I have an old Sears Contractor saw circa 1955 that I've been using trouble
free for many years. I have a WWII blade with stiffener and a link belt,
etc. All has been well in woodcuttingland. Then - I decided to cut an
additional zero clearance insert for a thicker blade that I use
occasionally. All I did was remove the WWII and the balance plate, remove
the old ZCI, install the new blade without the balancer and slowly raise the
blade through the ZCI. All was well.
Reversed the procedure so I had the WWII and balancer installed. Fired up
the saw and gat one helluva vibration. Seems the link belt was vibrating
pretty badly. Thought that by raising the blade to full height to cut the
ZCI, I might have stretched the link belt ( do they stretch?) so I removed a
link and tried again. Same problem - I can see and feel the link belt
bouncing. Usually I just leave the weight of the big motor to keep the belt
taught but something isn't right. I'll try removing additional links but
wondered if anyone has run into this before. AS I said, prior to my ZCI
cutting, the saw hummed.
Thanx,
Vic
--
Of course, I may be wrong, I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.
Did you mark the radial position of the old blade to the to the old balance
plate? If not try rotating the balance plate till you get the results you
want.
Wendell
"Vic Baron" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have an old Sears Contractor saw circa 1955 that I've been using trouble
> free for many years. I have a WWII blade with stiffener and a link belt,
> etc. All has been well in woodcuttingland. Then - I decided to cut an
> additional zero clearance insert for a thicker blade that I use
> occasionally. All I did was remove the WWII and the balance plate, remove
> the old ZCI, install the new blade without the balancer and slowly raise
the
> blade through the ZCI. All was well.
>
> Reversed the procedure so I had the WWII and balancer installed. Fired up
> the saw and gat one helluva vibration. Seems the link belt was vibrating
> pretty badly. Thought that by raising the blade to full height to cut the
> ZCI, I might have stretched the link belt ( do they stretch?) so I removed
a
> link and tried again. Same problem - I can see and feel the link belt
> bouncing. Usually I just leave the weight of the big motor to keep the
belt
> taught but something isn't right. I'll try removing additional links but
> wondered if anyone has run into this before. AS I said, prior to my ZCI
> cutting, the saw hummed.
>
> Thanx,
>
> Vic
>
> --
> Of course, I may be wrong, I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.
>
>
Good point - I'll check this.
Vic
"Unisaw A100" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Vic Baron wrote:
> >I think when I ran the saw to the full height for the ZCI, I might have
> >overdid it and made the belt brush against something.
>
>
> This sounds like your pulleys are too far to one side.
> You'll probably want to correct this.
>
> UA100
Could you have reversed the direction of rotation?
"Vic Baron" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have an old Sears Contractor saw circa 1955 that I've been using trouble
> free for many years. I have a WWII blade with stiffener and a link belt,
> etc. All has been well in woodcuttingland. Then - I decided to cut an
> additional zero clearance insert for a thicker blade that I use
> occasionally. All I did was remove the WWII and the balance plate, remove
> the old ZCI, install the new blade without the balancer and slowly raise
the
> blade through the ZCI. All was well.
>
> Reversed the procedure so I had the WWII and balancer installed. Fired up
> the saw and gat one helluva vibration. Seems the link belt was vibrating
> pretty badly. Thought that by raising the blade to full height to cut the
> ZCI, I might have stretched the link belt ( do they stretch?) so I removed
a
> link and tried again. Same problem - I can see and feel the link belt
> bouncing. Usually I just leave the weight of the big motor to keep the
belt
> taught but something isn't right. I'll try removing additional links but
> wondered if anyone has run into this before. AS I said, prior to my ZCI
> cutting, the saw hummed.
>
> Thanx,
>
> Vic
>
> --
> Of course, I may be wrong, I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.
>
>
I should have asked "Could you have put the belt on backwards?"
"Vic Baron" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have an old Sears Contractor saw circa 1955 that I've been using trouble
> free for many years. I have a WWII blade with stiffener and a link belt,
> etc. All has been well in woodcuttingland. Then - I decided to cut an
> additional zero clearance insert for a thicker blade that I use
> occasionally. All I did was remove the WWII and the balance plate, remove
> the old ZCI, install the new blade without the balancer and slowly raise
the
> blade through the ZCI. All was well.
