Advice on turnning v belt pulleys.

[Joe Hillmann]

I am working on a machine that needs a bunch of pulleys and since I don't want to invest much into it I would like to turn my own wooden pulleys.

I need seven 7" pulleys and a 3" or 4" pulley.

In the past whenever I needed a quick v pulley I would make it out of 3 layers of plywood but for this I want something stronger and more accurate.

I am planing to make them out of 1" thick oak. Am I better of using a single piece of oak 1 inch thick or using two pieces of oak that are each 1/2" thick and glue them together so one has the grain going vertically and one going horizontally?

Any tips or tricks anyone cares to share on making v pulleys? I plan to try making one tonight but would be grateful for any advice anyone here can offer.

[Mel Fulks]

I think one piece would be ok . I have glued up stuff of that sort with just a little misalignment of grain direction to theoretically add a little strength without making any shrinkage an issue. Most of the wood pulleys I've seen have been maple.

[Jon Nuckles]

I'm not an expert on pulleys, but I think you would want to use thinner plies if you are laminating them. Half inch pieces aligned at 90 degrees might move enough to cause cracking on 7 inch pulleys.

[Harry Robinette]

Me an another guy made 10 pulleys from maple for a machine he was working on. The machine has a 1hp motor and has been running for about 1 1/2 years. 4pc of maple 3/8 thick cross glued up to 1 1/2". Oak, we were afraid the thin edges would chip off.

[Joe Hillmann]

I tried making a pulley out of oak and it ended up splitting when I tried to pound in a locating pin to keep it from spinning on the lathe. I think I will see if I can find some poplar tomorrow. But on the bright side I am pretty sure I figured out how to make them with the tools I have available.

[Richard Coers]

A 7" pulley in solid wood will not stay round all year. It will shrink and swell with the seasons, and go out of round. Stick with plywood or baltic birch plywood if the speeds are very high.

[robert baccus]

Solid woods work well for pulleys. I think I would steer away from soft woods and ring porous woods due to wear and splitting. Maple and walnut both work for me with hard maple being hard to beat.

[Joe Hillmann]

I ended up making the pulleys out of oak. If they end up cracking I will make them out of something with less grain to it. The will only be spinning about 100-300 rpm so a little wobble won't be much of a problem. They will be run in dirt, water, ice and snow so my biggest worry is them cracking from the change in moisture when the get wet and dry out.

[Jim Underwood]

Whatever wood you wind up using, quarter sawn grain orientation will serve you best.