Question on 2x72s(or other big grinders)

etp777

etp777

Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Messages
2,259
OK, wondering if anyone leaves belts on their grinders when they're not working? Particularly applies to ones like the Grizzly,a nd others that have a spring as part of the tensioning. Tried to get in habit of not leaving one on there, as I figure with the spring tension, will hasten wear on the spring, and also, by pulling up on drive pulley, hasten wear on bearings for drive pulley. Now am I jsut being paranoid, or is this a real concern?
 
I guess it could be bad for the belts etal, but I almost always just leave the belts on when the machine is not in use. So do most makers I know, I actually can not think of anyone who takes their belts off. Though I am sure some do. The only ones that never stay on are the scotch brites. They tend to stretch and can cause belt damage.

I have BIIIs BTW.
 
Hey Joel, I always used to just leave the belt on, but lately I have been removing them when I close down for the day, that is when I can remember. I had been thinking about the spring also. THis past weekend I was over at David and Jerome Anders shop and I noticed that their grinders did not have belts on them when not in use and that John Fitch removed the belt when he was done. So maybe there is something to this.
 
I leave them on, but not tensioned. I believe leaving a tensioned belt in place can leave a flat spot on rubber contact wheels.
 
On my Burr Kings, if I leave them on, I take the tension off. On the Blademaster, I have to remove the belts as there is no way to relieve tension otherwise.
 
I was told a long time ago that leaving them on will "strain" your contact wheel and it's bad on springs.
I just got in the habit of taking them off.
 
I believe leaving a tensioned belt in place can leave a flat spot on rubber contact wheels.
Click to expand...

Huh? How exactly would a flexible cloth backed belt wrapped around a wheel cause a flat spot? I know I didn't do so good in geometry in school, but it seems the worst that could happen would be a small elipse shape to the wheel. It would be pretty hard to put a flat spot on a wheel with a belt unless the belt was on another grinder and was moving.

As to the spring, it's the same arguement that's been held in gun circles for years. Do you leave a clip loaded for an extended period and expect it to still feed well? There's sure a lot of cops that do. And then there's the old issue of valve springs in your car's engine. They take a lot more abuse thatn any springs on a grinder and are parked under compression all the time and have to undergo extreme thermal cycling as well! When was teh last time you, or anyone you know, broke a valve spring?

Now on to the bearings and shaft. Lets say the ball bearings are, oh, let's pick a steel, and call it 52100 (pretty common bearing steel as far as I know). They're riding in races made of a similar material and the whole assembly is hardened in to the RC55-60 range. Sounds like a knife to me! Are you guys saying that taking two of your blades and holding them pressed against each other for twelve hours under a static load of 20PSI or even 50PSI would somehow damage them? That seems hard to believe to me.

Now I could see it possibly affecting belt life, but on a well made industrial duty grinder like a Bader or a Burr King I just can't imagine the difference is quantifiable.

John
 
ept77


I have the Grizzly that you asked about, and I really try to remember to take off the belt after im done for the day....it is bad on them to be left on,,,,
 
X weight belt over a course of 20 years. Good habits are just that.
Kinda like leaving a car in storage sitting on it's wheels and tires, I guess.
Works for me so I will continue to do it.
 
Must apologize for the tone of my last post. I had been stuck in traffic for a couple hours this evening just before posting and was feeling crotchety.

Certainly, less tension on a spring over time will help it to live longer. Relaxing the pressure on the wheel and bearings can't hurt either.

John
 
leaving a belt on over night is bad for them....

you will not notice if it's bad on the grinder or not, because the fact is, If you are going to start worrying about that ,in that case even turning on the grinder is going to cause some wear on it.

But the belts will show a difference over even being left on one night.

Now it might be just a minor problem for most of us, In deed I have left belts on for weeks, but I have noticed when I started the grinder that the belt was all out of shape and I had to stop and get a new one set up.

This is not a big deal, but when I can, I try to remember to take off the belt between knives. I would not be surprised to learn that some place in the booklet you get with all belt grinders that there is a little warning about forgetting a belt on over night.....
 
I leave mine on my BIII, and I've never had a problem. If there ever was one it was imperceptible.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, good to get feedback from both sides of the issue(And to have some people agree so I know I"m not crazy ;) )

Part of reason I try to do this though, and one which doesn't apply to lots of those who've responded, is that I'll often go through long spells without even turning the grinder on, for one reason or another(like my failed attempts at making a guard ;) ). But when I turned this thng on yesterday, was first time in over a month. SO with periods like that, figure better safe than sorry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top