1x30" belt sander / grinder - a bad buy

For sharpening metal tools, mainly knives, I bought a 300W 1"x30" Belt 5" Tray Disc Sander Grinder from eBay a couple of years ago, and it's been a disaster. It started making a bearing(?) racket after a few months, and despite me changing out the bearing unit twice on the the middle back roller, it made no difference, so the noise must be coming from the motor itself. It's worse when I use a tight-fitting belt, like a leather belt. Runs almost silently with no belts installed. Unit still works, just sounds unbelievably loud (you have to wear hearing protection to make it bearable).

https://i.imgur.com/hjS7VdI.jpg

EBay seller is out of business, so warranty useless. Yes, I KNOW it's my fault for buying cheap Chinese stuff off eBay! What would you do with this thing, other than throw it away? I have a whole bunch of unused 1x30" belts now, good quality, from the UK, that I need to sell(?) as well.

---

I need another solution, like a bench grinder running a silicone carbide wheel on one side and a leather wheel on the other.

These solutions look interesting:

https://youtu.be/AKlul2eCLeA

https://youtu.be/8d9LdONYOeo

Don't want to spend much. Tormeks etc is waaaay out of my reach. I suppose I should start with a decent bench grinder. Does it have to be variable speed?

Have you tried pulling the motor apart & replacing it’s bearings - assuming it had bearings not bushes.
Nothing to loose if it already faulty.

You could try a few different things, like one of these little machines:

Multifunctional Grinder Mini Electric Belt Sander DIY Polishing Grinding Machine Cutter Edges Sharpener|Sanders|Tools - AliExpress
Miniature abrasive belt machine small mini polishing machine grinding machine, table grinder, electric grinder, DIY sand mill.|Power Tool Accessories|Tools - AliExpress

or this little terrier of a machine - Three minitype Mini Mini belt machine DIY polishing machine grinding machine fixed angle sharpening edge machine desktop|Power Tool Accessories|Tools - AliExpress

From these, look at the bottom for the various recommendations.

I was going to buy one, just for the occasional job, without the space for a huge belt jobbie :)

This is probably what it's vaguely copying. The belts are 785mm long and 50mm wide, so a bit bigger than yours - not much use to you I guess.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pete57

Have you tried pulling the motor apart & replacing it’s bearings - assuming it had bearings not bushes.
Nothing to loose if it already faulty.

---

I have not, no. I've just been too busy (and not confident I can fix a motor by replacing bearings, which I have never done before.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by woodPixel

You could try a few different things, like one of these little machines. I was going to buy one, just for the occasional job, without the space for a huge belt jobbie :)

---

If I was going to use a tiny belt like that, I'd use my Aldi Work Zone power file, which is essentially the same thing:

http://offers.kd2.org/pics/12/09/120...86b357a4f3.jpg

That still leaves me without a fine sharpening option, like my leather belt

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bernmc

This is probably what it's vaguely copying. The belts are 785mm long and 50mm wide, so a bit bigger than yours - not much use to you I guess.

---

I'm sure it is copying something, although probably more something like this:

https://shop.harborfreight.com/media...1/61728_W3.jpg

That's a very popular unit at Harbor Freight:
1 in. x 30 in. Belt Sander

Are you sure it is bearings and not just something simple like a loose fitting part that just needs to have a grub screw tightened? Or maybe the side door or some other cover rattling which could make more sense.

:U