B&S #2 Surface Grinder

I've got a B&S #2 Surface Grinder that I'm looking to refurbish. I'm guessing early turn of the century, maybe 1907 or so (serial #7844). Three questions:

1) The original 4-ply woven fabric/rubber belt is frayed and broke at the clippers. 1 1/2" wide x 0.178" thick x about 10' 9" long. I'm in contact with Bourn & Koch who seem super responsive and reliable but they're looking for $250 for a replacement. I've got a clipper lacer and have made my own belts for small lathes. Any suggestions for sourcing belting material by the foot and getting the price significantly under that? For instance ag belting from tractor supply? Industrial woven fabric/rubber belt stock?

2) Any chance I can just cut off the old clippers and shorten the belt by 1/2" and keep it cobbled together?

3) There's a strange feature to the grinder I'm interested in understanding. To the left and right of the table as part of the saddle there's an extra set of x ways (basically precision ground surfaces running front to back with oil grooves). There's no corresponding surface underneath for those extra 'wings' to ride upon. I'm guessing at one time there must have been additional outboard saddle support but I have looked and looked and never seen another B&S #2 with this extra set of 'wings' or flat ways. Table traverses x and y just fine without them riding on top of anything. Thoughts?

Pictures are extremely useful in understanding what you're talking about and to figure out which one of the many variants of No. 2 you have.
McMaster-Carr has reasonably priced rubberized fabric belting material that can be ordered by the foot. It's always advisable to order some extra and cut it to size when you assemble the belt.

I guess that your grinder has the motor either in the base with the pulley sticking out at the back of the machine, or it has an external motor, on the side of the base. Given that the belt is kept in tension by the counterweight arm, which needs to accommodate the raising and lowering of the grinding the grinding head, the length of the belt is not extremely critical.

Paolo

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=251609&thumb=1

Paolo- Thanks. Pictures (hopefully) linked above. The weird 'wings' in question are just outboard of the normal x-axis ways. Just kind of hanging out in the air below the table. Not mating with any flat ways facing up nor anything I've seen in pictures of other B&S #2 grinders. Curious.

Let's see if this photo posting works better

I completely agree that it looks odd.
The machine itself seems a 2B (manual grinder, no autofeeds). To me it looks like modified at the factory with extra-wide saddle and (now missing) outriggers bolted to the base, probably to extend the travel of the table to significantly more than 18".

The fact that they used a regular casting for the base hints to this modification/variant being fairly rare.

Paolo

Interesting point about whether it's a 2B. The base casting says it's a 2, and there's a bunch of openings and missing pieces that I suspect would have been the autofeed gears and controls. I don't know if the 2B used the same casting as the 2 (and just omitted a bunch of parts).

The left side of the base casting also has the same pattern of 6 holes (4 large 2 small) that would suggest you're correct and there were at one time outriggers to support the wings. Obviously long since missing.

Particularly strange (to me) is the outrigger holes are over the Providence, RI casting. But the hole pattern is within a rectangular recess in the casting itself. So some evidence it was a modification (holes drilled through makers labeling) and yet some evidence original (rectangular imprint of the outrigger casting. Also more evidence it was original (the wings seem very much original to the saddle casting).

If it was all modification I'd chalk it up to a special purpose-built machine. But the number of features that seem original to the outriggers/wings make me think it was a production version. And yet not a single picture I've ever seen of anything like it.