As you can see I was having a tracking problem.
Also I was getting quit a bit of vibration.
I bought another spring and doubled up the tensioning spring.
Did not feel I had enough tension at high speed setting.
I am just beginning to operate this machine at high speeds.
Prior to this I have operated it on medium or slow.
The tracking was going back and forth.
When I lifted up on the tensioning arm it seemed to get better.
Further investigation found that this bearing has failed.
I have about 100 knives on this sander so far.
Had one bearing go out on this wheel.
They are only about $7.00.
Those don't sound too far from failing.
I will take out the bolt and knock the bearing out and tap a new one in.
Less than I 5 minute process to change the bearing.
I went ahead and ordered 6 of them so I have some on hand because bearings do wear out.
Especially when they are going as fast as this machine runs.
Before I had two pillow blocks sitting right here close together on top of this 4" x 4"
tube. and there was a long piece of the drive shaft sticking out each side that was unsupported.
I thought that would be strong enough.
But with that 5 horsepower motor it was not strong enough and bent the shaft and broke
one of the bearings in the pillow block so I had play on the drive wheel and did not
know it.
It took me a while where the problem was.
Then I noticed the broken bearing.
That caused tracking problems and also lots of vibrations through the machine because
of the bent shaft and broken bearing.
I was able to identify the problem and this is what I did to correct it.
I had a friend make a new shaft.
Got it installed and lined up.
This is the high speed mode now.
A lot smoother.
Before I was getting lots of vibrations.
I am wondering if that shaft has been bent since the beginning and the bearing has been
broken a long time because I don't ever remember the machine running this smoothly on high
speed.
Now I will make a tensioning system here that is adjustable.
Then I will be able to twist the knob to increase or decrease the tension for changes in speed
and belt weights.
This is the tensioning system now.
I put a piece of 1.5" square inside the frame and it will slide in and out if I want extra
tension beyond what the screw knob can provide on its own.
I may install a set screw at some point if I feel I need more tension.
Now it tracks very good and the overall running is very smooth.
I went ahead and ran it on high speed for a few seconds on the burned
out bearing and now it is totally shot.
The new ones should arrive soon.
That
is why I went ahead and ordered 6 bearings so I don't get stuck waiting on
the mail.
The improvements are good.
It has made it much more solid.
I like what I have done much better than the way I had originally built it.
Got the new bearing installed.
I no longer have angle problems or tracking problems on the platen.
I have learned a lot about how the machine works.
This is how it sounds now on high speed.
Tracks very good.
That was 7250 surface feet per minute.
When I first turned it on after all of the repairs I thought there was a problem because
it was too quiet and smooth.
I was having a hard time believing the belt was going as fast as it should.
I actually checked the wiring to make sure it was not running on 110 volts for some dumb
reason.
It is very nice to have those problems identified and resolved.
Now I feel it is setup and ready to run hard for
a long time.
The weak areas have been found and fixed.
I added a nylon spacer above the knob to give more clearance for my fingers and extra travel
room for the bolt.
Thanks for watching.
Time for me to get to grinding.