Official Luthiers Forum!

After 5 years of use, my sander's four screws were out of alignment so badly front to back that the height adjustment was too tight to function properly.

If I had these pics before I pulled the motor I probably could have gotten the timing belt off and back on without this much dismantling. So, if your sander is at that 'rebuild' point, maybe this will help.

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

I don't get what you're trying to say....

I have the Delta #31-250. One of it's known issues: if you turn the handwheel that adjusts the feed table height too quickly, the serrated timing belt will "skip a toothe" on the gear. I successfully adjusted it from the top using the instructions in the manual. Further prevention includes slowing down my "cranking speed" on the handwheel

I'm not sure if I'm getting why your motor was removed. I'm curious to know what exactly was wrong and how you fixed it John. I know my machine is quite problematic, and I could use all the help I can get. I think the #31-255 might have some improvements.

Thanks for posting. I'd like to keep this machine till I have a doorway that is wide enough to accomodate a 25" dual drum!

Thanks for your patience John. Just not sure if I'm getting it....

I have a bad gear on mine right now, but it's because, after 4 years of use,
the silica packet that was in it, that I never found, finally decided to jiggle
loose, get caught in the gears, and chew em up. (man that was either a
really bad run on sentence or a nice long one)

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Seemed perfectly formed to me, albeit, lengthy.  Sounds like the gears must be pretty soft if they were ruined by a silica-gel packet.  I guess it's hard to find things that are over-engineered these days.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I'm not sure what your saying here, like terry, I was able to adjust from the top. The only problem I've had with mine, which I hear is a problem with these, is the feed belt tends to go off track frequently tearing up the belt. My belt is now 1" narrower then it was. Have any of you experienced this?

I have the same problem with the feed belt going out of allignment.  I watch it and when I see it getting too close to one edge I give the adjustment screw an 1/16 turn to get it moving back the other way.  It ends up being a see-saw thing back and forth for me but it works.  It can be an annoyance but I find it easier to watch the belt and adjust than spending all the time I originally spent trying to get it to track straight!  My belt is about 1/4" narrower than it was in the beginning.

As for adjusting the table levelers, I adjusted mine from the top too.  I am not sure why I would go to the gears and belt to make the adjustments unless one of the gears was worn. 

Mark,

I got mine with a seemingly very stretched belt on one side. To track properly, the belt is snug on the right side, and loose on the left. I thought of replacing the belt, to see if that's the case, or if something else is awry.

When I initially got mine, I also adjusted the tension on the timing belt  idler rollers to make the handwheel turn easier. Too loose and it'll "skip a tooth" A finicky machine for sure. I most recently took some vibration out of the machine. I did that by loosening and retightening the 4 drum bearing bolts. It runs measurably smoother. There was about .045" vibration, now it's about .012", between the feed table and the drum frame. It SOUNDS much smoother too.

Also, sometimes sawdust (used to) acculate inside the drum, throwing off the balance. I upgraded my dust collector, so that might be fixed

There was a problem with the feed motot overheating, overexerting. NO, the belt wasn't too tight. It sort of "warbles" I originallu suspected that the roller was bent. Or that something in the motor needed lubed. I maintenance all I could. I suspect that the previous owner dropped it and it hit something like the feed motor of feed table. I seemed ot have gotten most of the bugs worked out. I put a small fan on the feed motor on long runs.

 I have one of these but it is the newer series and I guess it got some of the bugs worked out of. It's a nice machine though underbuilt in some areas. I need to adjust the table it is not totally parallel to the drum. How close can I expect to get this thing parallel across the table. I can always reverse the piece and send it through again to true it up.

_________________
Mistakes are mandatory-learning from them is optional. http://www.opensourceluthiersupply.com

How close can I expect to get this thing parallel across the table.

Mine is within .01".

I have also had problems with the belt feeder running off. I complained enough that Delta sent a guy over to try and fix it, he says this is caused by the belt being stretched on one side, he replaced the belt and it now runs off the opposite side - oh well.

_________________
David White, Toronto

"All my favourite singers can't sing."