In article ,
Mike Henry wrote:

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

[ ... ]

Well ... at least you now know what the tension should be for
your machine. Are those flat belts, V-belts, or something else, like
perhaps poly-V belts? It sounds like V-belts just offhand.


I'm not sure what to call them - they look like a truncated V in cross
section and the periphery is serrated. There are two individual belts so I
guess that they are V-belts.

Yep! Some are notched and some are not. The notched ones do a
better job bending around very small pulleys -- but might contribute
more vibration in your application. Check how flexible they are. It
might be that they have taken a permanent set from aging unused. In
that case, new belts might be a good idea.

A brief Google search indicates that Poly-V
belts are like two or more V-belts joined along there edges into a single
belt. Is that right?

Correct -- and the grooves are a lot smaller. These are common
as fan belts in modern vehicles, while the V-belts are found on older
ones.

Flat sides (not sloped) along with the serrations are timing
belts, and engage pulleys like gears.

While checking the belts I noticed that there is some light rust on both the
motor and spindle pulley grooves. That's probably not good for a grinder.
I wonder if cleaning them up with some fine steel wool or a 3M abrasive pad
would help or hurt?

As long as you don't remove more than the rust, it will probably
not do much one way or the other. Running for a short while will remove
the rust where it matters.

Good luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---