Crowned Drive Wheel?

C

Cabinetmaker

Well-Known Member
I will be making my drive wheel from a chunk of 4.25" dia. 6061 aluminum. I see that some drive wheels are available crowned and some are not.
It makes sense that the tracking wheel is crowned, but should the drive wheel be crowned as well?
How much crown is the proper amount (for both tracking wheel and / or drive wheel). I will be making 2.25" wide wheels.
All experienced opinions are welcome, please.
Thanks, Larry
 
No expert, but I built my 2x72 too. I got a crowned drive wheel, a crowned tracking wheel, and idler wheels in a set. I wondered why there were two crowns too. Seemed to me like it made the initial zero tracking set tougher. I put my tracking wheel at zero/plumb/level and then adjusted motor position until crowned drive wheel kept belt on. It was tough getting it right and I even thought about chucking the drive wheel in the lathe and cutting it flat. If I do it again, I will probably try a flat drive wheel.
 
I've read that only one wheel (tracking or drive) should be crowned. I've made them both ways and can't really tell a big problem either way. Currently I'm running a crowned tracking wheel and flat drive wheel. I "think" I like that setup better.

Ken H>
 
I went to a crowned wheel on all or my grinders, and it works way better for me than a flat wheel did.
 
Crowns on all give the belt a hub to ride on in the center. Makes for smooth tracking & adjusting. Some will put a few rounds of tape on a flat wheel to give it a crown.

Also Brian that posted above me builds the Uber Grinder machines. So there you have it from a grinder designer & builder.
 
Brian - do you crown only the drive wheel? OR do you crown both drive and tracking wheel?
 
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