What size link belt for a Unisaw and a Jet Drill Press?

[Frank Martin]

I would like to replace the belts on my Unisaw and the floor model 17" Jet drill press. Both ran fine, but remain unused for extended periods. Therefore, I would like to switch to link belts.
I see there are two common sizes, 3/8" and 1/2". Which size(s) would fit for my application.

Thanks!

[Dave Sweeney]

To figure out the length you'll need, just take a piece of string and wrap it around the outside circumference of your existing belts. Once that's done just measure the length of the string needed to do that. To figure out the width, just measure the width of the existing belts. I'm guessing the widths of both will be 1/2" but some drill presses, like the one I have, use 3/8" wide belts.

[Frank Martin]

Dave,

Thanks for the response.
Sorry, my question was not very clear. I would like to find out what width link belt to replace on my machines. The existing ones are v-belts. Should the link belt width be the widest measurement of the existing v-belts or something more/less?


To figure out the length you'll need, just take a piece of string and wrap it around the outside circumference of your existing belts. Once that's done just measure the length of the string needed to do that. To figure out the width, just measure the width of the existing belts. I'm guessing the widths of both will be 1/2" but some drill presses, like the one I have, use 3/8" wide belts.

[Randy Denby]

Frank, I'm not sure if they measure the inside or outside width. But, all of my machines take the 1/2" wide link belts, replacing 4L-xxx or A-xx belts

[Frank Martin]

Randy,

Sounds like 1/2" is the size I need.

Thanks!


Frank, I'm not sure if they measure the inside or outside width. But, all of my machines take the 1/2" wide link belts, replacing 4L-xxx or A-xx belts

[Rick Lizek]

Waste of money in my experience. Link belts are fine for the machines with gravity suspended motors which suffer from the memory effect of sitting idle. Once you warm up a belt on a machine with a fixed distance belt arrangement it warms up and is fine. If you want a better belt go with a cogged belt. No memory issue and the cogs make it better for a smaller pulley.

[Frank Martin]

Rick,

Is your comment based on cost or performance (reduced vibration, smoother operation with infrequent use)?
I am more interested in the performance than the cost in this case.

Thanks.


Waste of money in my experience. Link belts are fine for the machines with gravity suspended motors which suffer from the memory effect of sitting idle. Once you warm up a belt on a machine with a fixed distance belt arrangement it warms up and is fine. If you want a better belt go with a cogged belt. No memory issue and the cogs make it better for a smaller pulley.

[Noel Hegan]

Very slightly OT but I've often wondered if good quality cogged or link belts would help the typical Unisaw start-up clunk? Although I suppose link belts would need constant adjustment, at least for a little while after fitting?

[Brad Townsend]

This may be horsefeathers, but seems I remember reading somewhere that Unisaw belts (or any three belt cabinet saw for that matter) uses belts that, if not matched, are made to some pretty exacting tolerances. This was in a discussion of link belts, the suggestion being that changing out the OEM belts for link belts was probably not a great idea. Has anyone else heard this?

The drill press is another matter. I put them on mine and noticed the difference immediately.

[Bruce Page]

This may be horsefeathers, but seems I remember reading somewhere that Unisaw belts (or any three belt cabinet saw for that matter) uses belts that, if not matched, are made to some pretty exacting tolerances. This was in a discussion of link belts, the suggestion being that changing out the OEM belts for link belts was probably not a great idea. Has anyone else heard this?

The drill press is another matter. I put them on mine and noticed the difference immediately.
I seem to recall that discussion, which the general consensus was that link belts were not recommended for a multiple belt setup.

There's some good pro/con info in these threads:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=49997
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=22594

[Jim Becker]

Of course, there are also many of us who have successfully used link belts on three-belt cabinet saws...I had them for over 5 years on my previous saw and the performance was great. No "belt set bang" on startup at the beginning of a weekend, either...

[Randy Denby]

I do alot of work for a major grocery store chain. They wanted me to change all the belts on about 50 rooftop belt driven blowers. All of the belts I took off were the linked belts. 50 belts- 45 inchs long added up to ALOT of linkbelt stock. Not very old either....kept them for "some " of my tools. But, having said that....I like the cogged belts more. They dont take a set, more grip area, less expensive, and adjustment is easier due to the inherent slack built in the linkbelts. (You have to run them a little and re-adjust)

[Rick Lizek]

Rick,

Is your comment based on cost or performance (reduced vibration, smoother operation with infrequent use)?
I am more interested in the performance than the cost in this case.

Thanks.

I'm basing it on performance and cost. I repair machines and only used link belts with gravity hung motors on some machines to deal with the memory issue. The cog belts are more flexible so it's good alternative.

You just buy three cog belts at the same time for the unisaw. You don't need the high priced matched belts. You don't even need three belts on a unisaw. PM switched to 2 belts years ago. To prove this point all the Euro saws I've worked on for the last 25 years typically have one belt for 9 hp motors. The 3 belt thing on unisaws goes back to the days of over building. I used to work for an independent dealer as a repair tech for Delta and have had discussions on the power transmission with Delta techs and they only keep the 3 belt thing going because customers would be upset thinking they were cheapening the saws if they used what was really needed, one belt! it's your money. Try running one belt and see if you notice the difference.

[glenn bradley]

My old tablesaw took 1/2". My Delta DP takes 1/2" but my new TS is not a candidate as it runs a poly-v-belt. I'm betting 1/2" if the Uni runs standard belts. I wonder though if the Uni would benefit being as it is multi-belt driven, no?