Big Bill

Late update.

My uncle (Alstar Knives) gave me an 8 inch contact wheel that already had a bearing with a 5/8" ID and I've been using it.  The other 2 contact wheels with the 30mm id bearings are still sitting on a shelf.  The 2x72 belt grinder is doing very well!.  Except for when it caught my glove and pulled my hand between the belt and the wheel, breaking my thumb.  That put a kink in my guitar playing and thumb wrestling for a couple of months.  I cranked out a couple knives for myself recently and then a young man (17) wanted me to help him make his own knife, so we cranked that one out.  It was his own design.  He wanted the handle with African Black Wood and olive wood.  It looks good.

Thanks to Bill Kirkley,  Alan, Jeremy, Jerrod. JeffM and Bruno!  You guys stepped up and i certainly appreciate it.  I'll let you know how the build goes.

I'm building a basic 2x72 KMG-Style belt grinder.  I was able to pick up a couple of contact wheels (6" and 8") for a decent price, but I immediately discovered that the bearing center hole is 30mm (1.18").  My plan was to use a 3 in. bolt for a shaft bolted into the 1.75x1.75 box steel tool arm.  The problem I have is that I can't find any 30mm dia. bolts locally, and even if I did, that's a HUGE bolt and I don't even have a 30mm drill bit anyway.

Any suggestions on how to use these contact wheels?

Big Bill