Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my Unisaw a
birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a while, and since link
belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure out how many feet to buy. I just
measured the outer circumference of one of the original belts with a piece of
string and came up with the distance of about 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's*
dumb" I says; if it were 24" I could buy six feet instead of seven (there are
three belts), but then I thought that perhaps belt lengths are measured along
the inner circumference rather than the outer, and six feet of belt *would* be
enough. 'Zat true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really*
need to buy?
--
"Even if your wife is happy but you're unhappy, you're still happier
than you'd be if you were happy and your wife was unhappy." - Red Green
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
> "Steve Turner" wrote:
> Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my
> Unisaw a birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a
> while, and since link belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure
> out how many feet to buy. I just measured the outer circumference
> of one of the original belts with a piece of string and came up with
> the distance of about 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's* dumb" I says;
> if it were 24" I could buy six feet instead of seven (there are
> three belts), ............
<Snip>
You can't get there from here.
You require a 3 belt matched set.
Link belts don't do that.
Lew
"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 1/9/2010 4:01 PM, dpb wrote:
>> Swingman wrote:
>> ...
>>
>>> Yep ... ZERO. ...
>>
>> Dang, is that an echo??? :)
>
> LOL ... guess it was. Sorry, didn't see your post until you mentioned it
> and I went back and looked.
>
> Fighting Thunderbird 3.0 here ... double posting, missing posts buried in
> jungle layers of threaded and unthreaded, read and unread, and phantoms
> that don't show up at all.
>
> Chalk it up to great minds ... :)
>
> --
> www.e-woodshop.net
> Last update: 10/22/08
> KarlC@ (the obvious)
And, after all, it's nice to know when two people agree on *something*.
Max
On Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:57:05 -0700, Bøb __ wrote
(in article <[email protected]>):
> Just a FWIW .. .. .. a few years ago, my Woodmaster 718 developed a
> vibration. It is a 2 "matched" belt system. Just to check it out, I
> pieced together some link belt pieces, and installed it in place of the
> 2 originals. The vibration disappeared, and I never have either
> replaced the "matched" set or added a second link belt. It has been
> running just fine on one link belt ever since.
>
> Now, if you think you can ever load up the arbor on your saw to exceed
> that of an 18" planer,perhaps it is correct of you to go buy a matched
> set and be done with it. Myself, I'd try one or two, or even 3 link
> belts without hesitation. Look at it this way .. IF you were to
> install 3 link belts .. would this not be a likely scenario. The
> shortest belt will begin to take the load .. .. IF the load gets great
> enough to stretch the first belt, the second one begins to grab. IF
> they both can't pull the load (RIGHT !!), #3 kicks in, and what, exactly
> have you lost ??
>
> All the theory and logic in the world don't mean squat when you just try
> something and it works .. WITHOUT any negative side effects. What
> would be the worst case scenario for simply trying that which you
> propose ?? NO HARM .. NO DAMAGE .. NO PROBLEM .. go for it, and let up
> know how well it works out for you. Be sure to let us know how much it
> slipped !!
>
> As for your original question .. buy 6' of link belt .. if you get 3 out
> of it, great .. if not make 2 .. run them as is and get the extra foot
> of belt to make up #3 if you really think it's necessary.
I run 2 link belts on my Unisaur. I have enough for the third but never
bothered.
Link belts wear in after a few hours of use. They conform to the V's.
The exact number of links can be in each belt. As a belt takes more
pressure, it wears in more and matches.
These belts were designed for conveyor belting on muli-HP motors and
up to 4 belts on a pulley to drive a section of the belt.
They auto-match if anywhere close in the first place.
Martin
Lew Hodgett wrote:
>> "Steve Turner" wrote:
>
>> Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my
>> Unisaw a birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a
>> while, and since link belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure
>> out how many feet to buy. I just measured the outer circumference
>> of one of the original belts with a piece of string and came up with
>> the distance of about 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's* dumb" I says;
>> if it were 24" I could buy six feet instead of seven (there are
>> three belts), ............
> <Snip>
>
> You can't get there from here.
>
> You require a 3 belt matched set.
