Why direction matters with Link Belts?

[Perry Holbrook]

I just put a link belt on my combo metal lathe/mill (on the milling motor). It has a forward/reverse switch. Link belts have an arrow showing the direction it should be running. So why do those belts need to run in a particular direction and what will happen on my mill when I run it in reverse?

Thanks, Perry

[James Phillips]

Grab the belt in you fist. Pull it through in each direction and feel the difference.

[Eddie Darby]

If you go by what Lee Valley does, or should I say shows, then I guess it doesn't matter.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=30051&cat=1,240,41067


The pulleys on a drill press all rotate in the same direction, yet the link belts shown are going in two directions.
This could be a case of the photographer getting it wrong, but this photo has been around for a very long time, you would think that it would have been fixed by now.
I would go with what Fenner says.

[James Phillips]

Look Closer in that drill press picture. They are both rotating the proper direction on the pullies. All the pullies will turn clockwise.

[Jason Roehl]

James, from what I see, those two belts are wound opposite one another. In other words, the links that wrap around the center pulley are pointing in different directions.

[James Phillips]

The second belt is not in perfect focus, but if you look at the long leg on the right it appears to me to be going the correct direction. Either way direction will matter. Run it in the wrong direction and the tabs could snag. Run it in the right direction and they are forced to lay flat.

[Lee Schierer]

When I installed the link belt on my table saw, the arrows printed on the belt went un-noticed by me (actually they are very small and barely visible on my belt). When I started the saw up I had a very loud noise being created by the belt. I discovered that if I reversed the belt, the noise was non-existent. From an operational standpoint, I don't know if the belt will really care if it is going the wrong way, but it does make a big difference on sound levels.

[Jerry Allen]

What James said is right.
The tabs are pressed flat/down in the arrow direction and snag and are pulled up in the wrong direction. In the wrong direction it is not going to run smoothly and will probably wear fast.
If I were Perry, I'd go back to a v-belt. A segmented v-belt will run smoother than a plain one.