On Wed, 17 May 2006 00:47:32 GMT, "Walt Cheever" wrote:
Mine has looked "loose at high speeds since new but never seems to slip or
anything... (thought I wish I could make it loose enough to slip)
I've had a couple of feet of 3/8" link belt handy for 6 months but so far the
belt seems fine..
I probably put what would be a lifetime of hours on the 1442 in a few months and
abuse it occasionally but the only problems I've had were the need to lean and
lube the pulley slide shafts or whatever they are and the worm gear on the shaft
that goes to the speed handle..
I've had the handle come off twice, but it's a 5 minute fix once you get the
belt cover off..
One of the times that I had the belt cover off, I ran a bead of silicon over the
mating surfaces of the lathe and cover and it's been much quieted now... amazing
how annoying a vibration buzz can be and how much it adds to the general noise
level..
When I run the lathe at high (2,000+) speed with the cover off, the belt appears
to loop upwards and looks very loose, but doesn't seem to be...
If the belt ever breaks or I get the nerve to cut it off, I'll see if the link
belt is any different...
I need some opinions.
My lathe is 2 years old, been used a lot. It was hard to shift speeds and
the spindle was slipping. I opened up the case and found..a lot of dust.
When I got that out of the way, I found that the moveable side of the sheave
wasn't moving very well. The shaft was clean, so I just sprayed on some dry
lubricant, on both shafts. Immediate improvement.
But... I also noticed that at low speed, spindle sheave fully closed, that
the belt was running about 1/4" to 3/8" below the rim of the sheave. The
belt was tight. On high speed, spindle sheave fully open, the belt was
slipping. And the belt was running about 1/8" proud of the motor sheave.
There were no cracks or breaks in the belt.
I suspect that I may have worn off a bit of width over time, so the belt
seats lower than it used to. Writing this, I realized that I didn't check
that the spindle sheaves were fully closed, or if they were ALMOST closed.
Do I need to replace the belt? If I do, can I safely use a link belt?
Opinions and experience would be welcome.
Walt Cheever
Mac
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm