Belt Movement / Wobble with KMG

klammer

klammer

Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
580
Finally ran new power to the shop for the KMG, glued up the ceramic platen liner and put it into action. I put on a 3m 967 60 grit and start the grinder. Problem..the belt "wobbles"? 1-2mm to each side. adjust tracking, tighten the belt / arm etc and nothing takes it away. I thought it had to do with the platen liner I put on but when I pulled out a 60 Grit Blaze I had and put it on the grinder the wobble went away? Tried a few of the 3m 967 and they had the wobble.

Anyone have this before? I assume its an issue with the belts?

Cheers,
Klammer
 
Most likely it's the belts. I have some belts that wobble more than others. I've tried everything, like you, and get no where.

I called Rob @ KMG and he said it was probably the belts as well. He did offer a few suggestions, but I can't remember what they were at this point. I kind of gave up on the whole things, even though it bothers me at times.
 
You will get that sometimes with various belts. I have had it happen and thought maybe tracking but I ran same belts on friends grinders and same thing. I have had it with the Blaze and some Gators, others of the same kind but a different batch or order ran just fine. Just seems to be a hit or miss thing. Pain in the butt , especially when your doing plunges .

Jerry
 
thanks folks - must have hit a bad batch of the 3m belts then. too bad I ordered quite a few lol. I went a bit nuts trying to do a plunge before I changed to the blaze.
 
I had a slight wobble I could not get rid of when I built my grinder, until I did this.....

Turn a 50 grit belt inside out and run it for a few seconds. It smoothed out my wheels and knock off the gremlin that caused the belt to wobble.

It now runs a straight as an arrow with the same belts is wobbled with.
 
When you are finished grinding, don't leave tension on the belt. Take it off. The belt will have a tendency to stretch (unevenly) and wobble (especially the finer grit belts).

Occasionally, if a belt wobbles, you can lightly spritz the back-side with water while it is running. Let it run and get almost dry. Sometimes you will notice that the wobble goes away.

Robert
 
good advice in this thread!!!

I thought I was the only one with this problem... I'll have to give it a try next time it happens, and also keep my belts slack..

thanks
 
Pull the top down parallel when you tighten the belt, there should be a lot of tension, this helps with most belts. I find some belts are straighter than others. I use Blaze 36 and 60 and Gator belts, none of them wobble a bit.
 
I also believe the belts are probably your culprit. I've had this issue with some belts while others run straight as an arrow.

It also helps to run a brand new belt for a bit without grinding against it. This accomplishes a couple of things. One, it lets the belt break in just a bit, and sometimes this can reduce the wobble. The other thing it does (especially with cheaper or older belts that have been sitting in the heat/cold for a while) is it gives the belt seam a chance to blow up while you're not directly in front of it holding something potentially sharp or heavily invested with time. I take a new belt or one that's been sitting on the shelf for a while, crank it up to full speed with high tension, and then let it run for a minute or two while I gather the rest of what I need. Then I back the speed down if necessary and go to work.

--nathan
 
thanks guys! Lots of great advice here. The water really sounds interesting. I do not think I have any gremlins in the wheels as this was a pre loved grinder and the previous owner had no issues with wobble.
 
One other thing: I have had some belt wobble that went away when I pulled the belt off and put it back on so the grit ran the other way.
 
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