Hi Jura

Very typical for a standard V belt, it likes to climb the pulley's side
walls and so start flabbering and vibrating, the Link belt being made
out of links is less vibration prone and though more costly, they are
long lasting and can be installed without taking the machinery apart.

As for the hinged motor mount a simple and quick release setup would be
an elbo/arm hinge, (just like your arm it will bent in the middle) with
a hinging point on the lathe and also on the motor mounting plate, the
hinge point bracket on the motor mount plate should be moveable for
adjustment when the belt length changes, ( make a 1" slot in the plate )
the arm/elbow hinge itself could be made out of flat metal stock (like 1
1/2" X 1/4") the length depending on the length from your lathe to the
end of your motor mount plate at lets say 45 degrees, and the 2 hinge
point brackets on both ends, out of short pieces of angle iron, one
bolted to the lathe and the other one to your motor mound plate, if you
weld a stop on one piece of the flat stock so that the elbow arm can
only go just past straight, and having the hinge point 2 or 3" from the
end on one arm at the elbow hinge point, you now can tighten your belt
by pushing the hinge down and it will stay there

Now if you weld an other piece of flat stock at 90 degrees on the top
part of the arm/elbow hinge, just above the hinge stop, you can pull on
that as a handle and lift your motor up to change the belt position.

All this is clear to me, I don't know if I made it clear to you ???
If you want more help ask away.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Jura wrote:
I'm refurbishing an old lathe. I have so far changed headstock bearings,
I've got new pulleys, a VDF and a new motor. I should now find a
way to mount the motor. My initial test showed that when mounted onto
a hinged plate the motor start to vibrate somewhat. So now I'd like
find some instructions on how to make a solid mounting that would have
some sort of a release mechanism for changing pulleys. Any ideas?

Jura