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

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?

Baltic birch is probably the way to go. Comes in 5' x5' sheets in
various thickness up to 1" and is available pretty much all over.

are wooden airplane propellers
made this way?

Yes and no. I've seen laminated and solid propellors and have carved
small ones myself when I did "oily toys" as a kid. The full size ones
are a work of art!

Now you got me thinking! I have been looking for replacement 4 step
pulleys for my old Delta and hadn't thought about turning them. But I
am not too sure plywood would be up to the job.

Does anyone have a source for 4 step pulleys to fit 7/8" shaft?

Hi C etc.

High quality cast iron 4 step pulley, made by Maska 5,4,3,2" OD and 7/8
bore $47.10
Or you can get zinc cast lot of places have them they go for around
$15.--
Try Ebay or some place like MSC or McMaster

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum26.html

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo


Canchippy wrote:
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?

Baltic birch is probably the way to go. Comes in 5' x5' sheets in
various thickness up to 1" and is available pretty much all over.

are wooden airplane propellers
made this way?

Yes and no. I've seen laminated and solid propellors and have carved
small ones myself when I did "oily toys" as a kid. The full size ones
are a work of art!

Now you got me thinking! I have been looking for replacement 4 step
pulleys for my old Delta and hadn't thought about turning them. But I
am not too sure plywood would be up to the job.

Does anyone have a source for 4 step pulleys to fit 7/8" shaft?

wrote:
Hi C etc.

High quality cast iron 4 step pulley, made by Maska 5,4,3,2" OD and 7/8
bore $47.10

Leo thanks. Do you have a link to this? The Maska site quotes $67.30


Or you can get zinc cast lot of places have them they go for around
$15.--
Try Ebay or some place like MSC or McMaster
Have done all the above and came up empty several times. Also tried all
the local (Canada) industrial supply/tool/hardware outlets with no
luck.

Hi C
I'll hold your hand here ok

http://stores.ebay.com/Hollar-Electr...2QQpZ4Q QtZkm

Page 973 in the big book at McMaster
http://www.mcmaster.com/

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF...3770&PMCTLG=00

It's a start there are many more sources.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Canchippy wrote:
wrote:
Hi C etc.

High quality cast iron 4 step pulley, made by Maska 5,4,3,2" OD and 7/8
bore $47.10

Leo thanks. Do you have a link to this? The Maska site quotes $67.30


Or you can get zinc cast lot of places have them they go for around
$15.--
Try Ebay or some place like MSC or McMaster
Have done all the above and came up empty several times. Also tried all
the local (Canada) industrial supply/tool/hardware outlets with no
luck.

wrote:
Hi C
I'll hold your hand here ok

http://stores.ebay.com/Hollar-Electr...2QQpZ4Q QtZkm

Page 973 in the big book at McMaster
http://www.mcmaster.com/

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF...3770&PMCTLG=00

It's a start there are many more sources.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Thanks for the hand Leo but I'm afraid it didn't help much.
I am trying to match the steps on the headstock pulley and they have
O.D. of 2.5, 3.25, 3.75, and 4.5 inches. The closest is the Aluminum
die cast one on McMaster but it is only a 3/4" bore, I need 7/8" so it
would have to be machined to fit always assuming there is enough meat
around the boss to allow it. Or maybe get the motor shaft reduced to
3/4".
But thanks for all your help and I will keep looking. Something will
show sooner or later.
Peter

Dave, Many marine fittings, including blocks & shives were made of a
resin impregnated fiber. It may not be feasible and I don't remember the
trade name, machinability, cost or availability of bars of it. Maybe
someone will chime in pro or con? FWIW, I have an old lathe with a
solid wood pulley with 'V' grooves. I think it was pinned on the shaft.

Peter, I imagine that you have already checked with Delta re OEM
pulleys and found them either too expensive or not available. I think
there are several other suppliers of older Rockwell-Delta parts. If you
can't find a match, perhaps you could replace both pulleys. They all
seem pricey to me, but you might check out the machining forums on the
net (there is a Delta group) and the hobby machinist magazines. HTDH
(hope this doesn't hurt)


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

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

Arch wrote:

Peter, I imagine that you have already checked with Delta re OEM
pulleys and found them either too expensive or not available. I think
there are several other suppliers of older Rockwell-Delta parts. If you
can't find a match, perhaps you could replace both pulleys. They all
seem pricey to me, but you might check out the machining forums on the
net (there is a Delta group) and the hobby machinist magazines. HTDH
(hope this doesn't hurt)
Yes I did Arch. Trouble is the lathe has been fitted with a 3 Phase 1HP
Baldor motor and converted to 1 phase variable speed so it's the 7/8"
shaft on the motor that is causing the problem. My intent was to match
the headstock pulley so as to be able to change ratios to make use of
the torque available with the lower speeds. Hey new toy and I want it
to do everything! :-) I find I can stop the motor if I have the belt on
a high ratio and the VS set to slow speed. So I figured let the motor
rev higher, lower the gear and I should be OK. Does that make sense? I
also noticed I have a bent shieve on the smallest step of the headstock
pulley so I was looking to replace both pulleys. Now I think I will
refine my turning technique and work around the problem :-)

wrote:

Why not turn a solid hardwood step pulley.

Well I would be worried about it going out of round with changes in
humidity. Even the die cast white metal ones tend to distort with heat
and usage. I solved a lot of noise/vibration problems by replacing die
cast with machined cast iron pulleys on all of my machinery.
Unfortunately the headstock pulley on my old Delta is a unique 1 off so
it will have to be a custom made replacement.
But I'm curious, is your shop climate controlled?

"Canchippy" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:

Why not turn a solid hardwood step pulley.

Well I would be worried about it going out of round with changes in
humidity. Even the die cast white metal ones tend to distort with heat
and usage. I solved a lot of noise/vibration problems by replacing die
cast with machined cast iron pulleys on all of my machinery.
Unfortunately the headstock pulley on my old Delta is a unique 1 off so
it will have to be a custom made replacement.
But I'm curious, is your shop climate controlled?
+++++++++++++
Round up some mesquite to turn your pulley from. It's denser than oak and
dimensional stability is the best of any hardwood I know of (less than 1%,
green to dry in both directions. I would trust a pulley made from mesquite
before a similar size in cast aluminum. YMMV

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX