harbor freight Link Belts

[Jeff Todd]

Has anyone here used the V link belts from Harbor freight. Saw them there the other day and for the price is right @ $20 for 5' (thats with 20% off)

JT

[Bruce Wrenn]

Only two companies (to my knowledge) in America make link belts. One makes them in red, and the other makes them in green.

[david brum]

I've tried both on my old 14" bandsaw. The HF belt definitely didn't run as smoothly as the Fenner link belt, although it was better than the stock automotive belt. One guy's experience.

[Jim Davenport]

I was suprised that the HF Accu-Link belt was American made, by Jason industrial Inc.
Twenty bucks with a coupon is a great deal. I bought one for my bandsaw. It runs smoother with it. I plan on getting a couple more for my jointer, and drill press. A few years ago, I bought a link belt, and machined pullys for my Jet contractors saw. The HF Accu-link seems to run just as smooth.

Here's the Accu-link on my JEt 14" band saw
190686

[Andrew Gibson]

Yup saw them and picked one up for my Jet contractor saw. Big improvement over the stock belt.

[David Kumm]

I would be interested in opinions of linked vs machine belts in general. I know there is a difference between machine belts and automotive belts, and there are cogged and non cogged. The OWWM machine guys- who often spend more time on machinery than woodworking- are divided with many arguing that a good regular belt outperforms. I have both but have not tried each on the same machine so I can't give an opinion. I do know there isn't enough price difference between good and bad belts to risk the cheap ones.
Dave

[Aaron Berk]

David,
I can only testify about my limited knowledge.

I put a link belt, and machined pulleys onto my old sears contractor saw. It made a really big difference, very noticeable.

[Larry Edgerton]

I would be interested in opinions of linked vs machine belts in general. I know there is a difference between machine belts and automotive belts, and there are cogged and non cogged. The OWWM machine guys- who often spend more time on machinery than woodworking- are divided with many arguing that a good regular belt outperforms. I have both but have not tried each on the same machine so I can't give an opinion. I do know there isn't enough price difference between good and bad belts to risk the cheap ones.
Dave

A good quality machine belt, which can not be bought at the hardware and certianly not at an automotive store is just as smooth as a link belt if not smoother, and will last much longer. I can't find the bill from the last belts I bought, must be at the bookkeepers, but I'll dig around some more and see if I can find it. Link belts work well, but are only smoother in comparison to the wrong belt.

[Matt Meiser]

Our local Napa store actually does carry a line of machine belts and one would assume that any Napa that doesn't could order them.

My wife just picked up one of the HF belts for me yesterday for my bandsaw. It makes a big difference compared to the OK-looking, but very old stock belt and no hassle of trying to find the right length. One other hidden advantage of the HF belt is that its a 60" belt instead of 48" which is how most places sell the red ones. I found that McMaster Carr does sell link belt by the foot, not sure of the color.

[glenn bradley]

I've used both with equal success.

[Jeff Todd]

well it looks like I will be picking one up today. I have the stock belts on my machines and truth be told I don't get to use my stuff as often as I would like and the belts are DEFIANTLY not round anymore they are oblong so i am hoping that this will help.

[Neil Brooks]

I've been monitoring the "conventional wisdom" on the WW forums for a while, on this one.

My take is: the Fenner is a bit better than the (HF) Jason, but EITHER is a HUGE improvement over stock.

And some DO seem to agree with Larry Edgerton -- that a real machine belt is either as good as, or better than, either of the link belts.

I picked up some HF green stuff. Haven't put it on yet, but ... I figured ... cost:benefit thing, and ... HF was just ... right there :)

Another OhByTheWay: I think I've only ever seen ONE person who was unhappy after making the switch, but ... when we pushed, poked, and prodded, it became CLEAR that his TS pulleys were NOT co-planar.

Hard to blame the HF belt for that :)

[Lee Schierer]

I think a lot of the smoothness depends upon how often the machine gets used. In a professional shop where the tool is used a lot every day, I would think the regular v-belts would stay smooth. However, in my shop the TS gets used maybe twice a week whan I have project going on and then doens't get used for maybe a month or more. I switched to a link belt on my TS many years ago and it was noticeably smoother running. Some belts when not used regularly will take a set around the pullies. This set becomes vibrations as the belt is run.

Here's an easy test. Remove the belt from the piece of equipment and lay it on the table. Does the belt form a circle or an oval? The more oval shaped it is the more you will notice the improvement switching to a link belt. If it forms a near perfect circle you probably won't benefit from purchasing a link belt.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Just some of my own feedback.

My used Grizzly 1023 SLX came with cracked belts so I bought two packages (8 feet) of the HF green belt only to find that the Harbor freight belt is 1/2" while the pulleys on the grizzly are 3/8".

Grizzly's website sells 3/8" and 1/2" RED power twist link belts. What's good is they sell them in 7 meter packages for $60 and this was the perfect amount of belt to replace 3 belts. I tried looking up simple OEM replacements, but couldn't find the part number to order it from Grizzly's site.

Anyways, I found that my Laguna Bandsaw, my industrial 5 needle serger, and the rest of my machines require 3/8" wide belts (Measurement of width at the largest part of the trapezoid). The only machine I have that uses 1/2" belts is my Jet drill press so I put the green acculink belt and there was a noticeable improvement. I only needed 4 feet though so I returned one of the 4 foot sections to HF.

My cabinet saw with the new link belts still passes the nickel test so I'm ok. No major improvement which is mentioned by others regarding triple belt cabinet saws...

Mcmastercarr sells red power twist link belts in the most sizes i've seen down to 3/8" or i think smaller. They price per foot and the price is not the best at like $9 or $10 per foot. Shipping is $5.

I really did want to get a true machine belt and found some cogged ones in the grainger catalog. I just thought that the prices were a tad high and there was no gaurantee that I am buying the correct size. I just decided to go with the link belt which I know I could get to work.

Also, the HF belts don't show direction and the power twist link belts show to have the fork end of the belt move forward. (This is from looking at the belt on the outside once it's installed)

Anyways, good luck with your HF belt, it's certainly a good deal with the 20% off.

[Larry Edgerton]

I couldn't find the receipt, must not have it back yet, but I did remember the brand of belt I use. It's Optibelt, and they are very precise. I get match sets of 2-3 or 4 belts from them, which you can't do at the local store. On a multiple belt machine you want all the belts to take up the same amount of torque and matched set take care of this for you.

Also, linked belts have too much stretch for some tools like my Delta jobsite saw where the motor is held up by the belt. If I get the belt long enough so that the motor clears at 45 degrees, pretty soon the belt will snap past center and let the motor fall, and the belt cuts itself on the stand.

I do use one in my old Delta 14" bandsaw and on my Walker turner with the speed control as they seem to take running off center better than a conventional belt. And I keep some around for emergency use.

Larry

[Bruce Wrenn]

I have an OLD Rockwell 10" saw that travels to job sites. When I restored it, I put a new Goodyear grip notch belt on it, and it could be used as a paint shaker. Swapted this out for a link belt (Fenner) and instantly the vibration stoped. My shop saw (also a Rockwell 10") has a ten yer old link belt on it. It has cut thousands of feet of material, beside pulling both a molding head and a dado.

[Bill White]

Not to hijack the thread, but didn't I read/hear somewhere that you should not use the link belts with alloy pullies?
Bill