>
> Link belts don't do that.
>
> Lew
>
>
>
Multiple belts are used due to transmission of sufficient power without belt
slippage. The belts need to be a "matched set". If the lenghts are off by
just a bit thenthe shortest belt is transmitting most all of the power and
when you looad the saw down it will start to slip.
Russ
"Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my Unisaw a
> birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a while, and since
> link belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure out how many feet to
> buy. I just measured the outer circumference of one of the original belts
> with a piece of string and came up with the distance of about 25-1/2"
> inches. "Well *that's* dumb" I says; if it were 24" I could buy six feet
> instead of seven (there are three belts), but then I thought that perhaps
> belt lengths are measured along the inner circumference rather than the
> outer, and six feet of belt *would* be enough. 'Zat true? Can anybody
> clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to buy?
>
> --
> "Even if your wife is happy but you're unhappy, you're still happier
> than you'd be if you were happy and your wife was unhappy." - Red Green
> To reply, eat the taco.
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
Granted, but as the belt(s) begin to wear in, you start taking out links
to make up for the compression into the V's of the pulleys. One can measure
the pressure it takes to compress the long lengths to a certain point or
the stiffness of the belts - what deflection from zero... I suspect
matched belts start out good, but they get dirty in different amounts and
thus don't match long after installation.
Martin
Russ Stanton wrote:
> Multiple belts are used due to transmission of sufficient power without
> belt slippage. The belts need to be a "matched set". If the lenghts are
> off by just a bit thenthe shortest belt is transmitting most all of the
> power and when you looad the saw down it will start to slip.
>
> Russ
> "Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my Unisaw
>> a birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a while, and
>> since link belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure out how many
>> feet to buy. I just measured the outer circumference of one of the
>> original belts with a piece of string and came up with the distance of
>> about 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's* dumb" I says; if it were 24" I
>> could buy six feet instead of seven (there are three belts), but then
>> I thought that perhaps belt lengths are measured along the inner
>> circumference rather than the outer, and six feet of belt *would* be
>> enough. 'Zat true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I
>> *really* need to buy?
>>
>> --
>> "Even if your wife is happy but you're unhappy, you're still happier
>> than you'd be if you were happy and your wife was unhappy." - Red Green
>> To reply, eat the taco.
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
>
Just a FWIW .. .. .. a few years ago, my Woodmaster 718 developed a
vibration. It is a 2 "matched" belt system. Just to check it out, I
pieced together some link belt pieces, and installed it in place of the
2 originals. The vibration disappeared, and I never have either
replaced the "matched" set or added a second link belt. It has been
running just fine on one link belt ever since.
Now, if you think you can ever load up the arbor on your saw to exceed
that of an 18" planer,perhaps it is correct of you to go buy a matched
set and be done with it. Myself, I'd try one or two, or even 3 link
belts without hesitation. Look at it this way .. IF you were to
install 3 link belts .. would this not be a likely scenario. The
shortest belt will begin to take the load .. .. IF the load gets great
enough to stretch the first belt, the second one begins to grab. IF
they both can't pull the load (RIGHT !!), #3 kicks in, and what, exactly
have you lost ??
All the theory and logic in the world don't mean squat when you just try
something and it works .. WITHOUT any negative side effects. What
would be the worst case scenario for simply trying that which you
propose ?? NO HARM .. NO DAMAGE .. NO PROBLEM .. go for it, and let up
know how well it works out for you. Be sure to let us know how much it
slipped !!
As for your original question .. buy 6' of link belt .. if you get 3 out
of it, great .. if not make 2 .. run them as is and get the extra foot
of belt to make up #3 if you really think it's necessary.
On Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:06:36 -0600, dpb <[email protected]> wrote:
>Steve Turner wrote:
>> Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my Unisaw a
>> birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a while, and since
>> link belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure out how many feet to
>> buy. I just measured the outer circumference of one of the original
>> belts with a piece of string and came up with the distance of about
>> 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's* dumb" I says; if it were 24" I could buy
>> six feet instead of seven (there are three belts), but then I thought
>> that perhaps belt lengths are measured along the inner circumference
>> rather than the outer, and six feet of belt *would* be enough. 'Zat
>> true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to
>> buy?
