Got a 50lb box in the mail yesterday

A.W.Stovall

A.W.Stovall

Well-Known Member
Got my "GIB" in the mail, My mail lady is probably not happy about it, Now I get to build a new grinder. Anyone who has built one of these and has some info on easy ways or changes they have made please email or pm. me .
Thanks Anthony
 
Bama,

I put one of these together a few months ago. I had never tapped a hole and have trouble drilling a hole exactly where I want to. The kit came together pretty well and I'm very happy with it. It is forgiving. The quickest way to build it would be to weld whatever you can. I'd be glad to share what I learned, but you may find my lessons rudimentary. Lesson 1- if you haven't tapped 1/2' steel. Make sure the "blind holes", those that don't go through the plate, are drilled much deeper than the depth of the tap. The only taps I could find were through hole, meaning pointed at the end. If your hole isn't deep enough you'll hit bottom; one more twist and a broken tap. Plus if you have to drill deeper, well that messes up what you've tapped. I still have one buried in my grinder. Lesson 2- I learned to be very patient tapping. One or two twists, back out the tap add more oil. The broken tap bummed me out but if that happens leave it (don't even try to get it out) and just drill another hole and go from there. Lesson 3-Tapping the 1/2" holes were difficult for me. The first time I wasn't really paying attention, I guess. At any rate I couldn't believe when I was done and the bolt screwed in at least 15 degrees off square, so check for square while your tapping. I used 1 1/2 " solid aluminum bar stock for the tool arm and that has worked well. I was afraid that if I used solid steel it would be too heavy for me to make sure it was square to the drill press quill when drilling the 1/2" holes (not to mention tapping 1/2" holes through 1 1/2" steel.). I bought the motor "new" (surplus) on ebay. Its three phase 1 1/2 hp 56C mount. It works fine but I'd prefer a 2 hp with a base to mount. I wired the motor to a KBAC 27 microdrive. Pretty easy to do, breaker tripped a couple of times, etc. but no injuries. Make sure that you get enough spring tension to assure that it tracks well. I use a couple of hardware store springs. Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.

Jay
 
Bama
I have my GIB almost finished. Working on the tool rest and platen. I had some of the same problems as Jay. He's right broken taps are no fun. I broke mine on the tracking arm. After many hours removing the broken tap I drilled the holes all the way through the arm and used a 1/4-20 bolt w/lock washer and nut. Absolutely no problems making that change. Drilling holes straight is a must. Everything else just works out the way you think it should. Good Luck.
 
Paul,

That's the same place I broke the tap. I gave up on getting it out after trying many hours, left it there, and drilled a new hole in the arm and the other piece. Like you, I drilled all the way through the arm and suggest Bama does the same. That's one of the good things about the kit. Its very forgiving. But notwithstanding that frustratuion, it was satisfying to build.

One other thing I learned. I bought all the wheels from Beaumont (Tracy sells them too). I looked at the price of Beaumont's platen assembly with wheels attached and bought it because it was only a few dollars more than just the wheels. It works OK, but the platen "supports" (the L shaped brackets that hold the platen to the aluminum plate) are substantially thicker than 1/4" angle iron. So every time I switch from contact wheel to platen I have to add a 1/2" nut to the tensioner/idler arm wheel axle and move the Drive wheel away from the motor about the width of the additional nut, which is kind of a pain.

One other bit of advice. I had trouble countersinking the holes. I gave up on high speed steel countersinks. I was tearing those up and went with a cobalt countersink. Then I noticed that my drill press was operating at way too fast a speed for even soft steel. I could have sworn I checked that before I started the project, but... So I don't know if it was the speed or the high speed steel that was causing me the problems.

Jay

Jay
 
I'm pretty good at tapping, My drill press is not big enough I got a friend at work who has several big drill press and mills.
What did you not like about the 56c face motor?
 
Bama,

The motor's fine. I have a Baldor vm3555, I think. Its just that without the base it cantilevers a lot of weight on the upright. But the 56C screws right in with no problems. Jamie welds the upright when he uses a 56C without a base. I didn't and it leaned a few degrees. So I propped the motor up and used some left over angle iron (drilled/tapped, etc.) to support the upright frame to the base.

Jay

Jay
 
I was planning on welding it anyway, I built a grinder a yr or so ago one of the "no weld grinder" and I welded most of it, I just hate using the pillow block bearings
 
I suggest that you make it direct drive if you can afford the VFD. I sell the VFD for $375.00 but if you go with the pillow blocks, pulleys, shaft and belt you will spend around $100.00 so if you don't spend that money you have, effectively, spent only $275.00 for the VFD and that includes shipping. I find that the pulleys, shaft, pillow blocks, etc provide places for vibration and friction losses to creep into your build. I also suggest that you get the "multi position" arm for the tool arm from Jamie or me. You save by buying fewer wheels for more flexibility and have only one tool arm.
 
I did get the multi position arm, and I wanted direct drive I have a "no weld grinder" which is welded bu I hate the pillow block set up I want direct drive.
 
Bama,
I read your comment about pillow blocks to mean that you got the GIB frame kit to avoid pillow blocks. I don't know how you could use pillow blocks with the GIB frame, but Wayne is right a VFD is the way to go. I'm sure you know that you'll need a three phase 56C motor. I thought I could use the house's 120 v current. The VFD is designed to use that or 240 v single phase. If you use 120v you'll be limited to a 1 1/2 hp motor, which is what I use. It will stall once and a while but I think its more my bad technique than the hp.

If you plan on using the same motor as on a no weld grinder using pulleys to adjust speed, its probably single phase and 1750 rpm. For this build, being direct drive you would want some something in the 3300 rpm range and three phase if you use a VFD. That's the advice I got from Blindhogg Custom Gunworks, the original designer of the GIB, called the EERF grinder.
 
I'm pretty sure that mail delivery people everywhere have some rather interesting names for me. :biggrin:

Just to make sure I have it right, was it at this step that the taps broke? I'll add a note in the instructions if that's the case. I drilled both of those holes completely through on all that I've built.

Otherwise, things sound like they've progressed nicely for you guys. Remember, we like pictures!

Jamie
 
Jamie,

That is the step where I broke the tap. The first went OK, but the second...well I didn't drill the hole deep enough. So I left the broken tap in place and drilled new holes next to the hole with the broken tap- this time all the way through the arm and tensioner support. Not a big deal to do. That worked fine. So yes, It may be a good suggestion to drill all the way through at this step. I should have thought of it on my own, but I thought that drilling all the way through the arm would weaken it. Now that its built, I know that there is plenty of steel and I shouldn't have been concerned about it.

Jay
 
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