If you've researched belt grinders, you've probably come across the "No Weld Belt Grinder" -- I admire the idea of an easy-to-assemble grinder. But DAMN it's ugly, and doesn't come with accessories. The feedback I've heard is that it's a little light in the construction for heavy grinding.

I've been designing a grinder which is waterjet or laser cut from flat .25" steel, and welds together. The idea is that the plan set will include a number of desirable accessories such as a tilting platen, a tilting table, a compound table with a fence & miter slot (good for sharpening HSS lathe tools!), a chisel sharpening stage, a serration sharpening setup, a surface grinder, and, the next big design hurdle: convertible horizontal or vertical orientation.

I haven't decided if I want to sell only the plans (a business model which seems to work for the NWBG) or sell kits. Or a semi-kit which would be plans plus the machined parts other than the water/laser cut bits.

The design uses off-the-shelf drive components, and currently is oriented toward a single-phase, 110v motor 3400 RPM with belt reduction for speed control.

However, the design can be adapted for direct-drive 3-phase and VFD use, which would actually make the convertible horiz/vert option easier.

My goal is to make a pro-grade tool accessible to the hobbyist market at both a reasonable cost, and in a manner that expenditures can be made over time. My thinking is that most hobbyists, even if a Burr King was half the price @ $2500, they'd still have difficulty biting that off in one chunk. With a kit & specified parts, they can be purchased as funds allow.

What do y'all think? Good idea? Anything you'd do different?

Just to be clear... this isn't happening real soon, I have some health issues to work out first.