>
>Yeah, easily...0"
>
>Buy the matched set; a) I don't think they can reproduce link belts
>sufficiently accurately to work well as matched sets and b) they're a
>(moderately expensive) solution looking for a problem.
>
>But what's one extra foot anyway, and you may need the extra link or two
>to be able to get them installed if you're adamant of going ahead.
I replace a very old set of matched belts, with link belts and have
experienced no problems for the 3 years. Counting out the number of
links so all three matched length. The manfacturing process of the
links seems to create a real uniform product link to link.
As far as the Steve's question I bought 7 feet and had about a foot
left over.
Mark
On 1/9/2010 4:01 PM, dpb wrote:
> Swingman wrote:
> ...
>
>> Yep ... ZERO. ...
>
> Dang, is that an echo??? :)
LOL ... guess it was. Sorry, didn't see your post until you mentioned it
and I went back and looked.
Fighting Thunderbird 3.0 here ... double posting, missing posts buried
in jungle layers of threaded and unthreaded, read and unread, and
phantoms that don't show up at all.
Chalk it up to great minds ... :)
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)
Steve Turner wrote:
> Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my Unisaw a
> birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a while, and since
> link belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure out how many feet to
> buy. I just measured the outer circumference of one of the original
> belts with a piece of string and came up with the distance of about
> 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's* dumb" I says; if it were 24" I could buy
> six feet instead of seven (there are three belts), but then I thought
> that perhaps belt lengths are measured along the inner circumference
> rather than the outer, and six feet of belt *would* be enough. 'Zat
> true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to
> buy?
Yeah, easily...0"
Buy the matched set; a) I don't think they can reproduce link belts
sufficiently accurately to work well as matched sets and b) they're a
(moderately expensive) solution looking for a problem.
But what's one extra foot anyway, and you may need the extra link or two
to be able to get them installed if you're adamant of going ahead.
--
On 1/9/2010 3:37 PM, Swingman wrote:
> On 1/9/2010 1:54 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
>
>> true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to
>> buy?
>
> Yep ... ZERO. One of the reasons you have a Unisaw is that it doesn't
> need link belts. :)
>
> Really, not recommended at all.
Ok, then perhaps I just need to replace the belts I have. Right from the
beginning (almost 10 years ago, I guess) they seemed to have a "memory" that
made them want to assume an oblong shape, and I remember going through every
phase of tensioning from super tight to super loose trying to remove the
startup THUMP that would occur when the belts got out of sync with each other
(their memory "humps" were all in different places). I don't remember the
manual giving me a clear recommendation on how tight the belts should be, but
I've been running them pretty lose for many years now, which (as I recall)
pretty much gets rid of the thump but of course there is some belt slippage
when the motor starts up, and I don't think the saw is running as smoothly as
it should because the belts are flopping around. Suggestions?
--
See Nad. See Nad go. Go Nad!
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
Steve Turner wrote:
...
> ... I don't remember the manual giving me a clear recommendation
> on how tight the belts should be, but I've been running them pretty lose
> for many years now, which (as I recall) pretty much gets rid of the
> thump but of course there is some belt slippage when the motor starts
> up, and I don't think the saw is running as smoothly as it should
> because the belts are flopping around. Suggestions?
The ideal tension for a V-belt drive is the lowest tension at which the
belt will not slip at the highest load condition. (Gates Rubber)
General guidelines....
1. For installation, reduce the center distance so the belts may be
placed in the sheave grooves without force. Arrange the belts
so that both the top and bottom spans have about the same amount of sag.
Apply tension to the belts by increasing the center distance until the
belts are snug and have a live, springy action when struck with the hand.
2. Operate the drive a few minutes to seat the belts in the sheave
grooves. Observe the operation of the drive under its highest
load condition (usually starting). A slight bowing of the slack side of
the drive indicates adequate tension. If the slack side
remains taut during the peak load, the drive is too tight.
3. Check the tension on a new drive several times during the first 24
hours of operation, by observing the slack side span.
4. If a V-belt slips, it is too loose. Increase the tension by
increasing the center distance. Never apply belt dressing, as this will
damage the belt and cause early failure.
There are rule-of-thumb formulae to give ideas of the tension for a
given horsepower and geometry; I'll not bother w/ them here as I'd
surely think Delta will have guidelines. If you don't have the data
surely somebody else w/ a Unisaw will. I've a PM-66 not Unisaw but if
needed I can look up their recommendations; I don't recall offhand.
--
On 1/9/2010 1:54 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
> true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to
> buy?
Yep ... ZERO. One of the reasons you have a Unisaw is that it doesn't
need link belts. :)
Really, not recommended at all.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)
"Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 1/9/2010 3:37 PM, Swingman wrote:
>> On 1/9/2010 1:54 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
>>
>>> true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to
>>> buy?
>>
>> Yep ... ZERO. One of the reasons you have a Unisaw is that it doesn't
>> need link belts. :)
>>
>> Really, not recommended at all.
>
> Ok, then perhaps I just need to replace the belts I have. Right from the
> beginning (almost 10 years ago, I guess) they seemed to have a "memory"
> that made them want to assume an oblong shape, and I remember going
> through every phase of tensioning from super tight to super loose trying
> to remove the startup THUMP that would occur when the belts got out of
> sync with each other (their memory "humps" were all in different places).
> I don't remember the manual giving me a clear recommendation on how tight
> the belts should be, but I've been running them pretty lose for many years
> now, which (as I recall) pretty much gets rid of the thump but of course
> there is some belt slippage when the motor starts up, and I don't think
> the saw is running as smoothly as it should because the belts are flopping
> around. Suggestions?
To help guard against memory buy a higher quality automotive matched belt
set, preferabley the one with notches so that they will bend into a tigher
radius. Typically wood working equipment comes with the cheaper industrial
type belts.
On Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:54:17 -0600, the infamous Steve Turner
<[email protected]> scrawled the following:
>Not that it really needs them, but I've been wanting to give my Unisaw a
>birthday present of replacement link belts for quite a while, and since link
>belts are sold by the foot, I need to figure out how many feet to buy. I just
>measured the outer circumference of one of the original belts with a piece of
>string and came up with the distance of about 25-1/2" inches. "Well *that's*
>dumb" I says; if it were 24" I could buy six feet instead of seven (there are
>three belts), but then I thought that perhaps belt lengths are measured along
>the inner circumference rather than the outer, and six feet of belt *would* be
>enough. 'Zat true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really*
>need to buy?
Walk out to your shop, cut your old belt off the saw with pruning
shears, and measure the length. Now go buy that manys. ;)
Both packs I bought were 6'. I still have one.
--============================================--
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
---
http://diversify.com/handypouches.html ToolyRoo(tm)
and Possum(tm) Handy Pouches NOW AVAILABLE!
On 1/9/2010 6:26 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
> On 1/9/2010 3:37 PM, Swingman wrote:
>> On 1/9/2010 1:54 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
>>
>>> true? Can anybody clarify how many feet of link belt I *really* need to
>>> buy?
>>
>> Yep ... ZERO. One of the reasons you have a Unisaw is that it doesn't
>> need link belts. :)
>>
>> Really, not recommended at all.
>
> Ok, then perhaps I just need to replace the belts I have. Right from the
> beginning (almost 10 years ago, I guess) they seemed to have a "memory"
> that made them want to assume an oblong shape, and I remember going
> through every phase of tensioning from super tight to super loose trying
> to remove the startup THUMP that would occur when the belts got out of
> sync with each other (their memory "humps" were all in different
> places). I don't remember the manual giving me a clear recommendation on
> how tight the belts should be, but I've been running them pretty lose
> for many years now, which (as I recall) pretty much gets rid of the
> thump but of course there is some belt slippage when the motor starts
> up, and I don't think the saw is running as smoothly as it should
> because the belts are flopping around. Suggestions?
>
http://www.sawcenter.com/unisawparts.htm
About a 1/4 of the way down the page.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)