Link belt question

[James Boster]

I'm sure this has been covered here before but I missed it. Everyone says the link style belts will reduce vibration. Has anyone here used them and what are your feelings. Are they worth the money. I'm looking to put them on my drill press, scrollsaw and lathe. thanks.

[tod evans]

james, i use the fenner (link) belts on all of my single belt drives, so yes i think they are worth the money..02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

Yes. Table saw, lathe.

[Matt Tawes]

I have them on my tablesaw and bandsaw, seemed like a significant difference in my opinion.

[Doug Shepard]

I put a link belt on my previous saw (a Craftsman Contractor) but also upgraded to machined pulleys at the same. So I can't tell you how much was attributable to each upgrade, but there was a very noticable improvement in reducing vibration. There also seemed to be a little increase in cutting power. I'm thinking that was probably just the belt upgrade due to decreased slippage on the pulleys, but ...? For the pretty low cost I think it's probably a worthwhile investment.
Haven't really felt the need to put them on my PM66. Maybe one of these days ...

[Jim Becker]

I had them on my previous jointer and bandsaw and was very, very pleased with the results. I have them on my current cabinet saw with equal affection.

One thing you need to know about these belts is that they will stretch a bit at first and you will need to re-tension a few times over the course of a few months. After that, they will require no attention, based on my experience.

[tod evans]

doug, fenner drives who manufactures the link belts does not advise using them on multiple belt set-ups. .02 tod

[Russ Massery]

Though, I've and many have used the with no problems........

[Steve Clardy]

Though, I've and many have used the with no problems........

Not feener brand, but have them on my 3-belt grizzly.

[Jim Dunn]

Put them on my crftsmn saw and had an immediate reduction in vibration. Won't fit on my little 8" bench top drill press.

[Jim DeLaney]

Bandsaw, drill press, jointer, contractors saw, back when I had one... Made a noticeable improvement on every one of them.

Use only the Fenner-Manheim belts. Accept no substitutes.

[Ken Shoemaker]

I use it on a Delta Contractor Tablesaw. I'll never have a saw without them. Further, I intend to have them on EVERY machine I can get them on.

Bottom line... You buy'em, if you don't like it I'll gladly buy them from you... Trust me.... You'll love'em...

Good luck.... Ken

[lou sansone]

Well I hate to be the party pooper , but I have used them and don't like them. They are expensive compared to other belts. They stretch and have to be re-tensioned. I have seen them self destruct when really loaded, where a conventional v belt would not. The only reason we ever used them, and I think the original reason they were developed, was for 24/7 operations where you blew a belt and did not have the right ones in stock ( Some of the high hp drives I have worked on have 4 belts running together ). You could get going again with these guys, but the moment you got the right belt in, those link belts were history. I have stated this before and will state it again. I think that fenner has done a great job of marketing this band-aid v belt to the mass market and folks seem to just jump right in and buy them. For years I have designed, built and maintained lots of different types of industrial machines, from the steel industry to rubber plants to super high tech fiber optic sensor mfgs. We never have used them as a primary design power transmission method. If you want a decent low vibration belt go for a cog style belt ( sometimes called a cx type ). No disrespect is intended for all of you who do seem to like them. This is one of those opinion questions and to be fair I wanted to state mine.
Personally I thing that one of the reasons they seem so popular today and why folks are having vibrations problems is with the basic sheave design that engineers are using now days. If you take a look at a woods book or other belt book you will see minimum diameter for driving sheaves. often it seems like the designer just goes for the minimum he/she can get away with and therefore puts real a tight radius on the belt system. when they sit idle the belts take a set on the very small diameter pulley and that is where the majority of the power transmission vibration comes from. I believe that the improvement that you seem to be noticing is from this reduction in set. The cog belt is very flexible and will not take that same set as other traditional v belts. But it does have the good features of the continuous reinforcement in the belt as opposed to having to depend on the hook and loop type connection of the link belt.
check out cog belts and I think you will find what you are looking for.

lou

[Corey Hallagan]

Yup, definitely worth the money. Put one on my Delta Contractors Saw and it made a HUGE difference in vibration and performance. I have a drill press but just don't have any problems with that unit and the original belts. Not sure if it should be done on a drill press. On the CS, I had to retension once and then that was it, still in it's orginal position and no problem.

Corey

[Jim Becker]

doug, fenner drives who manufactures the link belts does not advise using them on multiple belt set-ups. .02 tod

Absolutely true. Of coures...some of us break a rule once in awhile and I got lucky with the Jet LT Cabinet Saw...it just purrs with the Fenner belts on it.