Sorby ProEdge belt alignment problems

[Chrisnw]

Happy New Year to all.

I was fortunate enough to receive a Sorby ProEdge from my wife for Christmas yesterday.

I am having some problems with the belt alignment despite following the instructions and I wondered if anyone is able to provide any pointers or suggestions about what I am doing wrong. I am a little despondent as there has been some rubbing on the left side of the bottom pulley during the limited time I have used the machine, and all my efforts to align the belts result in the belt moving to the left and cutting deeper grooves cut into the plate. I don't want to use it for fear of making it worse!

No matter how much I turn the belt tracking spindle, the top of the belt runs further over to the right than at the bottom. In the picture below the bottom of the belt is running on the centre of the pulley, This is my best effort! In all other cases, as soon as the collar is tightened the belt darts over to the left of the bottom spindle.

The guard has been removed for these photos and the orange to the left of the bottom pulley was a small piece of thick vinyl to try to stave off any further damage if the belt touched it momentarily.

This photo shows the top pulley. Please excuse the spelling of chisel on the SMA tin.

This last photo shows the bottom pulley along with the grooves that have been cut. I didn't realise that the belt had been touching on the left or would have stopped sooner and assumed that the alignment shown above was satisfactory. The majority of the wear is at the 15 and 20 degree angles as I sharpened an out of shape parting tool and a skew chisel.

When I turn the tracking spindle I notice that the chamfer differs in thickness, as shown in the photos below. I assume that this is the cam that changes the angle of the wheel from the horizontal to move the belt over.

I am flat out of ideas, so any assistance or suggestions would be much appreciated before I phone Sorby on Monday because I am a little gutted at my inability to fettle this so far. I'd prefer to be grinding my tools than the ProEdge!


Thanks in advance

Chris

 

[henton49er]

As far as I am aware (being a ProEdge owner and user for three years) the only way for the belt to behave in the way you have described and photographed is for the top and bottom spindles to be out of alignment, whatever you do to the adjustment mechanism. With mine, the belt runs true to both top and bottom spindles and a slight adjustment causes the belt to move laterally. Each time I put on a new belt, I need to "tweak" the adjustment, but can always get it running smoothly and on the centre of both top and bottom spindles.

I think you have a "dud" and I would telephone Robert Sorby (0114 225 0700) to see what they think. A replacement machine should be your aim, I fear. As an alternative, take it back to the place where you (or the wife) bought it, with the same aim.

 

[Chrisnw]

Mike,

Many thanks for the fast reply. I was hoping it wasn't entirely my fault though I am still ashamed at not trusting my instincts with the alignment originally (despite it not touching the bottom left edge) and then subsequently not spotting or hearing the rubbing as I tried it out later.

It is all the more frustrating as I managed a great grind straight away and found it so very simple to use.

Chris

 

[inaspin]

Hi Chris
I don't think you have much of a problem here, looking at your first photo it clearly looks as though your top pulley is running downhill which will cause the problem you have. What is needed here is for the tracking bar to be wound in slightly, when setting the tracking have the belt on and the machine running and don't be afraid to give it a good tweak, I had the very same problem with mine and I have to be honest and say that it was caused by me and not the machine, it did take me a few goes to get it running true again but now I can't remember the last time I had to adjust it, all I do now is slide a belt on and tension it and it runs true every time.

There does appear to be a sweet spot on the tracking adjuster it is just a case of finding it. Have another go, it is a shame the belt has cut the side plate I purchased mine in 2010 and although I really do try to look after it , I am afraid it has picked up a few battle scars along the way, they are a great machine for certain applications and worth getting to know. Once you have sorted this tracking problem which I am sure is all that is wrong you won't look back.

Regards
Berns

 

[cedarwood]

Well I have downloaded your first pic and studied it very closely and with your sticky tape in the way it is difficult to see but I think it looks like the swiveling frame is not seating to the motor plate correctly which is throwing the top out of alignment.

 

[paulm]

Hi Chris,

I think it's unlikely to be as easy as this, but have you tried a different belt ? I occasionally have a belt that doesn't run true, oscillating from side to side, and swapping it out resolves the problem.

