Jointer belt problem

[oswin556]

Recently bought the Rikon 6" jointer that is on sale at Woodcraft. Got it assembled and hit the on switch. The machine immediately threw the belt off of the motor pulley. Checked to make sure the pullleys are lined up and they appeared OK. I have adjusted the tension and tried realigning the pulleys and I always get the same results, the belt comes off. It uses the ribbed belt and each pulley has two diameters so you can change speeds.

This happened about 9:00 lst night and I didn't feel like sopending a lot of time playing with it. Haven't touched it this morning yet. Any suggestions from the group?

Oswin

[Doug Miller]

According to Woodcraft.com, this jointer has a locking cutter head. I'll bet it was locked for shipping at the factory -- and is still locked.

[oswin556]

The cutter head is not locked. To lock the head you insert a tool that looks simila to a scratch awl into the head. I turned the head when I was checking the height of the blades. When I turn the machine on the head will spin before it throws off the belt. One time it went all of 10-15m seconds before the belt came off.

Oswin

suggestions

[B A R R Y]

Is there any end play in either shaft? With the power off, try to pull each shaft in and out from the end.

Is either pulley loose?

Are both shafts parallel on all planes? (looking down at them, from the sides, from the ends)

Do both pulleys appear to run true when spinning at varying speeds, with no wobble of the belt vee? When a pulley running without a belt, the edges should stay sharply focused and not appear to be moving when viewed looking into the vee, like an H. Vary the speeds if you have fluorescent lighting, to counteract strobe effects.

Do the shafts appear to be standing still when viewed from the end and running? If not, a shaft may be bent. Many shafts have an indentation in the end from the manufacturing process that makes this easy to see. Vary the speed, as above.

Does the belt have any cuts or foreign matter that could force it out of the vee?

How did you determine proper belt tension?

With no belt installed, does the motor run nice and smooth, with no vibration?

Is the belt "right-side-in"?

Sorry if some of this seems obvious, but I hope it helps!

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[oswin556]

Problem is solved. The pulleys were not lined up. I had moved the jointer on the base as far as it would go last night. Today I moved the motor on its mounts and was able to line them up. It was hard getting a good line of sight on the pulleys. Bad lighting and being at the end of a long week didn't help either. Thanks.

Oswin

suggestions

[B A R R Y]

Great!

It never does!

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