Link Belt

[Jack Smith]

I just installed a Link Belt on my Powermatic 64A saw and, for anyone who hasn't made the switch from the typical V-belt, I highly recommend this belt. Prior to the belt change, my PM saw wouldn't even come close to passing the 'nickel test'; it easily passes the test now.

[Rik Rickerson]

Jack

I agree. I switched all of my stationary power tools over to link belts with fantastic results.

Rik

[Harvey Jones]

Keep an eye on the belts as they will stretch as all of the links become seated....but, you're right about the less vibration aspect of them.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I use and have used link belts on some of my equipment and they are great at lessening vibration. The only downside is their price. A cheaper and just as effective alternative is to go to a place like Eastern Bearing or one of the industrial supply houses (McMaster-Carr, MSC, etc) and order the correct size of Cogged Belt for your machine. This can save you about half of the cost of using link belts.

[Mark Lansink]

Originally posted by Dave Anderson NH
I use and have used link belts on some of my equipment and they are great at lessening vibration. The only downside is their price. A cheaper and just as effective alternative is to go to a place like Eastern Bearing or one of the industrial supply houses (McMaster-Carr, MSC, etc) and order the correct size of Cogged Belt for your machine. This can save you about half of the cost of using link belts.

I agree with the above statement and would like to ad that the 'cogged' belt referred to above is denoted by the X suffix on standard belt sizes. For example, if your OEM belt is an A28. The cogged equivalent would be an A28X. One caveat however, I bought the same numbered-X-equivalent for my table saw and it was shorter than the off-shore oem belt. Cheap belts are notorious for not being accurately sized. So, I would recommend taking the belt to your local industrial or bearing supply house and have them size your original belt and provide you with the cogged equivalent. Here, our local farm supply store has a good variety of cogged belts on the shelf.

Price cogged my be in the $6-8 range where a link belt may run you $25 +/-. I tried both on my table saw, both were an improvement on the OEM belt. I kept the cogged belt and returned the link belt to my buddy.

I now make sure all my motors have cogged belts (Gates or other quality brand preferred) installed on them.