Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

[Wiley]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Whoa, The teeth are there so that the belt can fit over a smaller diameter pulley. There is no engagement of teeth to a gear. As for tightening: by over-tightening one will simply wear out the bushing/bearing of the shaft much much sooner.... as well as the belt.

The belt transmits it's power by means of friction. Yes, tightening will increase the amount of friction (the friction is between the sides of the "V" of the belt and the pulley) but too much is not good. The usual rule of thumb is any belt should be able to be deflected by about 1/2 inch in the middle of the span between the pulleys without undo force.

Hope this makes some sense, I can elaborate further if you want. I work with tools that use belts (both "V' and large flat belts) in another hobby of mine but trust me over tightening of belts is not doing yourself any favor. If it came that way then it was assembled wrong, the guy making 20 cents an hour assembling couldn't really care.

Bests,
Wiley

[SteveP]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

It looks like you got some good advice here. Any time you are working with belt driven equipment, the belt is tensioned by moving one of the pieces (i.e. the motor). The belt tension is important b/c you need enough tension to cut the material but not slip. you can get buy a belt tensiometer but as someone previously mentioned, you can just push the belt half way between the two sheaves (pulleys) and this will work just fine. Since the key came out, you need to check to make sure that the key way on the shaft did not get damaged. If the key way is marred and enlarged, a new key will have have a difficult time staying in the key way even with a set screw. Overall, it should be a simple fix. Good luck.

[kebwi]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Well, here's the summary of what happened. I had basically come to the conclusion that I broke (and vaporized to a greater or lesser degree) the key on the theory that the key is intentionally built from a weaker metal for the express purpose of failing first (like a fuse).

So I went to Home Dept. No keys. Went to Lowes. No keys. But Ace had them. I bought one for $.70 and put my saw back together. Works like a charm. :-)

Then, as I was cleaning up, I found the old key, complete and undamaged, on my basement floor. The allen screw that enters the spindle radially to hold the key in place had clearly loosened. What this means is that I did not necessarily over-use my saw. I didn't push it too hard such that the key failed on purpose to protect more expensive components (and people). Instead, it just worked its way out, clanked around loudly, and fell on the floor.

...so there you go, back to work now. I've got bricks to cut.

I'm sorry about the relative silliness that this thread now represents in retrospect. Maybe someone will benefit from it in the future.

Cheers!

[Les]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Soooo - all said and done, the HF saw is a great tool. It help me build my oven, and for the price, I don't think it can be beat. In time, I bet they will offer a compound saw for the same price.

Les...

[altamont]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

This thread prompted my curiosity so I went and checked my HF saw...

Set screw was loose and the key was already sticking out about half-way!

I was able to slide it back into place without much hassle and tightened the set screw. I have now been reminded to do a better safety check in the future.

Thank you.

[trockyh]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Well I bought my saw and got the warranty for one year.
Put it together today, good thing there was a large picture on the box showing the saw put together as I was not able to make out the directions too well. I was able to mount it on the stand for my compound miter saw. Saved me from building a stand from 2x4's.

Tom

[lwalper]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Having never seen this piece of equipment other than the photo you posted, it seems odd that the keyway is even exposed. Maybe it's just a design oversight, but is that shaft threaded inside? Should it have a bolt and washer? I note that the end of the shaft is countersunk (to accept a puller?) and drilled (threaded?, for a bolt to retain the key?). If it is threaded you might try sticking a bolt in there with a washer underneath. Put a drop of Locktite on the threads to keep the bolt from backing out during use.