Belt Tracking Question

H

Harley Boatman

Joined
Jun 21, 2020
Messages
98
So the pic below is my recently modified grinder. You can see the flat piece of steel bolted on to extend the platen out. I did this so I can grind freehand and be able to look down the platen as I grind. Before I extended that out the belt ran nearly straight from the small wheel at the top to the 10" wheel at the bottom, obviously not allowing me to look down the platen without grinding my face off.

My problem is that now I can't keep a belt on for the life of me. It shoots to one side or the other, falling off both wheels and being useless. The tracking adjustment only tightens or loosens the belt instead of adjusting the tracking. I've also tried loosening the two set screws under the tension spring to pivot the top wheel left or right. That didn't work as I wasn't able to make small enough adjustments to be beneficial.

I also should note that when I check the tracking by hand it seems that it will work fine, but once I turn the machine on- off goes my belt.

Any ideas on what to do?


hdF1MFu.jpg
 
Harley Boatman said:
So the pic below is my recently modified grinder. You can see the flat piece of steel bolted on to extend the platen out. I did this so I can grind freehand and be able to look down the platen as I grind. Before I extended that out the belt ran nearly straight from the small wheel at the top to the 10" wheel at the bottom, obviously not allowing me to look down the platen without grinding my face off.

My problem is that now I can't keep a belt on for the life of me. It shoots to one side or the other, falling off both wheels and being useless. The tracking adjustment only tightens or loosens the belt instead of adjusting the tracking. I've also tried loosening the two set screws under the tension spring to pivot the top wheel left or right. That didn't work as I wasn't able to make small enough adjustments to be beneficial.

I also should note that when I check the tracking by hand it seems that it will work fine, but once I turn the machine on- off goes my belt.

Any ideas on what to do?


hdF1MFu.jpg
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Well , at least this is weird setup ......:) I don t know how that would work on long run , lot of friction there ?
Ends of that plate must be parallel with wheels , just like if there are wheels ...............If they are no parallel they will act like tracking wheel ? But maybe even that would not help , you need two small wheels there .............
rCaIYPR.jpg
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
That is just plain wrong. You need a 2" idler wheel at the top and bottom of the platen. It will not work as-is.
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I know its not how its supposed to be, I'm just trying to get something to work while I save for a better grinder. My worry with this is that the belt will overheat and split or something like that.
 
Natlek said:
you need two small wheels there ...
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
There are many places selling a flat platen attachment.
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I'm planning on getting an ameribrade grinder as soon as I can afford it. I plan on getting the flat platen/4' or 6' contact wheel combo with it. Do you guys think I should get that attachment now, modify my current grinder to fit it, and then buy the rest of the ameribrade grinder parts a little down the road?
 
Harley Boatman said:
I'm planning on getting an ameribrade grinder as soon as I can afford it. I plan on getting the flat platen/4' or 6' contact wheel combo with it. Do you guys think I should get that attachment now, modify my current grinder to fit it, and then buy the rest of the ameribrade grinder parts a little down the road?
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Buy just two small wheels and make new plate , like I draw on your picture .Or you can make this one to accepts small tool arm /like green on picture / and buy or make flat platen ?
I like that grinder ........to bad it can not use VFD ........
Dbk1Hrt.jpg
 
Natlek said:
to bad it can not use VFD ........
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Ain't that the truth. That's my biggest reason for buying a new one. It's far too easy for me to burn edges. And having only one speed makes my beginner's mistakes near catastrophic. I'm really looking forward to being able to take my time to be careful and lessen the learning curve.

As far as your drawings on that photo- that's a good idea. I'll probably end up doing like you have the green on there so I can use different arms. That'll make it easier to buy in pieces instead of everything all at once.
 
Harley Boatman said:
As far as your drawings on that photo- that's a good idea. I'll probably end up doing like you have the green on there so I can use different arms. That'll make it easier to buy in pieces instead of everything all at once.
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Be careful from which side of plate you do that ...don t do like on picture :)
 
LCoop said:
That's pretty cool. I've seen guys use a pully instead of a buffer and run with a separate motor they had laying around with step pulleys to make it variable speed. I started out with a Grizz and still have it. Still use it for a lot of things but glad I bit the bullet and bought a Northridge.
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Do you happen to have any pictures of that set up with the pulleys?
 
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