I recently replaced my v belt on my jointer with a link belt which was vibrating out of control and the results are amazing. Nearly all the vibration is gone. The only downside is the link belt is a good amount louder. This makes sense to me as multiple links have to pass over the pulleys, but just doing a sanity check to make sure this is normal behavior and I didn’t mess up the install.
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Replies
Try turning it around so the outside flaps are running with the breeze and not catching it on the outside. Might make a diff.
I think this is how I have it set up - the flaps sit in the groove pointed in the opposite direction of rotation which should be the most aerodynamic approach (I think). I went off the stumpy nubs set up video in which he does mention noise as a factor, but it seems a bit extreme to me.
If he mentioned noise it's possible he did it incorrectly. Having a popular YouTube channel doesn't make one omniscient. I would reverse the belt and see what happens.
Yea I hear you. For the most part I’m highly skeptical of YouTube and I knew mentioning it on FWW would get some hackles up. I removed a link and it is now super quiet. My issue was that I wasn’t really putting the belt on right. Instead of rolling it on I was pulling it over the pulley and couldn’t get the needed tension. As a result of it being loose it was also contacting the belt cover so amateur hour across the board, but now it is working really well.
Did the same on my jointer and it’s silent.
Sounds lovely - hopefully I can figure it out to get it there. In the meantime the vibration reduction is still a big win so that’s good.
The title of your post suggests a high pitched sound. Is it squealing? Is it slipping? Try tightening it. Maybe a link or two needs to be taken out so that it will be tighter. It is possible that your previous vibration problem had to do with the belt being too loose.
Don't get me wrong. I like link belts. Have them on 3 machines.
It definitely is likely that the vibration was due to the belt being too loose, but for the life of me I couldn’t get it to high enough tension and if I did the pulleys usually got a bit out of whack. My theory was that perhaps a link belt would work better in a super dry climate as I’m now in ABQ. Anyway, it actually works great other than the squealing. I will try getting more tension on it in the morning and report back!
If you can't adjust your motor mounts, just remove some links in the belt.
This did the trick. Just wasn’t tight enough
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7a0INbEOIGiu1n8ugb6DQtdx_oIrDG_l2CQ&s
The link belt that I use has a direction of rotation marked on the outside (small black arrows on the red links). I’ve followed that guidance on 3 machines — table saw, drill press, and lathe, and all run very quietly. Can’t comment on the jointer as mine takes a flat ribbed belt.
Really appreciate all the feedback! That was all great advice and the jointer is now running smooth and quiet.