>
> Reversed the procedure so I had the WWII and balancer installed. Fired up
> the saw and gat one helluva vibration. Seems the link belt was vibrating
> pretty badly. Thought that by raising the blade to full height to cut the
> ZCI, I might have stretched the link belt ( do they stretch?) so I removed
a
> link and tried again. Same problem - I can see and feel the link belt
> bouncing. Usually I just leave the weight of the big motor to keep the
belt
> taught but something isn't right. I'll try removing additional links but
> wondered if anyone has run into this before. AS I said, prior to my ZCI
> cutting, the saw hummed.
>
> Thanx,
>
> Vic
>
> --
> Of course, I may be wrong, I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.
>
>
LOL! That occurred to me too so I went on a website and double checked. All
was ok. solved the problem - went to Rockler and bought a new set of links.
Installed new belt and all is well. Looked really close at the old belt and
saw that there was a gouge along one edge. I think when I ran the saw to the
full height for the ZCI, I might have overdid it and made the belt brush
against something. Anyhow, the news belt isn't vibrating so all is well.
Thanx!
Vic
"Unisaw A100" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Vic Baron wrote:
> >Just FYI, while the saw was running I was looking very closely at both
> >pulleys and they seem to be running true but the belt in-between is
flapping
> >like crazy.
>
>
> It maybe just occurred to me but is the belt running in the
> right direction?
>
> If not, don't feel bad. The Dork Police won't be told onna
> 'count of we've all done something similar, once.
>
> UA100
I didn't but I also ran the saw with no blade at all and the vibration in
the link belt was the same. The arbor was turning smooth and level. Mt guess
is something with the belt.
But I'll play with the plate anyway <G>.
Thanx
Vic
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Did you mark the radial position of the old blade to the to the old
balance
> plate? If not try rotating the balance plate till you get the results you
> want.
>
> Wendell
>
>
> "Vic Baron" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I have an old Sears Contractor saw circa 1955 that I've been using
trouble
> > free for many years. I have a WWII blade with stiffener and a link belt,
> > etc. All has been well in woodcuttingland. Then - I decided to cut an
> > additional zero clearance insert for a thicker blade that I use
> > occasionally. All I did was remove the WWII and the balance plate,
remove
> > the old ZCI, install the new blade without the balancer and slowly raise
> the
> > blade through the ZCI. All was well.
> >
> > Reversed the procedure so I had the WWII and balancer installed. Fired
up
> > the saw and gat one helluva vibration. Seems the link belt was vibrating
> > pretty badly. Thought that by raising the blade to full height to cut
the
> > ZCI, I might have stretched the link belt ( do they stretch?) so I
removed
> a
> > link and tried again. Same problem - I can see and feel the link belt
> > bouncing. Usually I just leave the weight of the big motor to keep the
> belt
> > taught but something isn't right. I'll try removing additional links but
> > wondered if anyone has run into this before. AS I said, prior to my ZCI
> > cutting, the saw hummed.
> >
> > Thanx,
> >
> > Vic
> >
> > --
> > Of course, I may be wrong, I thought I was wrong once but I was
mistaken.
> >
> >
>
>
By the way, I've just consulted the ancient text (Power Tool
Maintenance by Daniel Irvin) and he has this to say about
tension (I'm paraphrasing):
The lowest tension at which a belt will not slip under full
load is best. Too little tension causes belt slapping and
slippage; too much tension causes belt vibration, sheave
(pulley) wear and bearing wear.
It goes without saying that the two pulleys should be
checked for alignment.
UA100
I'll double check that - I gave it the once over but admit I didn't look
closely. Worse come to worse, I have a Rockler store nearby - I can buy
another link setup for a few bucks.
Just FYI, while the saw was running I was looking very closely at both
pulleys and they seem to be running true but the belt in-between is flapping
like crazy.
Thanx,
Vic
"Unisaw A100" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sounds like a link went kaflooie (technical word for fucked
> up) on you. Try inspecting each link to be sure they are
> all seated/set/threaded in correctly.
>
> UA100
Vic Baron wrote:
>Just FYI, while the saw was running I was looking very closely at both
>pulleys and they seem to be running true but the belt in-between is flapping
>like crazy.
It maybe just occurred to me but is the belt running in the
right direction?
If not, don't feel bad. The Dork Police won't be told onna
'count of we've all done something similar, once.
UA100