dusty wrote
...It is my belief that if the high speed stop is adjusted with the belt riding within the perimeter of the sheave it will not ride proud at either high or low speed. Remember that the belt moves in equal but opposite directions on the sheaves; if you make a speed adjustment that moves the belt 1/4" on the floating sheave it will simultaneously move 1/4" in the opposite direction on the idler sheave. With a belt of the proper length it is mathematically impossible to get the belt proud.
I normally adjust the high speed stop so the belt is an estimated 1/8" to 1/16" inside the perimeter of the motor sheaves. But the stop only does one thing: limits pork chop travel in the high speed direction. The only thing the high speed stop setscrew is doing at low speed is providing an axle for the idler gear for the indicator ring.
It still seems to me that a belt wider than 1/2" which includes new SS belts, will ride slightly proud
if the sheaves fully close. And that is what I've observed. Is your idea of a 'proper length' belt one that prevents the Idler sheaves fully closing at the stop? The only other stop I see in the system is full compression of the motor shaft spring. I though there was general consensus that full compression of the spring is not a particularly good stop. While I agree a slightly shorter belt would prevent the belt from running proud, it would do so by fully compressing the motor shaft spring and therefore preventing the Control Sheave from full range of travel and closing to that 1/2" gap. IMO the low speed mechanical limit is always going to be either full compression of the spring or full closing of the Idler sheaves. Unlike high speed, there is no other limiter to the travel. IMO it follows that the ideal belt length will allow full closing of the Idler sheaves with almost full compression of the motor spring and therefore will run proud at the stop.
I'm not suggesting it is a good idea to run the belt proud. What I said is that there is nothing in the design as currently implemented to prevent it. Perhaps with original belts there was, I suspect this is the case. (Narrower belts.) It is a simple matter for the user that is concerned about it to observe the belt position at the slow stop and to choose not to use the slow stop if warranted. I ran mine to the stops during this thread to support discussion of how slow the machine will go, I seldom run the machine at the slow stop, but if you want to know the slowest achievable speed you kind of have to.
- David
