Belt sander/sheet thickness

First, Congrats on the article in MT this month.
I noticed you have what appears to be a "Multi-tool" attachment on your bench grinder, how do you like it? I have been contemplating one for a while now but haven't heard much feedback on them.

Second, what plate thickness did you use to make those lower arms with? It appears to be cold rolled about 1/8" (it doesn't appear to be Chrome-moly)
I was just curious. Keep up the great work!

t

Thank you!

The idea of the multi tool is great, it's actual performance is marginal. I have had to modify it a bit to get it to be worth a damn and the disk on the side is just about useless. If you get one for your shop/garage, be sure to use high quality belts. Harbor Freight stuff just won't cut it.

As for the sheet used for the bars, it's .120 cold rolled mild steel. For 90% of what any of us do it's plenty strong and actually quite affordable. A 4x10 sheet is only about $175. And it is so much nicer to work with!

Thanks for the reply and the tip on the belts. I do purchasing for a welding/ auto-body supplier (can you say free samples, hehe) so high quality abrasives are not a problem. Do you have the miter table for it (the disc)? I would think at the very least it would work well (with the table) to de-burr tubing after cutting and notching. I have seen a blue-point version popping up for about $100 cheaper than the original (looks identical though). I may give that a shot. I just don't want to commit to $800 + for a 220V belt sander! Anything has got to be better than the HF woodworking one I had, it would stop the belt or disc with the slightest amount of pressure.

Thanks again for the info.
t

Yeah, I have the table, it still sucks!