for sharpening drill bits--tools for the lathe or mill
Absolutely. I've even re-sharpened wood chisels with it to as good as new profile. Bench grinders are brutal in comparison. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu Yeah now I have had the belt sander a while stuff the bench grinder..The only bench grinder that gets turned on is the green stone grinder for tungsten carbide
That's a better way than trying get it right with just scissors, thanks for the tip.
Good tips there Rob, thanks!
Great tips!
Genius.
Thanks, man!
You could also use metal shavings to recoat the belt use a spray epoxy and screen mesh.
Great idea man , Thumbs up !!
Right Oh Daddy Oh, Have an ancient American made knife sharpener that like yours is ok for length but not width. Hmm , can I cut in half, yes you can says Aussie Jack & here is how you do it. Twice as nice at half the price & I thank you Big Time. Thanks again from frozen solid minus 45 degrees celsius Canadian prairie boy.
Glad it helped. Slightly warmer here at 40 + C here in Oz ;) Cheers Rob
GREAT VIDEO !!!
Nice trick...I have some 4 foot wide belts I need to trim down to usable size.
If you can get belts cheap, or free, and cut them down, you're on a winner.
To try and split them any other way would be pretty difficult.
This is a dead easy trick the belt man showed me, and I thought it was worth a video.
Cheers Rob
Nice tip, thanks!
G'day mate. That is one great tip. So obvious once it is pointed out. I am surprised you are not prime minister of Australia. =(;-)
I see your country is in for an interesting ride ;)
I hope it all turns out well.
Cheers Rob
No reason it shouldnt.
Do you try to cut 72" belt with coarse grid ?
Is it harder ? i thinking of cut one 6x72 to 3 2x72 and i like to ask how to approach it
I haven't cut that belt, but I don't see why it can't be done as they all use the same construction. Do it the same way as in the video.
Even though it didn't come with that motor, you did well to find that linisher for $5, Rob.
Can I ask how powerful that motor is? And how well does it perform?
Glenn.
Hi Glenn,
The motor is a Chinese made 1/3 hp. It has plenty of power for that application. You will never stall it, as the sanding belt will slip first.
It's an almost identical motor to that on my small/medium sized wood bandsaw.
Cheers Rob
Thanks for the reply Rob.
That's great news. Been looking around for a motor to make a linisher. I've been under the impression that I need at least 1/2hp. But just this week I grabbed two 1/3hp motors out of my neighbours hard rubbish. Sounds like I might be in business.
It depends on how big the sanding belt surface area is, and the corresponding friction/drag, and the belt speed.
Many home built linishers are quite large (for some strange reason), so 1/2 HP may be required, particularly if the belt speed is high (which puts more load on the motor).
But for small/slow ones like mine, a 1/3 works fine - much the same as the wattage of most hand held belt sanders.
Cheers Rob
can you lengthen the top nob of the belt holder and sharpen the edge of the lower then just let the tension and toque cut the new belt?
Sounds dodgy to me.
The "tear" method does it accurately and quickly.
Cheers Rob
Good tip. Now I am thinking there must be a method of tapering the ends and making up the belts from long strips, which we can buy from Harbor Freight. Do you have Harbor Freight in Australia?
No Harbor Freight in Australia.
I have seen a video on RUclips where a guy shows how to join belt ends to make your own from long strips. I've never tried it.
I can't say if you would save much. Just so long as they stay joined.
Cheers Rob
Handy tip
Just go to any of the abrasive suppliers and they will make any size you want, no need to cut belts
For a price. I investigated that angle years ago. Works out quite expensive.
Cheers Rob
കൊള്ളാം ചേട്ടാ
Check out this web page for a simple design to make a similar style direct drive linisher: www.haythornthwaite.com/belt%20sander.html
Cheers Rob
have you tried bunnings?
He He. Good one.
No.
Rob
Hi Rob !
I hope you're NOT right about this 2" wide ... I just made mine for 50mm wide belts !
... but IF you're right we have to use you nifty lirrle trick ;-))