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By Rob, on March 20th, 2011
 This is a review of the Harbor Freight 1×30 belt sander, model #2485. I noticed it was on sale and remembered Mikey telling me that a belt sander is a better tool for grinding lathe bits than a bench grinder. So I checked the customer reviews for it on their web site and they were generally very good. Then I searched for machinists who were using it to sharpen HSS metal lathe bits. I didn’t find many, but I did learn that many wood turners were using it to sharpen their HSS blades. It was also highly regarded by many knife makers, who were using it to both grind the shapes of their blades and sharpen them. So I decided to take a chance and buy one. This review is going to discuss just the sander itself. I hope to follow it up later with another one that will talk more about how well it works for sharpening HSS lathe bits in a home machine shop.
This sander normally sells for $50 but it was on sale for $40. I used one of HF’s easy-to-find 20%-off any single-item coupons to get it for $31.99. I also purchased some Zirconia alumina belts for it because they were recommended by the knife makers. Harbor Freight only carries 40 and 80 grit belts in packages of two for $2.99. But you can easily find other vendors selling them in a much wider variety of abrasives and grits. You can even buy a leather belt for stropping edges and cloth belts you can impregnate with polishing compounds.
Lots of problems
My sander came with a lot of problem that hadn’t been mentioned by other owners so I started wondered if mine was typical or a rare lemon. I’d bought the last one at the store so I couldn’t exchange it for another one. So I did more research and learned that some sanders come with lots of problems and others with few or none. So, don’t hesitate to exchange yours if it comes with some quality control issues you can’t live with.
It was hard to put the belt cover on
It’s pretty quick and easy to change sanding belts. The belt cover is held in place by a single knob at the top and a couple of tabs at the bottom which fit into slots. Mine came off easily but it was difficult to put it back on because it was hanging up in a couple of spots on the frame, which seems to be made of either die-cast aluminum or zinc alloy. I found some thick paint runs in those places which I removed with a finishing file. I also found a small burr around the inside edge of the plastic cover which I removed with sandpaper. It’s now much easier to put back on.
To change the belt you’ll also need to remove a small transparent plastic cover over the top wheel that is held on with a Phillips head screw. The screw just needs to be loosened and I’m already thinking about eliminating the need for a screwdriver by making a knob or button for it.
The belt tracking couldn’t be adjusted properly
The motor and idler pulleys have an aggressive crown which helps the sanding belt stay on them. One of the pulleys can be tilted with a knob to control the belt’s tracking. I was pleased to find the belt would stay on over its entire range of adjustment. But I discovered I couldn’t adjust it enough towards the motor to perfectly center it. Adjustment in that direction was limited by a spring used to prevent vibration from turning the adjustment knob. One of my photos will show you how I easily fixed it by adding a couple of small washers to push the adjustment lever more in the direction I needed it to go.
By Rob, on March 15th, 2011
 I bought an old Federal dial indicator from a retired machinist that had a big flat donut-shaped magnet glued on its back. I almost passed it up because it was kind of ugly, but it has turned out to be one of the most useful tools in my workshop. It is particularly useful for adjusting the Z-axis height on my Harbor Freight mini-mill.
I’m a little mistrustful about dialing in the height because of the huge amount of backlash in the Z-axis. So I often stick my DI on the column and use it to set the height or to double-check the dial and make certain I haven’t miscounted the number of turns I’ve made. It only has a range of 1-inch but that’s all I need most of the time.
It was really helpful last night when I needed to remove a very small amount of metal using a fly cutter. The indicator showed that the head was dropping another 3-thousandths when I tightened the gib lock (which is one way to protect yourself from the mini-mill’s infamous “head drop problem“). I hadn’t experienced that problem before and I hope the gibs just need to be adjusted.
A couple of potential problems
To get the most accurate reading your indicator’s plunger needs to be perpendicular to the head. Instead of eyeballing it I’ve thought about building a magnetic mount for one of my other indicators that would slide up and down against the column’s dovetail. It would make it easier to position the indicator and ensure it’s always perpendicular. I didn’t have a big enough block of aluminum the last time I was going to make one and this morning I was wondering if it would be easier, cheaper and faster to just buy another column stop and modify it to hold an indicator.
And lastly, a more experienced machinist once told me you can ruin a cheap poorly-made dial indicator by sticking a magnet on it.
Continue reading → Dial Indicator Helps Set Z-axis Height
By Rob, on March 14th, 2011
 Changing the spindle speed of your Harbor Freight 8×12 or Lathemaster 8×14 lathe will probably be easier if you replace the factory belt with a size 3L300, which you can buy at most auto parts stores for about $5. The original is so tight that changing the spindle speed by moving it to a different set of pulleys can be an unpleasant chore. Richard on the Lathemaster Yahoo discussion group discovered that the 3L300 is just a little bit bigger and it makes speed changes much easier. I tried one, along with others members of the group, and we found that he was right.
Mine was made by Dayco and I bought it at a NAPA store. Another store I’d visited didn’t have one in stock and they tried to sell me a heavy-duty version which I declined, because it cost twice as much and I didn’t think I needed or wanted a heavy duty belt. (Addendum 3/18/2011: I’ve heard that the Gates 6730 belt is the same size, 3/8 x 30-inches or 9mm x 760mm.)
By Rob, on March 6th, 2011
 I recently added Dean William’s web site to our list of “Featured Websites,” which you can find on the right sidebar. It’s a short, somewhat exclusive list, which should give you an idea of how impressed I am with it.
Dean is an excellent photographer and he’s created quite a few photo essays and tutorials on a wide variety of topics. He repairs cameras and so he often has to make replacements for broken springs. The two tutorials that show how he does that are among the best I’ve ever seen about spring making. I also found his photo essay about making a miniature propane burner very interesting and educational because of some of the tooling it required him to make or modify.
You’ll definitely want to visit Dean’s web site if you’re the owner of a Taig lathe, Taig mill or an Atlas 618 lathe because you’ll find a lot of useful information, including modifications and accessories that you can make. Many of his projects could be resized or adapted for other machines. You’ll learn how he makes a screwless vise, a rotary table, a filing rest, counterbores, a fly cutter, a dividing head, a slitting saw arbor and quite a few other projects.
There’s also a great photo essay about the clock he’s making along with pictures and videos of the small steam, Stirling and internal combustion engines he’s made.
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This is a review of the Harbor Freight 1×30 belt sander, model #2485. I noticed it was on sale and remembered Mikey telling me that a belt sander is a better tool for grinding lathe bits than a bench grinder. So I checked the customer reviews for it on their web site and they were generally very good. Then I searched for machinists who were using it to sharpen HSS metal lathe bits. I didn’t find many, but I did learn that many wood turners were using it to sharpen their HSS blades. It was also highly regarded by many knife makers, who were using it to both grind the shapes of their blades and sharpen them. So I decided to take a chance and buy one. This review is going to discuss just the sander itself. I hope to follow it up later with another one that will talk more about how well it works for sharpening HSS lathe bits in a home machine shop.
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