Hammons Abrasive Belt Grinder info needed

I recently picked up a Hammons Model UBG-622 belt grinder. It powers on and works fine, but there is something going on with the belt tracking on it. The machine came with no manual, so trying figure it out. If you try to adjust it while it's running, by slowly turning the knob, the belt moves slowly to a certain point, and then it just jumps all the way to the left. The wheel that adjusts is steel. It rides on a rubber wheel on the other end. Both wheels are nice and tight with no wear or movement. The belt itself has seen better days and I am going to get a new one as the surface it rides on is pretty glazed. Any chance someone has this machine? On my band saw, once you set the blade to track where you want it, you lock it in place. On this machine, I don't see any means of locking the setting. It's like it relies on the pressure or tension on the belt to hold the setting. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Would be nice to find the manual for it, but so far no luck. Allot of Hammons literature at Keith Ruckers site, but not so much on belt sanders. Am leaving tomorrow and will be gone for a few weeks, but will be checking this post while away for any responses. Thanks

I'm going to guess that's a typo in you title, and you have a Hammond belt grinder.

If so, have one, not sure of my model number. First think I'd do is remove the belt, and check all the wheel bearings for excessive play. Post a picture when you get a chance, I'll see if it looks like mine.

Steve.

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You need a slight crown on the tracking adjustment wheel. It could have been worn off "deformed" from long use.

Is it similar to: Hammond Machine Co. - Publication Reprints - Hammond 400 Abrasive Belt Platen Grinder | VintageMachinery.org or Photo Index - Hammond Machine Co. - VH-6D | VintageMachinery.org

reggie_obe said:

Is it similar to: Hammond Machine Co. - Publication Reprints - Hammond 400 Abrasive Belt Platen Grinder | VintageMachinery.org or Photo Index - Hammond Machine Co. - VH-6D | VintageMachinery.org

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I think this is the op's model. He says it's a UBG-622.

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/w1600...ND-2”-x-60”-VERTICAL-BELT-GRINDER-UBG-622.jpg

Yes, mine looks just like the last pic posted. I think it has a narrower belt on it though. When I get back home, I will check the crown on the pulley. The bearings seem tight. I took the belt off and tried to move them both and they were snug.

PeterH48 said:

Yes, mine looks just like the last pic posted. I think it has a narrower belt on it though. When I get back home, I will check the crown on the pulley. The bearings seem tight. I took the belt off and tried to move them both and they were snug.

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Have you tried the correct wider belt to see if there is the same problem?

I am still tinkering with this belt sander. It takes a 2 inch x 60 inch belt. I wish I could find a manual for it. I have a few questions on I, issues that puzzle me. For one, there is a screw that pivots the steel wheel on the top for adjusting the belt to run on center, but there is no way to lock it. The top driven wheel is spring loaded. You can pull down hard on that handle which is spring loaded to put a belt on it, and then you release the handle to tighten the belt. But the entire tightening mechanism is adjustable with two steel knobs. Maybe for belt stretch, I don't know. I can see a mark in the slide where it used to be. Maybe it loosened up and slid down a bit from vibration. I might try putting the slide back where it was and try that. The bottom drive wheel is rubber and fixed with no adjustment. Would love to find someone with the same machine that has the manual for it. Then I might be able to get a copy.

Their manuals were very generic. Will not contain much more information than what you already received here.

Your tracking issues might be caused by a lot of little details that you are not noticing.

The bottom rubber whell needs to be dressed correctly. i.e. flat with no wear ridges.

The platen needs to be flat also. If there are wear ridges or grooves, they need to be such that they do not affect the belt tracking.

You need the proper width belt and it also should be new. Old belts, especially an old belt that came on the machine you bought, tend to take a set and will not track correctly after you attempt to put it back in service.

The two knobs that adjust the head up and down likely adjust the spring tension which sets the belt tension. You do not want the belt tighter than necessary for good traction from the drive wheel. Over tensioning stresses and stretches the abrasive belt, ultimately leading to tracking problems.

The adjusting screw that tilts the head pulley is the adjustment for belt tracking. Running a narrow belt on a wide crowned pulley will be difficult to get to track exactly in the center of the pulley, especially if the pulley was crowned for the wide belt. As far as the lock nut, it is probably missing. Figure out what the thread pitch is and diameter and either make one or buy one. It is not complicated.

If I remember some other makes and models of belt sanders have a wing nut or knurled lock nut on the top wheel tilt adjusting screw where it goes through the casting or frame to keep it from moving .
Maybe yours had one and it was lost at some point.
A hex nut would work there also but you would need to have a wrench handy .
You can see in the illustration Ref. #18 they call it a star wheel on the Delta machine that I am more familiar with shown here.
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1141/2646.pdf

Regards,
Jim

Thanks Ziggy. I ordered some new belts for it. 2 inch wide is the size it takes. The side of the old belt that rides on the pulleys is very worn, shiny, and smooth. When I get the new belts in, I will play with it some more.

Thanks for the link Jim !! I have tried to find a hole where a locking nut or stud goes on the machine with no luck. I'm thinking maybe it never had one and uses belt tension to work against the one tracking knob it has. The way the casting is made though, I could easily add one myself. I will keep tinkering with and hopefully I can sort it out.

I have a 4 x 36?, yes the top drum is crowned, there is no lock on the adjuster knob. Just set it while running and forget about it. The thing runs great, always has. Love it.

I have the same machine as you and it had the same problem. Tracked OK initially then jumped to the left. I bought it from someone who had run it like that so often that the belt had cut through the safety hood that covers the top wheel.
I fixed a few things and now it tracks perfectly:
1- my spring had been overly compressed over the years so i had to replace it. Bought the “blue” coloured one on ebay for $10. They are colour coded by their compression resistance stregth.
2- unscrew the tracking screw (mine has two screw holes but only one screw), punch the pin out from the tracking assembly (the one that the tracking assembly pivots on).
Now pull the whole top wheel assembly out of the tracking assembly.
Clean the inside of the tracking assembly bracket with a wire brush and oil it. Do the same to the rectangular block that fits inside it.
I actually used as dull flap disc on an angle grinder to get the caked-on layer of crud off the block.
3- check your top wheel. Mine had a few spots of metal crud that had stuck to it... took those off with the angle grinder. By the way, my top wheel is also flat (no crown) and i’m pretty sure it was made that way originally.
4- dress the rubber wheel on the bottom. Mine had a few surface lumps and worse, the middle area was slightly sunken compared to the outer edges... probably from years of someone using a belt that was too narrow.
I just cut a 6” piece from the old worn belt, clamped it to a piece of heavy angle iron, and set it on a folding work table that i placed right in front of the rubber wheel.
Turn on the motor then slowly grind away the raised parts of the rubber wheel. Don’t be too aggressive or the rubber will start smoking. Just make sure you keep going till the rubber wheel has a flat surface.
5- put it all back together with the new spring, and voila, mine is now tracking perfectly.
Good luck!

Forgot to mention that the single tracking screw has a low gauge compression spring placed between the knob and the top of the tracking assembly bracket.
That’s probably their way of keeping it from unscrewing due to vibration.

Also it looks like the 60” belt is UBG-625.
Here’s a link to a brochure with info on many belt grinder models:
vintagemachinery.org/pubs/415/1576.pdf

UBG-622 is actually the 40” belt model.