The Beltsander

I have had my old beltsander for quite a few years and figured it could be improved a bit. The way it is now it takes up quite a lot of space and is not very suitable for sanding perpendicular edges, the support is bent and the working height is a bit too low for me. I came up with a plan to mount it vertically, reverse the direction and use the same pedestal for my little hydraulic press. I will be making a new batch of Harley XA sparkplug caps this month and both the sander and hydraulic press will be used a lot!

 
 
 

I lifted the top half off using a chain winch and cut off the pivot points from the pedestal, removed the last bits of the welds and the paint from the top.

 
 
 
 

I tackwelded 2 strips 100 x 6 steel together, drilled the pivot holes and rounded the corner and then removed the tackwelds. I removed all the sharp edges and sanded all surfaces blank and then welded them on the pedestal.