"mac davis" wrote: I bought the belt for my 1442 at HF, Bob..
The Jet dealer that I bought the lathe from said it took 1/2", so I bought
that... Damn good thing my bandsaw takes 1/2".. lol
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Since the pulleys adjust to the belt position/width, I don't see why you
couldn't us a 1/2".

It might possibly have a very minor effect on the speed range. BTW,
changing the belt length can affect this also. Link belts can be tuned in
increments of 1/2", which is useful in getting the best high and low limits.
If you do buy link belt, buy several inches extra, and keep it on the shelf.
If you stall your lathe (common with Reeves drives,) the motor pulley will
probably burn a few of the belt links, which are then destined to fail maybe
a month later. No need to replace the entire belt if that occurs.