This has me stumped. I was cutting a piece of half-inch plywood,
about 15" wide, on a contractor-type table saw. With an inch or two
to go, I heard a sound that seemed louder than normal. I completed
the cut, and as soon as I did, the saw began squealing louder than I
had ever heard before.
I shut it off and investigated. Nothing unusual on top, but when I
looked at the back, I saw the motor was hanging all the way down.
Two things looked wrong to me. First, on this kind of saw, the motor
pivots. There's a screw in a slot that's supposed to keep it from
pivoting down too far, but that had broken off.
But why was it able to do that? Shouldn't the belt have held it in
its normal position?
Everything else in the back and underneath was completely tight.
I use a link belt on this saw, and it sure looked as if the belt had
suddenly gotten longer. As an experiement, I removed six links, and
put the belt back on. I put a new screw in the pivot slot. I made a
couple of small test cuts, and it worked fine.
Does anyone have any idea what happened? I can't believe that a link
belt would suddenly stretch that far, but with nothing else being
loose, I don't know what else to think. Anything I should check for?
"Robert J. Bonn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
tight.
>
> I use a link belt on this saw, and it sure looked as if the belt had
> suddenly gotten longer. As an experiement, I removed six links, and
> put the belt back on. I put a new screw in the pivot slot. I made a
> couple of small test cuts, and it worked fine.
>
> Does anyone have any idea what happened? I can't believe that a link
> belt would suddenly stretch that far, but with nothing else being
> loose, I don't know what else to think. Anything I should check for?
My guess is the motor was sagging for some time and the belt was holding it,
slowly stretching. Finally reached the point where something made contact
and you heard the result. When was the last time you looked at the belt?
If it was the same time I checked mine, it may have really stretched.
"Robert J. Bonn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This has me stumped. I was cutting a piece of half-inch plywood,
> about 15" wide, on a contractor-type table saw. With an inch or two
> to go, I heard a sound that seemed louder than normal. I completed
> the cut, and as soon as I did, the saw began squealing louder than I
> had ever heard before.
>
> I shut it off and investigated. Nothing unusual on top, but when I
> looked at the back, I saw the motor was hanging all the way down.
>
> Two things looked wrong to me. First, on this kind of saw, the motor
> pivots. There's a screw in a slot that's supposed to keep it from
> pivoting down too far, but that had broken off.
>
> But why was it able to do that? Shouldn't the belt have held it in
> its normal position?
>
> Everything else in the back and underneath was completely tight.
>
> I use a link belt on this saw, and it sure looked as if the belt had
> suddenly gotten longer. As an experiement, I removed six links, and
> put the belt back on. I put a new screw in the pivot slot. I made a
> couple of small test cuts, and it worked fine.
>
> Does anyone have any idea what happened? I can't believe that a link
> belt would suddenly stretch that far, but with nothing else being
> loose, I don't know what else to think. Anything I should check for?
>
I had the same thing happen with my Grizzley saw. The Link-belt seemed
to
stretch and I had to remove several links to make it fit again.
"Robert J. Bonn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This has me stumped. I was cutting a piece of half-inch plywood,
> about 15" wide, on a contractor-type table saw. With an inch or two
> to go, I heard a sound that seemed louder than normal. I completed
> the cut, and as soon as I did, the saw began squealing louder than I
> had ever heard before.
>
> I shut it off and investigated. Nothing unusual on top, but when I
> looked at the back, I saw the motor was hanging all the way down.
>
> Two things looked wrong to me. First, on this kind of saw, the motor
> pivots. There's a screw in a slot that's supposed to keep it from
> pivoting down too far, but that had broken off.
>
> But why was it able to do that? Shouldn't the belt have held it in
> its normal position?
>
> Everything else in the back and underneath was completely tight.
>
> I use a link belt on this saw, and it sure looked as if the belt had
> suddenly gotten longer. As an experiement, I removed six links, and
> put the belt back on. I put a new screw in the pivot slot. I made a
> couple of small test cuts, and it worked fine.
>
> Does anyone have any idea what happened? I can't believe that a link
> belt would suddenly stretch that far, but with nothing else being
> loose, I don't know what else to think. Anything I should check for?
The arm assembly that the motor hangs on is adjustable in and out. closer
and farther out from the saw. This allows for adjustments if the belts
stretch. Usually the adjustment is at the trunion. It could feel tight but
it still could have slipped.
Or your link belt did form into a more final length.