As others have said, once set up properly it isn't normally necessary to have to keep adjusting the tracking, I don't think I've had to adjust mine again since I've had it, but that's little consolation if you can't get it to that state to start with !

If you wanted to, more than happy for you to bring it over here and we could put side by side with mine and see if we can see anything obviously amiss or different that might be causing a problem. I'm on the south side of Basingstoke, 10 mins from J7 M3, let me know if interested and I'll pm you details.

Cheers, Paul

 

[MMUK]

Difficult with a picture but it looks to me like the two drums aren't parallel. Does the belt tension more on one side than the other?

 

[Chrisnw]

Thanks for all the replies and a couple of suggestions to try when I finish a bit of family time this morning.

PaulM, I'd love to take you up on the offer of checking the two side by side whenever you are free?


Many thanks

Chris

 

[paulm]

Hi Chris, sent you a pm, I'm around this afternoon and tomorrow if you're free, address and phone number on the pm.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Chrisnw]

With the assistance of PaulM earlier, we've discovered that the the frame is bent. I'll be giving Poolewood and or Sorby a call in the morning.


Thank for all of the assistance.

 

[paulm]

Good to meet you this afternoon Chris, shame we couldn't resolve the problem but at least we managed to figure out what was causing it and hopefully Poolewood or Sorby will sort you out a replacement part, or machine, in the next couple of days.

We went through all the tracking adjustments that Chris had tried before, using a replacement belt that we knew ran true on my machine, and confirmed that there were no simple setup or adjustment errors involved, and meant we had to look harder to figure out what was going on.

There wasn't any free play obvious in either wheel and they seemed to run cleanly and accurately, so we looked at the mountings and mechanism on the top wheel and couldn't see any issues with that. It helped having my machine alongside so that we could do a quick visual comparison as well.

Looking at the bottom, drive wheel arrangement, we noticed a slight gap at the bottom edge between the motor plate and the main upright plate, only very slight but worth investigating further. Taking off the wheel and various plates suggested that there was a raised burr around the two plate mounting holes that was likely throwing the upright plate out by a half mill to a mil at the bottom end. By the time this was extrapolated out to the top of the upright plate that the top wheel runs off, it would have multiplied the error somewhat and caused the top wheel to not run parallel to the bottom wheel (the bottom wheel being mounted directly on the motor shaft and not from the upright plate). A quick rub with a bit of sandpaper and the burrs were removed and the plates etc reassembled and mated correctly.

Didn't solve the problem though unfortunately ! Standing back and thinking about it, we noticed that the upright plate didn't look to be at a right angle to the motor and motor shaft, it looked a few degrees off. A look at my machine confirmed Chris's didn't look right, so we took off the bottom wheel and plates again and took a closer look.



The upright plate was banana shaped instead of dead flat ! It's about 300mm or so long and 10 mm or so thick, but a quick check with a steel rule confirmed it was about 3 to 5mm bent top to bottom, meaning the top wheel would never run parallel to the bottom drive wheel, and hence why no amount of tracking adjustment would make it run true.

So mystery solved, but nothing unfortunately we could easily do about it to get Chris back up and running with his new Xmas present. My guess is that it was bent when assembled in the factory, the plate is too substantial to be easily damaged in transit and there was no paint or other damage present.

Good to meet up with another local'ish turner Chris, and hope you get it sorted and back up and running soon.

Cheers, Paul

 

[cedarwood]

Like I said earlier from looking at his pic the plate looked out of square to me, lets hope he gets sorted out promptly without too much hassle. I have a grinder and the pro edge and seldom use the grinder now, I have a full range of different grade belts depending on what I wish to sharpen and soo easy to change. 180/240 for reprofiling 340/400 for quick touch up of edges 600 and above for the kitchen knives and shaving :mrgreen:

 

[MMUK]

So mystery solved, but nothing unfortunately we could easily do about it to get Chris back up and running with his new Xmas present. My guess is that it was bent when assembled in the factory, the plate is too substantial to be easily damaged in transit and there was no paint or other damage present.

