I have an older Rockwell Delta combination 6x48 / 12" sanding
machine. It has always been a bit touchy on the belt tracking,
but seems to be getting worse. I added a wrap or two of wide
metal on the top roller to give it a bit of barrel shape, I can't
say that it has helped. Bearings and other adjustments seem tight
and right. Any other ideas?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanG
A live Singing Valentine quartet,
a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
[email protected] (local)
http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
DanG wrote:
> I have an older Rockwell Delta combination 6x48 / 12" sanding
> machine. It has always been a bit touchy on the belt tracking,
> but seems to be getting worse. I added a wrap or two of wide
> metal on the top roller to give it a bit of barrel shape, I can't
> say that it has helped. Bearings and other adjustments seem tight
> and right. Any other ideas?
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> DanG
> A live Singing Valentine quartet,
> a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
> [email protected] (local)
> http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
>
>
>
If your sander is as old as I suspect (Rockwell) my first suspicion
would be worn rollers/brgs but if you have used the sander seldomly that
may not be the culprit. Another very possible cause is using cheaper
quality sanding belts try a high quality belt made by Klingspor, Delta
etc. I just bought a new Powermatic 31A and it is very finiciky the best
way I came up with was to get it in rough alignment by turning the belt
by hand then using the motor for fine adjustments and BTW it only takes
very small adjustments to move the belt.
Generally tight enough to provide traction if slippage occurs tighten
more. That is another possibility for tracking problems a belt that's to
tight! Over tightening will cause the end of the floating roller to flex
out of alignment and any amount of tracking correction will add to the
problem because in adjusting the tracking you are actually stretching
the belt tighter.
DanG wrote:
> Thank you for the input. Belts are Norton Blue NorZon Zirconia
> belts. I don't think that quality is the issue. There is no
> detectable movement at any bearing. How tight do you run your
> belts?
>
Don't discount the possibility that the Norton belts are the problem. I
had a bunch of Norton belts that I bought on Ebay and they refused to
track worth a damn on my old Rockwell 6 X 48 sander. I tried crowning
the top roller with a few rounds of tape. I replaced all the bearings in
the unit when I bought it . . . never occured to me that the Norton
belts might be a problem until I replaced one with another brand and the
machine works perfectly.
Rick
Appreciate the reply. I will definitely try an alternate brand.
I use Sait on smaller belt sanders, and I think my supplier would
have 6x48 available.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanG
A live Singing Valentine quartet,
a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
[email protected] (local)
http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
"Rick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> DanG wrote:
>> Thank you for the input. Belts are Norton Blue NorZon Zirconia
>> belts. I don't think that quality is the issue. There is no
>> detectable movement at any bearing. How tight do you run your
>> belts?
>>
>
> Don't discount the possibility that the Norton belts are the
> problem. I had a bunch of Norton belts that I bought on Ebay and
> they refused to track worth a damn on my old Rockwell 6 X 48
> sander. I tried crowning the top roller with a few rounds of
> tape. I replaced all the bearings in the unit when I bought it .
> . . never occured to me that the Norton belts might be a problem
> until I replaced one with another brand and the machine works
> perfectly.
>
> Rick
Thank you for the input. Belts are Norton Blue NorZon Zirconia
belts. I don't think that quality is the issue. There is no
detectable movement at any bearing. How tight do you run your
belts?
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanG
A live Singing Valentine quartet,
a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
[email protected] (local)
http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
"Seeker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> DanG wrote:
>> I have an older Rockwell Delta combination 6x48 / 12" sanding
>> machine. It has always been a bit touchy on the belt tracking,
>> but seems to be getting worse. I added a wrap or two of wide
>> metal on the top roller to give it a bit of barrel shape, I
>> can't say that it has helped. Bearings and other adjustments
>> seem tight and right. Any other ideas?
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> DanG
>> A live Singing Valentine quartet,
>> a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
>> [email protected] (local)
>> http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
>>
>>
>>
> If your sander is as old as I suspect (Rockwell) my first
> suspicion would be worn rollers/brgs but if you have used the
> sander seldomly that may not be the culprit. Another very
> possible cause is using cheaper quality sanding belts try a high
> quality belt made by Klingspor, Delta etc. I just bought a new
> Powermatic 31A and it is very finiciky the best way I came up
> with was to get it in rough alignment by turning the belt by
> hand then using the motor for fine adjustments and BTW it only
> takes very small adjustments to move the belt.