Problem with Harbor Freight 1x30 using Lee Valley Leather Belt

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randyha

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Mar 25, 2008
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I recently purchased a Harbor Freight 1x30 Belt Sander and separately ordered a 1x30 leather belt from Lee Valley (Surgi-Sharp by Wheatland). The belt seems a little smaller than all abrasive belts from Harbor Freight or Lee Valley. I have to coax it on the wheels with the tensioning knob loosed all the way. But when I turned the sander on, the motor wouldn't turn, strained buy the tension of the leather belt. Runs fine when I take the leather belt off. All I can think of is the that my garage is a little cool, around 50 degrees and the belt has shrunk a little due to the cold, but that is not very cold and it seems unlikely. Has anyone else run into this situation?
 
The Sugisharps are deliberately made a little small. They tend to stretch in use, and after a couple months, you will be very glad they planned it that way! I'm not entirely sure how to solve your problem with it being tight enough that the motor won't run... Mine was DEFINITELY considerably smaller than my other grit belts when I purchased it, it's now stretched out to about the same size and seems to have stabilized right about there.

I'd consider putting it on the grinder, then just leaving it there for a few hours under tension. I'd bet that will stretch it out enough to start using it.
 
OK. I re-installed the belt and will let it adjust for a while. I can get the motor turning with it on bur brushing the belt gently, but it turns slow, so I shut it off,
afraid of ruining the motor.
 
Yeah, I'd be a little afraid of running it under an over-max load like that. Just let 'er sit overnight, I'll bet it will stretch out enough to at least let the motor run smoothly.
 
I got the motor to spin properly. I put a light near the belt for a while to warm it gently. Thanks for all the help. Just didn't want to wreck everything at the start. The motor runs at speed now, with the belt now being stretched out a little. It wobbles around a bit in the tracking and sort of "flaps" a little on its face where a tool or knife would rest when sharpening (compared to the more perfect manufactured abrasive belts), I think because the leather belt, as a result of being a natural material, is not continuously the same perfect width and thickness throughout. I'm assuming that it will settle out somewhat with use.

Thanks all!

Randy
 
randyha said:
I recently purchased a Harbor Freight 1x30 Belt Sander and separately ordered a 1x30 leather belt from Lee Valley (Surgi-Sharp by Wheatland). The belt seems a little smaller than all abrasive belts from Harbor Freight or Lee Valley. I have to coax it on the wheels with the tensioning knob loosed all the way. But when I turned the sander on, the motor wouldn't turn, strained buy the tension of the leather belt. Runs fine when I take the leather belt off. All I can think of is the that my garage is a little cool, around 50 degrees and the belt has shrunk a little due to the cold, but that is not very cold and it seems unlikely. Has anyone else run into this situation?
Click to expand...

I have to coax it on the wheels with the tensioning knob loosed all the way.

This may sound silly but did you take off the dust cover and loosen the bolt.
I pretty much change belts that way, socket wrench on the left, hand wrench (11/16?) on the right.
I pull the pulley assembly forward, slip the belt on, slip the hand wrench on and push forward on the tension bar to get the appropriate tension on the belt that I'm used to, tighten the left nut with the socket.

I don't rely on the tension knob except for fine adjustments if a belt travels weird.
 
Randyha, I hope it's ok that I piggyback onto your thread. I just have a quick questions since we're on the subject of the belts for the HF 1x30. I've read somewhere before that the HF 1x30 has problems running scotchbrite belts; anyone else experience the same thing? I don't want to order scotchbrite belts for my 1x30 if it won't even run it...
 
HikingMano said:
Randyha, I hope it's ok that I piggyback onto your thread. I just have a quick questions since we're on the subject of the belts for the HF 1x30. I've read somewhere before that the HF 1x30 has problems running scotchbrite belts; anyone else experience the same thing? I don't want to order scotchbrite belts for my 1x30 if it won't even run it...
Click to expand...

I haven't tried Scotchbrite, but have tried a variety including felt and leather.
No Problems.

Even with tracking, there is a lot of play once you loosen the bolt on the tensioner.
Also, I got the HF 1 x30 with the disc .. tracking was way off.
After palying with it, the top pulley has a setscrew ... loosen, push pulley in line (I could actually see it was off), and tighten.
Tracks true without abusing the tension knob.

I think there's enough wiggle room to fit any belt IMHO.
 
randyha , i have the same problem with the leather belts ,,

put on the leather belt on the wheels with the tightening knobs all the way loose

tighten the knob about 1/4 in then start the machine , if it runs loose , stop sander tighten knob again 1/4 in , you can also apply some wd40 on the wheels , thats what i do
 
HikingMano said:
Randyha, I hope it's ok that I piggyback onto your thread. I just have a quick questions since we're on the subject of the belts for the HF 1x30. I've read somewhere before that the HF 1x30 has problems running scotchbrite belts; anyone else experience the same thing? I don't want to order scotchbrite belts for my 1x30 if it won't even run it...
Click to expand...

Please PM me where you are finding scotch brite belts in 1x30 size.
 
Yeah, I was looking at the Medium and Very Fine at Tru-Grit.

"1x30-SB AMED Surface Conditioning low Stretch" and "1x30-SB AVFN Surface Conditioning"
 
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