Makes you wonder how it passed QC :shock: :roll:

 

[Teepeg]

So mystery solved, but nothing unfortunately we could easily do about it to get Chris back up and running with his new Xmas present. My guess is that it was bent when assembled in the factory, the plate is too substantial to be easily damaged in transit and there was no paint or other damage present.

Makes you wonder how it passed QC :shock: :roll:

The question is was it QC'ed :wink:

Good to hear you got the fault found ...

 

[Soylent1]

Hi Chris,

If it's any consolation, I inherited an old bench grinder (very good German professional quality job) so I thought I'd treat myself to a new white friable grinding wheel from Axminster to go with the grinder. So when it arrived, I put it on the grinder, switched it on and had to basically hold my workbench from scatting across the floor! after hours/days of fiddling with grinder taking it apart, checking the bearings etc ... etc.. , as it must be a fault - not the brand new grinding wheel! I then just by chance (after giving up on it!) held the wheel in my hand, closed one eye and looked down the plane on the wheel and guess what?? it was warped and twisted and the hole was out of centre!, only a couple of mm - not enough to see just on first glance, but it just goes to show, even something as simple as a grinding wheel can be dodgy straight from the box. I couldn't send the wheel back as it shattered when I threw it on the floor lol!
Tony

 

[Chrisnw]

Just a quick update for those interested.

The ProEdge is being returned for a refund and I will buy a replacement locally. Poolewood were helpful but with only a few days left before going back to work, it should enable me to get up and running more speedily without waiting for couriers back and forth.

Thanks too to Paul at Sorby Technical Support who ran through a few things this morning, confirming that the spindle was seated correctly which was everything that PaulM and I did last night.


Looking forward to getting up and running as my initial impressions, even with the problem, is that it is an impressive beast and will certainly help.

 

[paulm]

Thanks for the update Chris, and glad that you're (nearly) sorted.

It is a quality piece of kit and very efficient and versatile to use, and I think you'll be very happy once you have your replacement and can get back to doing some turning

Cheers, Paul

 

[Grahamshed]

Seriously thinking about getting one of these. It seems expensive for what it is but it must be the only sharpening system I have seen that nobody has any complaints about (present problem excepted )

 

[Spadger]

Just bought one myself (for Christmas!) and I am thoroughly impressed with it. A real thumbs up as it is so quick and easy to use. So much easier to use than my previous grinder and jig set up.

 

[nod]

Happy New Year to all.

I was fortunate enough to receive a Sorby ProEdge from my wife for Christmas yesterday.

I am having some problems with the belt alignment despite following the instructions and I wondered if anyone is able to provide any pointers or suggestions about what I am doing wrong. I am a little despondent as there has been some rubbing on the left side of the bottom pulley during the limited time I have used the machine, and all my efforts to align the belts result in the belt moving to the left and cutting deeper grooves cut into the plate. I don't want to use it for fear of making it worse!

No matter how much I turn the belt tracking spindle, the top of the belt runs further over to the right than at the bottom. In the picture below the bottom of the belt is running on the centre of the pulley, This is my best effort! In all other cases, as soon as the collar is tightened the belt darts over to the left of the bottom spindle.

The guard has been removed for these photos and the orange to the left of the bottom pulley was a small piece of thick vinyl to try to stave off any further damage if the belt touched it momentarily.

View attachment 21680

This photo shows the top pulley. Please excuse the spelling of chisel on the SMA tin.

View attachment 21681

This last photo shows the bottom pulley along with the grooves that have been cut. I didn't realise that the belt had been touching on the left or would have stopped sooner and assumed that the alignment shown above was satisfactory. The majority of the wear is at the 15 and 20 degree angles as I sharpened an out of shape parting tool and a skew chisel.

View attachment 21682

When I turn the tracking spindle I notice that the chamfer differs in thickness, as shown in the photos below. I assume that this is the cam that changes the angle of the wheel from the horizontal to move the belt over.

View attachment 21683

I am flat out of ideas, so any assistance or suggestions would be much appreciated before I phone Sorby on Monday because I am a little gutted at my inability to fettle this so far. I'd prefer to be grinding my tools than the ProEdge!


Thanks in advance

Chris

I found to make the belt equal to the rollers, Then slightly tighten = just slightly tighten. found if you make it to tight belt moves