Can someone help me order the correct size link belt for my 1023S table saw.
It has the oe 3 belt pulley and original belts which are 3/8" wide. Do I
order the 3/8" link belt or the 1/2"? Most of the websites that sell link
belt tend to steer you to the 1/2" size. So the question is, should one
replace 3/8" v-belts with 3/8" link belts? Thanks.

"Garland" wrote in message
...
Can someone help me order the correct size link belt for my 1023S table
saw.
It has the oe 3 belt pulley and original belts which are 3/8" wide. Do I
order the 3/8" link belt or the 1/2"? Most of the websites that sell link
belt tend to steer you to the 1/2" size. So the question is, should one
replace 3/8" v-belts with 3/8" link belts? Thanks.



IMHO you should go back with the original matched set of belts. Typically
Link belts are best when used 1 at a time. Link belts stretch as they
settle in. With 3 belts the time will probably be 3 or more times longer.
You are going to probably be under there readjusting the belts much more
often than you like.

Garland wrote:
Can someone help me order the correct size link belt for my 1023S table saw.
It has the oe 3 belt pulley and original belts which are 3/8" wide. Do I
order the 3/8" link belt or the 1/2"? Most of the websites that sell link
belt tend to steer you to the 1/2" size. So the question is, should one
replace 3/8" v-belts with 3/8" link belts? Thanks.

For a matched set you don't order a link belt at all -- you order the
proper matched set either from the OEM or take the belt to a local
distributor for matching.

Unless someone before you put a smaller belt on the saw, the OEM put the
proper belt for the pulley size on the saw--larger or smaller won't fit
properly.

There was another thread just recently on "replacing belt on Jet" that
got into more detail on matched sets.

--

I have link belts on my other equipment and I remember they stretch a
little, but I don't mind doing a few adjustments to get rid of the noise and
vibration at startup that my 1023S has always had. I'm also familiar with
matched sets from my automotive days, but it seems to me that the link belts
solve that issue too. There must be plenty of Grizzly 1023 owners out there
who have replaced the 3 belts with link belts. Anyone?

On Sun, 7 Sep 2008 17:18:52 -0500, "Garland" wrote:

I have link belts on my other equipment and I remember they stretch a
little, but I don't mind doing a few adjustments to get rid of the noise and
vibration at startup that my 1023S has always had. I'm also familiar with
matched sets from my automotive days, but it seems to me that the link belts
solve that issue too. There must be plenty of Grizzly 1023 owners out there
who have replaced the 3 belts with link belts. Anyone?

I have worked on or near a few table saws that have 3 belt setups. I
never saw or heard any issues related to three belts. The only time I
had a had time with 3 belt setups was on 25 year old cooling towers
where one or more belts were missing so the pulleys were worn
unevenly. The same vintage air handlers worked fine even on 5-10 year
old belts. The cooling tower problem was fixed for $100,000. Nothing
new towers will not fix.

I am not sure I would be obsessing over vibration at startup. I would
want smooth when running the tool.

Garland wrote:
I have link belts on my other equipment and I remember they stretch a
little, but I don't mind doing a few adjustments to get rid of the noise and
vibration at startup that my 1023S has always had. I'm also familiar with
matched sets from my automotive days, but it seems to me that the link belts
solve that issue too. There must be plenty of Grizzly 1023 owners out there
who have replaced the 3 belts with link belts. Anyone?

How do they possibly solve the issue of slight mismatching lengths that
is the whole purpose of the matched set (so each picks up a
proportionate share of the load).

If anything, I'd be quite comfortable in asserting the difference in
length between three link belts would be worse than that of three
production belts of the same size before the matching process.

--

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Garland wrote:
I have link belts on my other equipment and I remember they stretch a
little, but I don't mind doing a few adjustments to get rid of the noise
and
vibration at startup that my 1023S has always had. I'm also familiar
with
matched sets from my automotive days, but it seems to me that the link
belts
solve that issue too. There must be plenty of Grizzly 1023 owners out
there
who have replaced the 3 belts with link belts. Anyone?

How do they possibly solve the issue of slight mismatching lengths that is
the whole purpose of the matched set (so each picks up a proportionate
share of the load).

If anything, I'd be quite comfortable in asserting the difference in
length between three link belts would be worse than that of three
production belts of the same size before the matching process.

--

I strongly suspect that 3 link belts would never actually be evenly
adjusted, one or two would most likely be carrying a majority of the load
until several adjustments have been made to compensate for stretch.

Leon wrote:
....

I strongly suspect that 3 link belts would never actually be evenly
adjusted, one or two would most likely be carrying a majority of the load
until several adjustments have been made to compensate for stretch.

What he said...

That's the whole point -- they'll never end up at the same length,
therefore, they'll never have the same tension.

--

Don't agree at all. Each link is die-cut and each one is exactly the same.
After some wear-in and re-tensioning, I'm betting that all 3 belts will be
very close, probably as close as many matched sets of v-belts.

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Leon wrote:
...

I strongly suspect that 3 link belts would never actually be evenly
adjusted, one or two would most likely be carrying a majority of the
load
until several adjustments have been made to compensate for stretch.

What he said...

That's the whole point -- they'll never end up at the same length,
therefore, they'll never have the same tension.

--

Garland wrote:
Don't agree at all. Each link is die-cut and each one is exactly the same.
After some wear-in and re-tensioning, I'm betting that all 3 belts will be
very close, probably as close as many matched sets of v-belts.

....

You got fabrication spec's for that?

(Not necessarily arguing, I've never seen them touted as for use w/
multi-sheave drives.)

But I'd still ask what problem are you trying to solve by going to a
link belt instead of the OEM? IMO, the question of smoother running is
rarely if ever the belt but indicative of a problem elsewhere in the
machine, most often poorly machined/balanced pulley(s).

$0.02, imo, ymmv, etc., etc., etc., ... of course...

--

Thanks, I'm going to go with the 3/8 size. I'll let you know how they work
out.

"Joe Brophy" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 Sep 2008 11:14:46 -0500, "Garland" wrote:

Can someone help me order the correct size link belt for my 1023S table
saw.
It has the oe 3 belt pulley and original belts which are 3/8" wide. Do I
order the 3/8" link belt or the 1/2"? Most of the websites that sell
link
belt tend to steer you to the 1/2" size. So the question is, should one
replace 3/8" v-belts with 3/8" link belts? Thanks.

I had difficulty using and sizing (Powertwist} link belts until I read
this:


http://www.fennerdrives.com/high_per...powertwist_ins
tallation.asp

Since using this approach I have not had any issues determining the
appropriate link configuration for a specific
application, and have not had to retension any belts after install either,
but I did check just to make sure. Some have
been in use for three years plus. regards, Joe

dpb wrote:
Garland wrote:
Don't agree at all. Each link is die-cut and each one is exactly the
same.
After some wear-in and re-tensioning, I'm betting that all 3 belts
will be
very close, probably as close as many matched sets of v-belts.

...

You got fabrication spec's for that?

(Not necessarily arguing, I've never seen them touted as for use w/
multi-sheave drives.)

....

Thinking about the process further, depending on what the actual
manufacturing process tolerances are and the type of process error that
prevails, I could actually see where the link belt might actually be
self-correcting. If, the tolerances are consistent and independently
distributed from piece to piece or are selected randomly there's at
least a reasonable chance the errors would tend to the mean as
1/sqr(num_links). So, perhaps they would actually do a better job of
matching than my first gut feel indicated.

Still haven't found a reason for them, specifically, but that's a
different question...

--