The Forestry Forum

so that more of the B57 belt shows!

There was a post on this subject a little while back and I can't seem to find it!

Anyone here got it located!

Reason I ask is my Amish neighbor was breaking blades (3) this afternoon and couldn't figure out why!

I pointed it out to him, that his B57's were ever so slightly larger than the band wheels and I told him about the fix that someone had posted on here!

I had a new set of B57's in the truck, so we put them on his mill and he went back to sawing, but there's <1/16" of belt showing! 

Gates B56 hipower belts "flat or crowned" in Sawmills and Milling (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=98007.msg1514333#msg1514333)

this one Chuck?

D

I made a fixture to grind the crowned faces of my band wheels as this job is impossible to do by hand for good results.  It is important to have as little run-out as possible for long band life. Pics and description under "Povlsen bandmill back from the dead" You might be able to set up something like this to grind your v-belt pulleys and or belt tops. The actual grinding is done with a right angle grinder using a standard 4.5" dia wheel. The base of the fixture is fastened to the frame of the band saw. The top of the fixture holds the grinder and advances it towards the face of the wheel by Jack screw. The linear bearing holds the grinder and moves it across the face of the wheel. If you have flat faces on your wheels you leave the linear bearing rail flat. If you have crowned wheels you bend the linear bearing rail to match the crown of your wheel.

On solid steel wheels I'd set up a jig.. On v belt wheels a hand held grinder works just fine to take the edges down a little. Just get the wheel spinning good, on the drive side put the motor in gear and let it idle and on the idle side hold the grinder at a angle to get the wheel spinning.  I did this on the outside of the wheels over 10 years ago and as the v belts got smaller I had to take some more off.. I can put any belt on now and it stands up good.  Steve

Thanks Steve!

This is good info as I am still running the same Gates belts I put on the mill when I built it 15 years ago. I tried new belts but they were lower than the sheve rim, put the old ones back on. Frank C.