(03-07-2020, 08:01 AM)blgentry Wrote:(03-06-2020, 06:58 PM)grepper Wrote: It looked like the base piece was not sliding smoothly on the mount bar. Especially when you removed the base from the mount bar it seemed to hang up at the end of the slot. It should slide smoothly. Tolerance is pretty tight there so debris buildup in the slot in the mount bar and/or on the slider block on the side of the base can cause that issue. A quick wipe with a rag resolves it.
Yes! I just went out to the shop (garage) and wiped the heck out of both mating pieces. It slides much more smoothly now.
I just checked mine and while not a problem I could tell some crud had accumulated in the slot. It felt a bit gritty. I sprayed some WD-40 on a rag and wiped it clean. Nice and clean and slides smoothly. A little WD-40 on the rag works great.
Worse than just abrasive dust from grinding is sharpening compound buildup. Due to the downward direction of the belt compound is sprayed directly at the rest and onto everything under it. As you probably know, after a while it can make a disgusting mess all over the top the machine.
Compound is not only abrasive but also sticky. Sometimes a clean rag does not completely remove it. WD-40 on the rag dissolves and removes it while adding just a little lubrication making sliding nice and smooth.
Like any machine, occasional cleaning is recommended to keep things working smoothly. That said, there is enough clearance designed into that slot it should be very resilient to crud buildup. You might notice a bit of a gritty feeling when it needs cleaning but it should never bind when adjusting for belt thickness. At least I've never seen that happen.
If you think yours is tighter than it should be just let me know. It's really easy to fix it.