My grinder keeps bumping with every rotation!!!

C

Cavecloth

Joined
Nov 8, 2015
Messages
35
Hey guys, I purchased a grinder from Ameribrade and couldn't be happier! This thing is a beast and the guys that run/own the company are phenomenal in terms of support and knowledge.

My setup is the Ameribrade with a Baldor 2hp motor and a 7/8" shaft 7" drive wheel that I purchased from Ameribrade.

Here's a short video of the issue with an X weight 36 grit belt:


Please let me know what you think the issue could be.

All my belts, X and J weight run the same along with my Combat Abrasives ceramic's........

I took the drive wheel off and mounted it again, making sure there wasn't any wobble or play and the issue keeps happening.

I also inspected the idler wheel and tracking wheels and none of them have any play and seem to be running true.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!
 
That side to side is often just the nature of the belt and how it was splice together. Sometimes it decrease with use and the belt stretches a bit, sometime it is just a bad belt.

Stick the belt on the grinder, set high tension on the belt and let the grinder run fast for about 10 minutes and see if it is better. I have done this with some belts and after they run a bit on the grinder they will run truer.
 
if you turn the grinder off and leave the belt on it with tension, it will usually wobble side to side the next time you go to use it. otherwise, that would mean the belts were not made true and flat. try some 3m belts.
 
Remove the belt and lay a straight edge across the upper and lower wheels on each end of the platten. The platten should not extend more than a 1/16" (roughly) past a straight line between the wheel surfaces. If it extends any at all you might consider beveling the top end of the platten so the belt has a ramp to gently slide up onto the platten rather than having to jump up over a lip.

Or you can just adjust the platten back where the belt doesn't touch it and see if the noise goes away.
Jim A
 
Looks like either improper tension or the crowns of the drive and tracking wheel fighting eachother.
I'm not particularly fond of the way the motor mounts on the Ameribrade.
Have you verified that the motor is sitting square left and right as well as up and down?
Try running the belt bypassing the tracking wheel and using only the drive wheel and the platen.
If the belt doesn't run centered on those three wheels then the motor needs adjusted.
 
Yeah, I’d also say that it’s just the belt. A lot of my belts do this, and I don’t typically have any issues because if it. Could have something to do with the seem on the belt as well. I’d try running something like a trizac on it and see if you’re still experiencing it.
 
Thanks for all the replies! It turns out that I had some other belts around and the ones that were making the noise and jumping from side to side were Red Label Abrasives from Amazon..... The Combat Abrasives belts run true and quiet!

I don't want to give Combat a black eye.

Because of this, it's definitely a belt splice issue of the cheaper belts.

What belt brands do you guys use?

I need to spend some more money and get belts that run true and quiet.

I like the Combat Abrasives, but I'm open to whatever works the right way regardless of the increased cost.
 
I've tried every manufactures belts compared them grit to grit ceramics, alum oxide, silicon carbide...some belts just seem to work better than others so it's a matter of what works best for you. Pick up 3M and Norton 50 grit ceramic compare one against the other then compare to Combat Abrasive. I did the same with 120/220/320 etc only takes a couple belts but you will see a difference based on side by side comparison.
 
Pops has a good selection and and some of the best prices and service. Try a few different things from them.
 
Belts are quite personal. The fracture rate depends on pressure, and some belts match different pressures better. Some perform better on different types of steel, or hardened vs annealed.

I’ve been using my half worn 36g belts for profiling, or cleaning scale between Damascus restacks with a push stick. They start working again with higher pressure.
 
C Cavecloth I bought the same grinder (but with leeson motor) in Nov 2019 and having fits with the same issue. Wondering which combat abrasives you’re having luck with. Maybe we can chat offline too?
 
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