Need a little set up advice, Grizzly 2x72

[spareparts]

Thanks in advance.

Could I get a little advice on set up and adjusting a Grizzly 2x72 ? Mostly in regards to tracking and the idler wheel. I've noticed that the belt isn't centering on the idler wheel and often when I get it where I think it's adjusted properly, the belt will scoot off to one side or the other as soon as I put steel to it. When adjusting the tracking, I've run in to a problem where the belt will creep toward center and then all of a sudden scoot off to one side or the other. Are these issues of too much tension, not enough tension? Below are a couple of pics that might help.

 

[Marko3]

Forget about how perfect it looks on the idler. Can you get it to track on the platen and on the wheel ? If you can get it to stay aligned on those don't worry about the idler being off a little. From what I got from your post though when you have steel to the platen it wants move on you. I don't have a grizzly but on my grinder I keep tension tight. I think if you wrap some electrical tape on the middle of the idler that may help a little too.

 

[i4Marc]

I have a grizzly and have had the same problem. A couple of things should improve the problem but it will always have problems because of the design. I'd have to go take another look at the idler wheel to see how much crown there is but you can, as Marko3 suggests, wrap some tape around the idler to add more crown if necessary. One piece of advice that was given to me which I think helped a lot was to 'break' the edges of the contact wheel with a file. The contact wheel edges are very square and in some cases are actually cupped toward the edges. With no belt on the machine, turn it on. Take a file grasped tightly in your two hands and lightly round over the outer edges of the rubber on the wheel. Go slowly and be careful. Safety is paramount. You don't need a large radius on the corner, just enough to break the sharp corner. Another thing that might help is to raise the idler wheel support arm more to create more belt tension. I have tried to take mine apart to put a stiffer spring in to add tension strength but I think that is futile the way that it fits in there. Keep in mind two wheel designs have a lot of distance between wheels. That is a lot of area to keep stationary. You are pushing against the belt in the middle of that span. The more wheels you add to the design the shorter distances the belt has to go to find a stable point and the better the tracking is. But the Griz is a good machine. Learn to work within its capabilities. Develop a lighter touch grinding on the edge of the belt.

 

[spareparts]

From what I got from your post though when you have steel to the platen it wants move on you.

Yeah, exactly. It seems to be tracking perfectly then when I start to grind it quickly jumps over, to one side or the other.

THanks and I'll try the tips that you and i4Marc suggested and go from there.

 

[Patrickknives]

Just looking at it seem to be a alignment problem, have you run a level between the two wheels to see if they are in alignment?

 

[12345678910]

Most cases of scooting belts I've had disappeared with more belt tension.

It needs to be much tighter than you first realize.


On a toolbar style, you can pull out the bar, on that style I have no idea how.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I've used electrical tape to make a more pronounced crown on the tracking wheel on my grinder (not a grizz) and it's helped a lot. Made it usable even, where before it really wasn't. Only problem is that I have to replace the tape often, but that's a small issue.

 

[silver_pilate]

On my old Grizzly, I had the same issues and did the same thing. I raised the arm as high as I could while still getting the belt to fit. I added a single strip of electrical tape several layers thick smack in the middle of the idler, and I broke the proud edges of the contact wheel slightly with a file. This all helped. As i4Marc alluded to, two-wheel grinder is inherently unstable. And he is spot on about developing a lighter touch with this grinder. Also, the graphite platen is crap and will groove very quickly. Look into getting a ceramic platen if possible and epoxy it in place of the graphite platen face.

With the Grizzly, it runs balls-out, so you have to develop a lighter touch, especially when finish grinding and working handle materials. That said, a lighter touch just means finesse, not a lighter grasp on your blade. The belt will still want to wander when hogging heavily, and it always will. Lighten up when things are more critical or for precision work and let the belt do the work. If you can learn to grind successfully on a Grizzly, then you should be able to grind on pretty much any machine out there.

--nathan

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Yup like has been said, more tension. As Nathan said, lift the arm up as high as you can. As Patrick mentioned, check to make sure the surfaces of both wheels are aligned with each other. A slight twist out and you get lots of extra tracking problems. Here's a post from an old thread how I dealt with the same stuff. A heavier/stronger spring would likely help a lot too, assuming everything else is tweaked well.

 

[spareparts]

Thanks for all the tips. When I got home I discovered that the alignment of the idler pulley was off. Straightened that, adjusted the belt tension, and used some electric tape. Works much better now.

 

[elementfe]

Sounds good, I was going to ask what kind of belt you had and whether you tried a different one, but looks like you've got it working.
And, wow, it really does look like that pulley isn't straight on the shaft in the second photo...is that an illusion?

 

[RSKT]

Tension is likely your culprit, and it sounds like you've got a handle on it. Great advice above. I never used the electrical tape to improve the crown, but that's sound advice if your setup is tempermental. I've noticed that with J weight belts on a griz, you have to get them SUPER tight. To the point that you cam the idler all the way to the right just to feed it on. This is especially true if you are tightening up your plunges by rolling the belt over the edge of the platen.

Lots of nice knives have been made on a grizzly. I'll always have one in addition to my other grinders.

 

[Phydeaux]

All the above advice is good.

Get rid of the belts that came with the grinder and get some real belts. Make sure you get rid of the graphite platen and get a ceramic one. You'll wonder why they put that on there.

Ric