Jointer Pulley Alignment

[Jebediah Eckert]

I just went to the shop to do it so maybe I could better explain it. It's a looong ride from Canada to watch and I'm not sure how to do a video so here it goes......Put your foot on it like the gas pedal to a car and slowly push down with the front of your foot. You should be able to ride it down slow and gentle. At least that is how it works with mine. If none of that makes sense to your jointer then maybe the Busy Bee pedal is different?

[Myk Rian]

Do not over tighten the belts. All that will do is ruin bearings. There should be some slack.
The weight of the motor is usually enough.

[Mike Chalmers]

I just went to the shop to do it so maybe I could better explain it. It's a looong ride from Canada to watch and I'm not sure how to do a video so here it goes......Put your foot on it like the gas pedal to a car and slowly push down with the front of your foot. You should be able to ride it down slow and gentle. At least that is how it works with mine. If none of that makes sense to your jointer then maybe the Busy Bee pedal is different?

Must, in fact, be.

[Mike Chalmers]

Installed link belt today. Used the alignment jig as soon as the old belt was off. Pulleys actually seem to be co-planar after all. Although there is a rather loud sound as the motor starts up don't really know how to describe it), overall it is running significantly quieter. Only remaining issue is that the belt guard really doesn't fit. I just left it off. My jointer backs on the table saw, so there is very little chance of anything coming into contact with the belt when it is running.

[glenn bradley]

Glenn. You advised adding a flat washer to overcome slippage, but where? Your explanation seems to tell me to add 3, but, I do not think it is what you mean. Plus, mine does not use lock washers. It has nuts with a serrated collar.

Given the nature of the bearing surface I used flat washers on both sides of the holes and lock washers on the nut side. The motor has never moved and the link belt has required no adjustment.

Installed link belt today. Used the alignment jig as soon as the old belt was off. Pulleys actually seem to be co-planar after all. Although there is a rather loud sound as the motor starts up don't really know how to describe it), overall it is running significantly quieter. Only remaining issue is that the belt guard really doesn't fit. I just left it off. My jointer backs on the table saw, so there is very little chance of anything coming into contact with the belt when it is running.

The belt slap sound at start up is common on these machines. The guard is there in case something unintended happens. Removing the guard makes what would be an "accident" become a case of "misuse". A couple of spacers, an extra nut or a stack of washers will do the trick . You would think they could just make the guard a bit larger .

G0490X-belt-pulley-check-2011 (4).jpgf-belt-guard-stand-off.jpg

Something else I ran into on my earlier version of the machine; when I move the fence to a position forward enough for the carriage to straddle the top pulley, the link belt would rub. You can see a bit of leading edge wear on the outside surface of the belt in the pic above. I worked with Grizzly on it and just removed a very small amount of the casting in that area. I used an angle grinder but, now that I know how little must be removed, if I did it again I would just use a rat tail file.

[Jebediah Eckert]

From what I remember........my g0490x was noisy at startup when I first set it up. When I tightened the belt by holding the motor in position with a clamp when I tightened the bolts that cured it. The belt was just too loose, I think the book calls for 1/4" deflection (double check that). I still get belt slap on shut down but I guess that's normal. I can balance a nickel on the bed and start it. It stays on edge and only falls when I shut it down and get that belt slap.