I got my link belt today and it solved my vibration problem completely. It’s
absolutely unbelievable that the a little red belt could make such a big
difference. I could see and feel immediately that the vibration was gone but
did the nickel test anyway. I gathered up nine nickels and placed them on the
saw when it was off. I turned on the saw and four of them fell during the
initial transient but the other five stayed up. I let the saw run for a full
minute and none of them fell. Then I shut the saw off and they continued to
stand during the spin down and were still standing after the saw stopped. Then
I got cocky and got together a few dimes. With the saw off, I could only get
one of the three dimes to stand up - the others were rounded or something, I
don’t know. Anyway, it fell during the initial startup transient. But I stood
it back up and it stayed up! It was still standing when I turned off the saw
~30 seconds later.

There should be a law passed that all contractors saws come standard with link
belts. Maybe the saw manufacturers figure they will sell more cabinet saws if
the equip their contractor saws with crappy belts.

Note that the General saw and some others take a 3/8 link belt, not the more
common 1/2 inch belt. If you order a link belt from Amazon.com you will get the
1/2 belt. The Fennel Powertwist belt brochure itself is confusing because it
says “works for 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 belts” and Woodcraft places the brochure
right next to the only size they stock, 1/2. It leads you to believe that the
one belt works for all three size but it doesn’t. The part number for the 3/8
is FEN 3L and I ended up ordering mine from westerntool.com

I want to thank everyone who commented on this thread - your comments were very
helpfull and saved me from the mistake returning the saw to the place I
purchased it because of the excessive vibration.

Scott

Stephen Meier wrote:

I think alink bet is worth a try. I was using my dad's delta contractor saw
and it make me uncomfortable because of the vibration...

I'm used to a cabinet saw, but this just seemed wrong.... A link belt
cleared up the problem.

I suppose you could bug the vendor for a new belt, but maybe they just have
crappy belts.

Even if a link belt did NOTHING to solve your problem, you could either use
it on another tool or save it for when a belt goes bad.

-s

"Scott Duncan" wrote in message
om...
I just purchased a new contractors saw and I think it vibrates too
much. I don't want to spell out the brand yet (for people using search
engines) but let's just say that it's green, cost $649, was
recommended by Fine Woodworking as a best buy, and comes from Taiwan
via the "Great White North". Something like vibration is hard to
quantify so I'll describe it in terms of the nickel test. My father
has a 40-year-old Delta Rockwell contractor style saw that does not
vibrate at all. The nickel will stand up forever. It has a standard
V-belt, not a powertwist link belt. The saw I'm replacing is a $100
Delta benchtop saw which also passes the nickel test but is not nearly
as smooth as it's grandfather. Those two saws form my basis for
comparison.

When I first turned on my new saw, not only did the nickel fall down
immediately, it started moving around the table slightly. I could see
the vibration in the table and especially in the motor. After wearing
in the belt and making some tweaks to perfect the pulley alignment,
the vibrations reduced somewhat but they still seem excessive to me. I
stand three nickels on the table and when I turn on the saw, one falls
down immediately, one usually falls down after 3-5 seconds, and the
third falls down after 10-15 seconds. I can no longer see the
vibrations in the table but can feel them, and I can see the motor
vibrating slightly. Is the in the range of normal for a new
contractors saw or does this saw have a problem?

I aligned the pulleys using a straight edge as described in the
manual. I've run the motor with the belt off and it is smooth. The
blade spins smoothly as well. I tried two other v-belts that I picked
up at automotive stores. I've ordered (but have not recieved) a 3/8
powertwist link belt for it because I couldn't find one locally.
However, if this saw has some kind of problem, I want to return it or
exchange it, not mask the problem with a link belt.

Thanks,
Scott