Power Station

[mytrkut]

My brother has just given me one of his never used power stations....I hooked it up to my jointer, but found it seems to run really rough....After pulling off the cover and watching it run, the belts seem to be the problem...They vibrate a lot more than I think they should....I made sure the pulleys lined up vertically, I leveled the machine, then made sure the motor was level....this just made sure motor pulley was aligned....it still sounds awful and runs rough.....I just think it should run as smooth as my Shopsmith....Any ideas????? Alex

[billmayo]

I switched to link (flex) belts many years ago for all my belt driven equipment. If a belt is not used for a long period of time, it takes a set which I have not figured out for to unset yet. I turn all my V-belts inside out without the sleeve so they stay round until I use them. I have several new belts with a permanent set that I turned inside out and used a tie strap to bind them in the opposite direction of the set about a year ago. I have to check if I have a different set in the belts now.

[dusty]

My brother has just given me one of his never used power stations....I hooked it up to my jointer, but found it seems to run really rough....After pulling off the cover and watching it run, the belts seem to be the problem...They vibrate a lot more than I think they should....I made sure the pulleys lined up vertically, I leveled the machine, then made sure the motor was level....this just made sure motor pulley was aligned....it still sounds awful and runs rough.....I just think it should run as smooth as my Shopsmith....Any ideas????? Alex

I don't think that you will ever get the power station to run as smooth as the Mark V. I have a Power Station and a Crafter's Station. Both are not what I would call smooth. The belts are heavier than the Mark V and they are less in circumference; they are pretty stiff.

Then again, maybe we both need new belts.

Good Luck. If you get yours running smooooth, please post the results and the methods.

[mytrkut]

Hmmmm, I thought that maybe from the belts not being used they may have kinks in them.....I don't have a manual so could you tell me how to change and where to get the right size belts....thanks, Alex

[8iowa]

If my memory serves me correct, I believe that the power station will only develop about 3800 rpm. This is on the slow side for the jointer and may not give smooth cuts unless the feed rate is very slow. For this reason, I leave the jointer set up to run on the end of the MK V, usually with the machine set in saw mode.

[dusty]

If my memory serves me correct, I believe that the power station will only develop about 3800 rpm. This is on the slow side for the jointer and may not give smooth cuts unless the feed rate is very slow. For this reason, I leave the jointer set up to run on the end of the MK V, usually with the machine set in saw mode.

Your memory serves you well, the top speed available from the power station is 3850 rpm and that is pushing that adjustment hard. I use the jointer on the power station only when the situation demands. I usually have my jointer on the left end of the Mark V.

[dusty]

I switched to link (flex) belts many years ago for all my belt driven equipment. If a belt is not used for a long period of time, it takes a set which I have not figured out for to unset yet. I turn all my V-belts inside out without the sleeve so they stay round until I use them. I have several new belts with a permanent set that I turned inside out and used a tie strap to bind them in the opposite direction of the set about a year ago. I have to check if I have a different set in the belts now.
I am not certain that I will recognize a belt that has "taken a set".

If a belt has "taken a set" does that mean that it is oblong rather than round when taken off the pulleys? If that is so, all four of my belts have done so. Two are more pronounced than the others.

Surprisingly, these two are not from the same machine. One is from the Power Station and the other from the Crafter's Station. This is hard for me to understand as the power station is hardly ever idle for any extended periods of time. If the Crafter's Station had been home for both I would not have been surprised at all it was unused for several years before I acquired it. The belts "look" to be in great shape. Maybe no.

[8iowa]

dusty:

You got up pretty early this morning! Aren't us "retireds" supposed to sleep in?