grinder question-

do you leave your belt on or take it off to save the spring? thanks

Hello and welcome to Knife Dogs.

I always loosen the belt or take it off when I leave the shop.

I'm going to scoot this over to Knife Maker Shop Talk ~

BC

I tke the belt off I found that if left on the belt warps and wobbles all over the place the next time i turn it on.

I also take off the belt, I do it more to save the belt than the spring.
CW

I leave it on. I never noticed a difference.

My recommendation is to always release the belt tension, especially at the end of the shop day. Why? It's not about the spring(s), it's about the contact wheels. Experience has taught me that IF you leave belt tension on the machine, it will cause flat spots on the contact wheels. The smaller diameter the wheel, the more prevalent and intense the flat spots will be. When it first happened to me, I could not figure out where that "ka-thump", "ka-thump" was coming from, but finally got down to removing the wheels and testing them by rolling them on a granite surface plate. The wheels stopped on the flat spots......and I had to replace the wheels.

Thanks Ed, that tip was definitely worth the price of admission.

Carey

Ed is right on, it messes with your wheels and the belt but it won't hurt the spring.

A common misconception is that a spring will weaken if left compressed. It won't. A spring can weaken from being worked or over compressed but not just sitting there under a normal load.

I started taking the belts off. It seems to have more effect on the cork belt then the others. The cork belt really started to wobble bad.