A Less Expensive Option for a 2” Belt Sander

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orvet
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A Less Expensive Option for a 2” Belt Sander

Post by orvet »

I ran across a new piece of equipment that I thought might be of interest to some of you.
It's called the Jiffy Sander Conversion and it is sold through USA Knifemaker Supply.

One of the first sanders I purchased was a 4" X 36" Craftsman belt sander with a 6" disk sander built into it.
I used the 6” disk sander quite a bit but the 4 x 36 belt sander I used mainly for fixed blade knives with large wooden handles, like kitchen knives.
For knife making and especially knife repair a 4"belt sander is not optimal; it's better than nothing, but certainly not ideal.

The Jiffy Sander Conversion adds the option of running 1 X 42, 2 X 42 & 2 X 48 belts on your 4" X 36" belt sander.

Jiffy Conversion- "The Rest of the Story"
https://youtu.be/UvBb2PpqF8Y

"Jiffy Installation"
https://youtu.be/3I3sjtYYQaE

Here is the link to USA KnifeMaker where the Jiffy is listed. It’s a new product, and apparently the demand is greater than the company’s ability to produce these at the moment. I had to wait two weeks while the Jiffy manufacturer moved into a larger facility.
http://usaknifemaker.com/jiffy-belt-san ... nders.html


The Jiffy Conversion will use my 1 x 42 belts as well as the 2 x 42 belts I had left over from a woefully underpowered sander, and it also gives the option of using the larger 2 x 48 belts. Tru-Grit and Jantz Supply both have a number of belts in the 2 x 48 size.
Speaking of underpowered here, the 2 x 42 craftsman belt sander/6” disk sander was only 1/3 hp. It was so underpowered that more than light pressure would stop the belt. With the Jiffy Conversion installed on my Craftsman 4 x 36 I have plenty of power with the 2/3 hp motor for 2 x 42 and 2 x 48 belts.

I did have a bit of trouble getting the tracking adjusted after I installed my Jiffy Conversion. I emailed USA KnifeMakers and I promptly got an email from Justin with this cell phone number enclosed. I called Justin and he walked me through a couple of things I did wrong and now the tracking on my Jiffy is excellent!

One of the big selling points to me about the Jiffy is that it adds 2 contact wheels that are a composite material, similar to skateboard wheels I am told, and I can grind on those wheels themselves without the work chattering like it does on metal wheels.
The Jiffy has a metal platen between the two contact wheels, but it can be removed if you wish to do slack belt grinding.

I have not done too much on the Jiffy yet; I have done a couple of knife repairs and so far I am quite impressed with. For the guy who has a 4 x 36 belt sander, or knows where he can pick one up cheaply, the Jiffy is an excellent tool! It will allow you to use 1 x 42 belts, 2 x 42 and 2 x 48 belts. For the hobbyist I think the Jiffy is an excellent investment. It gives you a 1 x 42 belt sander for detailed work and for knife sharpening, and a 2” x 42” (or 48”) belt sander with two different size contact wheels for knife grinding. The fact that you can also do slack belt grinding is a big plus. The Jiffy Conversion would make a great knife grinder for someone who wanted to make a few knives or for the beginning knife maker.
If a person was planning on doing production knife work, I think they would want a more powerful more versatile unit. But for the hobbyist who likes to make a few knives or repair a few knives, I think the Jiffy is a very viable option at a reasonable price.


There are some pictures of the Jiffy set up in my shop on my old 4 x 36 Craftsman belt sander.
In these pictures I had it set up for slack belt grinding. Note the platen is not behind the belt between the two wheels.
Jiffy 1.jpg
Jiffy 2.jpg
Jiffy 3.jpg
In these last two pictures I have reinstalled the platen.
Jiffy 4 with platen.jpg
Jiffy 5 with platen.jpg
Dale
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