Post by herchenx on Apr 7, 2014 22:42:48 GMT -5
Late Saturday night my saw had some problems. In the end, the saw blade had bound up, causing the motor to spin the pulley in the belt. The pulley was melted and trashed and the belt was garbage.
Thanks to all the good folks here and some troubleshooting I was able to rule out a number of pretty catastrophic problems. The bearing for the saw is good, the motor runs true, the blade isn't bent and still looks new.
I got a new belt Sunday but had to wait for Grainger to open today to get a replacement pulley.
My first real challenge came in getting the melted pulley off the motor shaft. I was finally able to get a large wrench over it and tap it off with a hammer.
I got a new pulley and belt on and learned my first lesson: make sure your pulleys line up as close as possible. I had previously pushed the pulley all the way onto the shaft because that's how it was when I bought the saw (before the motor fried) - and the saw has always had a decent "rumble" to it. Well I had the new belt hanging on the top pulley and used that as a guide to line it up with the bottom. When I fired the saw up I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Just the whir of the motor and no rumble.
I engaged the feed and let it push the rock to the blade and it almost immediately bound up. I had moved the rock around so the blade would hit almost perfectly perpendicular, so I knew it wasn't pushing the blade to the side. I turned off the saw, pulled the carrier back and tried again, same result. I've always wondered why the lever that engages the feed can flip either way - I always flip it to the left - I've also always wondered if the 2 directions would run the feeder at 2 speeds.
Well I learned my second lesson, this saw feeds in 2 speeds. When I flipped it to the right it ran all the way through the rock, it just took longer.
Then I learned my third lesson, whatever the heck this stuff is, my saw does not like it:
Even though the first cut didn't bind the blade, it definitely put some strain on the motor, which is very unusual. The second cut did the same. I cut agate all the time and have no problems, but this stuff would really put the strain on the motor. It seems pretty solid, and seems roughly as hard as most of the more solid jasper I cut but BOY it gives it to that motor.
I am going to pull it out of the saw, I don't know what it is for sure or where I got it, but it isn't interesting enough to have to babysit each cut. I'll go ahead and dress the blade a bit in case that is a factor, I have some old SiC grinding wheels I can sacrifice.
I'm glad to be back, and glad the saw is running strong. Thanks again Sabre52 (Mel) and everyone else for the help and advice.
Thanks to all the good folks here and some troubleshooting I was able to rule out a number of pretty catastrophic problems. The bearing for the saw is good, the motor runs true, the blade isn't bent and still looks new.
I got a new belt Sunday but had to wait for Grainger to open today to get a replacement pulley.
My first real challenge came in getting the melted pulley off the motor shaft. I was finally able to get a large wrench over it and tap it off with a hammer.
I got a new pulley and belt on and learned my first lesson: make sure your pulleys line up as close as possible. I had previously pushed the pulley all the way onto the shaft because that's how it was when I bought the saw (before the motor fried) - and the saw has always had a decent "rumble" to it. Well I had the new belt hanging on the top pulley and used that as a guide to line it up with the bottom. When I fired the saw up I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Just the whir of the motor and no rumble.
I engaged the feed and let it push the rock to the blade and it almost immediately bound up. I had moved the rock around so the blade would hit almost perfectly perpendicular, so I knew it wasn't pushing the blade to the side. I turned off the saw, pulled the carrier back and tried again, same result. I've always wondered why the lever that engages the feed can flip either way - I always flip it to the left - I've also always wondered if the 2 directions would run the feeder at 2 speeds.
Well I learned my second lesson, this saw feeds in 2 speeds. When I flipped it to the right it ran all the way through the rock, it just took longer.
Then I learned my third lesson, whatever the heck this stuff is, my saw does not like it:
Even though the first cut didn't bind the blade, it definitely put some strain on the motor, which is very unusual. The second cut did the same. I cut agate all the time and have no problems, but this stuff would really put the strain on the motor. It seems pretty solid, and seems roughly as hard as most of the more solid jasper I cut but BOY it gives it to that motor.
I am going to pull it out of the saw, I don't know what it is for sure or where I got it, but it isn't interesting enough to have to babysit each cut. I'll go ahead and dress the blade a bit in case that is a factor, I have some old SiC grinding wheels I can sacrifice.
I'm glad to be back, and glad the saw is running strong. Thanks again Sabre52 (Mel) and everyone else for the help and advice.