Blade wheel belts

TimJr · April 01, 2010, 07:59:01 PM

Do any of you put anything on the wheel belts to make them last longer or sawdust/sap from building up on them?

sdunston · April 01, 2010, 08:19:31 PM

I just scrape off the dust, I was always leary of putint anything on the belt in fear of it sliping,Had this discussion with WM and they said a little dust on the belt would add some crown. I have seen when I use water as a lube the buildup is no were near as bad.
Sam

bandmiller2 · April 01, 2010, 08:23:48 PM

I've noticed sawdust seems to flake off after it builds to a certin thickness,on band wheels and carriage wheels really not much of a problem.Frank C.

TimJr · April 01, 2010, 09:06:11 PM

I usually open the doors and blow out the sawdust with the compressor at the end of the day. That usually works fairly well. I skipped that step two days in a row, and haven't been able to saw for a week or two. When I went to saw today I noticed that there was sap built up pretty thick where the band was touching the belts. After 30 minutes of scraping I finally got to make sawdust. Thanks for the input on this question and many others. This sight is very helpful.

Magicman · April 01, 2010, 09:11:25 PM

I clean my belts with a wire brush every time I remove a band.

ladylake · April 02, 2010, 05:48:45 AM

I never clean mine, just let it flake off. Steve

Chuck White · April 02, 2010, 06:46:22 AM

I clean the sawdust off of the belts, just scrape it with a knife and I clean
sawdust out of the entire blade housing everytime I change the blade.
Then at the end of the day, I do a really thorough cleaning of the whole mill.

Magicman · April 02, 2010, 07:09:50 AM

You take care of it.......It will take care of you......

logwalker · April 02, 2010, 08:42:56 PM

Are you running belts tight or loose? I run mine tight and never see a build up on them so never have to clean. But I only cut pine occasionally and it is not very sappy so maybe that is why I can get away with it.

Joe

sdunston · April 04, 2010, 07:20:14 AM

Quote from: logwalker on April 02, 2010, 08:42:56 PM
Are you running belts tight or loose? I run mine tight and never see a build up on them so never have to clean. But I only cut pine occasionally and it is not very sappy so maybe that is why I can get away with it.

Joe

Joe ,are you running smaller belts to get them tighter?
Sam

Chuck White · April 04, 2010, 10:15:27 AM

Wood-Mizer recommends running your bands on B-57 belts, however
some sawyers find that they like the shorter B-56 belts better.
The B-56 belts are tight to get into the groove of the blade wheel, but
they don't flop around like the B-57's do.

Wood-Mizer's theory was, using the B-57 belts, the flopping that they
do will allow sawdust/chips to fall out of the groove.

Just seems to be a matter of personal choice.

ladylake · April 04, 2010, 10:44:08 AM

Sawdust never gets in the groove on a B56 Goodyear belt but they are a bear to get on. I'd think the tight belts would last longer without going in and out of the groove all the time. Goodyears belts are the only ones I'll buy, some other brands don't sit quite as high and need to be replaced sooner and also some don't fit as tight as they should. Steve

woodmills1 · April 04, 2010, 07:28:34 PM

I used B56 on the LT 40 but will stay with the loose ones on the 70...BTW I never clean them...I am a diesel and bar oil a squirt or two 3 or 4 times a day guy

ladylake · April 04, 2010, 09:53:11 PM

I use diesel in the winter, water in the summer. I was just sawing some white ash using diesel and had to use quite a bit to keep the blade clean so I switched to water and soap which did a better job but most times diesel keeps the blade cleaner . Steve