Wear of contact wheel

S

Sharpco

Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Messages
34
Hello.

I purchased the KMG-TX. It's my first belt grinder.

I have one question about contact wheel.

The below is 10" wheel. I used it only one time, but after that, there are scratches on the right side. If this is repeated, the wheels will wear unevenly and lose flatness.

Is it normal? Have you ever had the same problem?

yTylqhA.jpg


Thank you so much.
 
Last edited:
Could the tool rest have somehow dug into the side of the wheel during operation?
 
Sharpco said:
Thank you. I tried, but I can't insert that.
Click to expand...
No idea what is causing the issue with the contact wheel, but I can help with the image. On imgur, right-click the image and select "Copy image address" from the menu. Then, click on the image icon in the editor tool bar and paste the image address into the "Image URL" box. The image should appear inside the editor. If it does not, it will not show up after posting.

yTylqhA.jpg
 
Hubert S. said:
No idea what is causing the issue with the contact wheel, but I can help with the image. On imgur, right-click the image and select "Copy image address" from the menu. Then, click on the image icon in the editor tool bar and paste the image address into the "Image URL" box. The image should appear inside the editor. If it does not, it will not show up after posting.
Click to expand...

Oh, Thank you. I did it :)
 
does the belt move to one side when you are grinding? (seems like that might be happening). if the belt moves to one side, that means there is not enough tension on the belt. you should be able to pluck the edge of the belt (while its stopped) and have the belt make a sound or tone like a guitar string. that wear wont bother anything, its just scratches at the moment.
 
I feel like my KMG 10 inch contact wheel also isn't holding up great. It seems like it's going a little bit out of round.



20180910_165156.jpg Resized_20180910_165207.jpeg 20180910_165222.jpg


Seriously. It got a little bit old and fell apart. It was not stored improperly nor was it exposed to any strange chemicals. On the one hand it was getting pretty old (10 years), but on the other hand plenty of other round rubbery things such as the wheels on my air compressor and hand truck, the tires on my cars and trucks, casters on cabinets etc held up fine in that same environment and time frame. I think their wheels might be a little bit subpar. For what they cost I expected better.

My point being, I would not overlook the possibility that your wheel might simply be defective.
 
First, contact Beaumont/KMG. Tell them what the issue is and show the photo.

Second:
Make sure the belt is tight enough. If the tension is too low the belt will move to the side as you apply pressure in grinding. That can expose the edge and you will be rubbing the blade on the rubber ... which will make those marks.
Check the tracking. It should be even on both sides or just a tad to the right ( for right handed people). If the belt is not tracking right, it can expose the edge and you will be rubbing the blade on the rubber ... which will make those marks.
If the belt wobbles (usually caused by a cheap belt or a bad seam) it can expose the edge and you will be rubbing the blade on the rubber ... which will make those marks.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I feel like my KMG 10 inch contact wheel also isn't holding up great. It seems like it's going a little bit out of round.
Click to expand...

My 4" contact wheel from Beaumont did the same thing. Mine was about 10 years old as well. Very strange.
 
Based on my experience a quality contact wheel should not do that. I am still using the 8" contact wheel that came with my square wheel grinder that I have had for 40 years. I have used it a lot and it is still in excellent shape.
I have used a 10" contact wheel for 35 years and it is still in excellent shape.
 
My 8 inch wore perfectly but bought a 10 which also started getting weird marks on one side.(like yours). Also it was giving me trouble getting a nice finish. I put a straightedge on it and had to sand down one corner that was left high. You may have already tried this but I was a little slow. James
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I feel like my KMG 10 inch contact wheel also isn't holding up great. It seems like it's going a little bit out of round.



View attachment 1469724 View attachment 1469725 View attachment 1469726


Seriously. It got a little bit old and fell apart. It was not stored improperly nor was it exposed to any strange chemicals. On the one hand it was getting pretty old (10 years), but on the other hand plenty of other round rubbery things such as the wheels on my air compressor and hand truck, the tires on my cars and trucks, casters on cabinets etc held up fine in that same environment and time frame. I think their wheels might be a little bit subpar. For what they cost I expected better.

My point being, I would not overlook the possibility that your wheel might simply be defective.
Click to expand...
Nice grain there :D
 
Vulcanized (cured) rubber has a limited shelf life. I managed rubber development for a high performance rubber company for 6 years. Rubber will em-brittle and harden over time and bonding agents which adhere the rubber to metal substrates will deteriorate too. Best case, is to store in a cool environment with low humidity for best storage life. In ideal situations, rubber should last 20 years. In moist or warm environments, it will perform much less. Of course, odds can have an effect too, in which one product may fail early. This is because of the many variables involved with mixing rubber compounds, molding them, etc.

Those of you who have 20-year old contact wheels probably have contact wheels which are much harder than they were when you purchased them.
 
john april said:
does the belt move to one side when you are grinding? (seems like that might be happening). if the belt moves to one side, that means there is not enough tension on the belt. you should be able to pluck the edge of the belt (while its stopped) and have the belt make a sound or tone like a guitar string. that wear wont bother anything, its just scratches at the moment.
Click to expand...
Pluck the edge of the belt? How did you do that?
 
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