Belt wobble and how to corect it.

doomtooth

doomtooth

Well-Known Member
Hello all. I've been having some serious issues with belt wobble and I cant seem to correct it. The belts are norton bluefire that i ordered off of amazon theough texas knife maker. I have tried every belt and 1 out of ten doesn't wobble side to side horribly. The belt slides to the right then quickly kicks left. The motion is repeated over and over.......im hoping its not a drive wheel problem because I just cant afford to replace parts on my grinder....christmas wiped me out. Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[video=youtube_share;VjiFipjOkN0]https://youtu.be/VjiFipjOkN0[/video]
 
Strangely enough I've found that sometimes simply turning the belt around to run in the other direction helps.
I also found that here in florida the humidity seems to affect certain brand-grit belts. being that those came from a humid area like Texas the humidity may have done something to them, or not. sorry I couldn't help more, wobbly belts are pretty worthless except for profiling or general grinding in the shop.
 
Have you tried experimenting with the belt tension? I've had some belts that preferred to run pretty tight and I've had some that ran better in one direction than the other. Maybe some alignment issue between the drive wheel and tracking wheel, seems unlikely its the belts if they all do it. Just guessing.
 
I was just fixing to mention pushing up on the handle to increase tension to see if the wobble decreased any. If the drive wheel is a tad out of line it will cause a very similar wobble, the drive wheel pulls belt to one side, then other wheels put belt back causing a wobble.

Easy thing, try increasing tension by pushing up on handle. As said before, some belts just won't run straight.

Ken H>
 
Well i've tried all i could think of and still only one of ten belts ran true. I guess this means that im done until january when I can afford to get more belts. Thank you all for your comments. This has been a lesson learned.
 
So- is it just this batch of Norton belts that wobble? Maybe you got a batch with some defects. Your grinder looks pretty new, so- is this just how things started out with it from day one?
I would try a straight edge along drive wheels and rollers. And, then check for play in the bearings/bolts. And, also try the different belt-tensions. Also, is your tracking wheel crowned in the middle? If new belts run fine, then a refund or replacement of the belts by your supplier would probably be in order, huh? Hopefully, that's all it is- too bad you are shut down for awhile, tho.
 
The 3m cubitron II belts in the higher grits that I have run fine. I am guessing that those norton bluefire belts were cut poorly or something. Unfortunately I tested every belt out of the ten that I ordered to be positive that they were the problem so I wont be getting a refund. Live and learn as the saying goes.
 
Why no refund? You can't tell if belts are faulty if you don't run them on your grinder.


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I have the same issue with Blaze orange, cork, cubitron and others. Some belts run smooth some wobble. I can have a blaze belt wobble and then another blaze same grit run smooth. The flat platon seems to wobble more than my wheel. Could be a storage issue or humidity like Bladegrinder said, I to live in Florida. I have a KMG also. Sometimes running the belt for a couple minutes helps smooth it out.
 
csalt09 said:
I have the same issue with Blaze orange, cork, cubitron and others. Some belts run smooth some wobble. I can have a blaze belt wobble and then another blaze same grit run smooth. The flat platon seems to wobble more than my wheel. Could be a storage issue or humidity like Bladegrinder said, I to live in Florida. I have a KMG also. Sometimes running the belt for a couple minutes helps smooth it out.
Click to expand...

I take a hard planner blade and hold it tight to the side of the platen. Then adjust the belt towards it. Usually will even out the belt. Do it both sides.
Good luck
TJ Smith
 
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