Delta 46-460 pulleys misaligned?

[Noel Poore]

Hi everyone

I am having some vibration problems with my Delta 46-460. No matter how light a cut i take, I can't get a round spindle. Something has definitely changed. One thing I have noticed is that the upper and lower drive pulleys are not vertically aligned - the upper pulley is are to the left of the lower pulley, so the drive belt is not running straight up and down. If I move the drive belt across to the right by one rib on the top pulley, and to the left by one rib on the lower pulley, the drive belt looks like it is now more or less vertical, the vibration almost disappears and I can cut a flat surface on a spindle. Other 46-460 owners - are the pulleys on your lathe aligned vertically? I can't move the top pulley over to the right because it is already up against the shoulder on the shaft. I have not been able to undo the Allen screw on the bottom pulley, and in any case there is almost no space on the motor shaft to move it further away from the motor. If the pulley alignment on my lathe has somehow changed, I have no idea what would have cause that.

[Added later] I just found that the rear mounting bolt on the motor was a little loose. Tightening that has also helped...

Thanks for your help

Noel

[Brian Kent]

Noel,

I just checked and they are cleanly aligned, by visual check and by a vertical best running with no vibration or distortion. Good luck to you in getting your smooth back.

Brian

[charlie knighton]

put your drive center into headstock, then put revolving center into tailstock, are the centers aligned, turn it by hand, do they stay aligned

just a quick check

[Jim Colombo]

Mine are aligned also.

[Tom Wilson66]

From what you say in your first post, the top pulley is all the way to the right and the bottom pulley is all the way to the left of their shafts. The pulleys should be straight above one another. Since you say the bottom pulley cannot be moved, try moving the top pulley over to above the bottom pulley. In other words, have the smallest diameter wheel directly in line vertically with the biggest wheel on the other pulley. Then put the drive belt vertically between the pulleys.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Pulley alignment has nothing to do with achieving a round spindle turning, but can definitely result in vibrations. The headstock to tailstock points must be aligned to give accurate "roundness."

[Noel Poore]

They look well aligned, and seem to stay aligned when you rotate using the hand wheel. I think I am going to take the lathe to the local delta service center on Monday and see what they have to say.

[ray hampton]

I hope that they are open Monday