How to crown/dome an idler wheel?

T

Tenebr0s

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Jun 3, 2012
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I've heard that a domed/crowned idler wheel will improve tracking on a flat platen. How much of a crown would I need, and do I need a lathe for this? I thought that maybe I could just track the belt to expose one side of the idler wheel and take some off the corners with a file while the machine is running, but I don't want to ruin the wheel!
 
Have you tried putting a strip of electrical tape around the center of the wheel a few layers high? No personal experience with this but I've seen it done to increase tracking. YMMV of course, just throwing it out there as a possibility.
 
put a few layers of masking tape(3/4'') around the center of your wheel. you could probably try to file/sand it one side at a time but it might not turn out very good.
 
I'm actually curious too. For those that have machined crowned wheels for grinders, what's the radius on the crowning? What does the cross section of a crowned wheel look like?
 
i cut 1 and a half degree angles from both edges leaving about a half inch flat in the center.
 
I've used the masking tape for about thirty years. I do have several layers in the middle and try to gently slope it on each side. I think I get to redo this at least once a year. It really works well. Not so much the electrical tape.
Frank
 
Why don't you look at Ebay for later turned idler wheels. Many are super well made and a three and half inch wheel or four inch wheel are equal substitutes . I bought mine for about $52 including shipping and it was so well made that I bought a spare and another one (4 inch) for my second grinder Both machine track perfectly as these wheels are crowned nicely and they have good bearings and spacer. Larry


PS these things will wear out eventually. LL
 
Hmm, so it appears that my idler wheel actually is domed slightly. The grinder works fine for the most part, but however I adjust the tracking, the belt still runs at a slight diagonal. I guess this means my platen isn't in line with the idler assembly?
 
That's what that would tend to mean. Tracking won't really affect your belt running diagonally across your platen a whole lot.
 
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