Powerfiles

Yes.  Simply pop the belt off, loosen the locking nut, drop in the replacement arm and tighten the machine up.  As long as the previous belt was well tracked, you probably won’t  have to track the belt again.

When you are first setting up your Beltit belt file, you may need to track the belts, but that is a simple process.  There is a small adjustment wheel at the base of the arm.  Whilst the machine is turned off, move the belt by hand to see if it ‘runs true’ on the contact wheel.  If it moves along the wheel to the left or right, then make a quarter turn adjustment and check again.  Tracking is rarely needed once the machine is up and running.

It depends.  Inter-changeability adds flexibility to your belt file.  If you only want to do one process, just buy one arm, or buy a machine with a fixed arm.  Working in a more general metal fabrication industry, one day you may need a different arm.

Better quality air tools such as the Beltit belt files have an air regulator which gives some speed control. However, please be aware that belt files need a good volume air feed to work with at full torque, so you cannot drop it too far.  If the air pressure drops too low, then the air file will stall on the workpiece.