Unisaw belt tension

[Seth Poorman]

Hey Guys gotta question.. Im going to put new belts on the unisaw , its a older 1967 unisaw w/ 3 belts , after I install the belts do I let the weight of the motor set the tension or do I lift the motor so that there is not so much weight on the belts before tightening the motor down? Its a heavy motor !! Thanks for your input....:) Seth...

[Seth Poorman]

I want it to run really smooth...

[Greg Koch]

Has anyone run triple Link-Belts on a cabinet saw, and does it improve the smoothness? Might be something for Seth to think about.

[David Eisan]

How brave are you? :)

I have run standard and link belts on Unisaws and I prefer link belts.

The way I tension is with the motor running lifting and lowering the motor until it runs smooth. Too tight or loose and the belts "slap". Look for an egg shape where everything is running smoothly and tighten the motor bracket bolt.

Thanks,

David.

[Seth Poorman]

Thats a good question Greg, Ive never heard of anyone using them on a unisaw.

[Jesse Messick]

I tried the green link belts -a la Grizzly- and they actually ran worse than my regular belts. Which completely goes against what some guys are saying about putting them on their Unis...David-are you using the red belts?
I was able to get regular v belts from Grainger for about a third of what Delta wants ($4 ea). I could probably dig up the model number, but my saw is from the early 90's, do we have the same pulley size?

[Jeff Horton]

I think the official Delta line is to be able to deflect the belts 1/2" with moderate finger pressure. What I have gather from others is just tight enough the belts don't slap but not loose enough for the them to slip. Kind of a guessing game.

[Jim Becker]

I have had Fenner link belts on my Jet LT Cabinet saw for years...smooth as silk. If you choose to use them, be sure to check the tension about a week after installing them (they will stretch a little) and again in about a month.

Many folks don't recommend them as the belts are supposed to be a "matched set" for best performance and that may come into play if you are working the saw really hard all the time. Personally, I haven't had a problem with them.

[Randy Gillard]

I rebuilt a '70's vintage Unisaw and replaced the belts with standard good quality V-belts that I bought from an industrial supply house (around $8 each I think). I just pulled on the motor and tightened the nut. They don't have to be super tight, just snug. The saw ran extremely smooth. Link belts are noisier than regular belts, but they do dampen vibration. I use two of them on my General 350.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/hrgillard/Unisaw/unisawfront.jpg

[Russ Massery]

Ditto on Jim's reply. I have them on my Grizzly 1023SL, for 3 years now.The saw runs a lot smoother with the link belts. Use only Fenner link belts. I know a few people that used the Cheap one's sold at Harbor Feight they came apart after only a year or so.

[Allen Bookout]

Seth,

Like Randy, my Uni runs really smooth with v belts. It might depend on the quality of the belts.

I nearly always tension my belts, especially new belts, a LITTLE tighter than most. I do not like any slapping or slipping. I know that it is supposed to be somewhat harder on the bearings but I have never had a real problem with that issue.

Allen

[Curt Harms]

I've had red ones from Grizzly for several years, they seem fine-nice and smooth. The link belts ARE directional, they have arrows indicating the direction of rotation. I've heard it said that with modern belt manufacturing, matched sets are no longer critical. Another possibility might be the "cogged" V belts. Supposedly they are less prone to taking a set.

Curt

[tod evans]

seth, i`ve found that conventional cogged belts perform much better for power transfer than the fenner drives. on my w&h moulder i`ll smoke a fenner belt taking to big of a bite where the cogged belt will dig in and let it cut. for a tablesaw especially i`d choose power transmission first...02 tod