Grant Erwin wrote:
So let me get this straight. The line shaft is running, the drill
spindle is turning, you throw the feed into neutral, and then what?
put a hook on the belt and just hork it over? I believe you, but I
can't imagine how you'd actually shift a flat belt while it's
running. I have a flat belt running my lathe and it's pretty tight,
and if I monkey around with it much it will catch something and throw
it.

Flat belts from a line shaft aren't supposed to be run tight - A loose belt
wraps around more of the pulleys providing more driving force/friction, it
also means that if your lathe jams, the belt will slip instead of buggering
up your lathe. - It's also supposed to cause less stress and wear on the
bearings and shafts, but I doubt this will be significant in a hobby shop,
as opposed to a 24hr-a-day production shop

Any number of pre WWII diy/home workshop books (perhaps only UK ones) go
into great about driving hobby shops from lineshafts, usually powered by old
lawn mower/motorbike engines.

I can scan/OCR some pages if anyone is interested. - They are out of
copyright.
--
BigEgg