dave wrote:
I want to turn a few (typical drill-press sized) v-belt step pulleys*,
and want to make the plywood it's turned from. I'm considering using
'garden variety' maple veneer and plastic resin glue, but I'm wide "open
for better ideas" and especially for ideas on where I might obtain such
material (already made) at very low cost? are wooden airplane propellers
made this way? I was gonna glue it up with every 2nd layer rotated 90
degrees...

*um, and yeah, I still gotta figure out the "how to make sure it fits
the shaft -very- well and is keyed TO it" part...but we can cross that
bridge later, or -now-, if you've got a idea on that too :-)

thanks very much, guys,

toolie

Why not turn a solid hardwood step pulley. I made my own lathe from
wood with Grizzly replacement part spindles. I couldn't get a pulley
with the correct bore.Machine shops wanted more to bore a pulley than
the pulley would cost. I bored four maple blocks 26 mm,thats the shaft
size.Then glued them up on the shaft.Several times in the course of an
hour I turned the blocks a little so any glue would not glue the blocks
to the shaft. The following day I turned the blocks down to a cone
pulley. The V belt that eventually goes on the pulley was just placed
over the shaft.This worked good enough to turn one of the steps
round.Then I cut the V, installed the belt on this step and finished
off the entire pulley. I have about 800 to 1000 hours on this setup
with no problems.
I bored a hole thru the smallest step and tapped the wood for 12x24
machine screw that fits in the keyway slot, I did not use the keyway
itself, just the machine screw.

mike