Link belts on this kind of lathe??

[Jim Hager]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a152/sawwood/lathe.jpg

I bought one of these lathes (this one is not mine, I stole the pic over on the classified add page) last summer and it seems to be a dandy but the lower belt broke day before yesterday.

The belts are thinner than normal and I was wondering if I could use a link belt to replace it with. It would help with vibration I'm sure but I do not know if it would work on these speed adjustable pulleys or not. Anybody got an idea or have done it that way before. I'm sure a link belt won't cost any more than Delta wants for an original belthttp://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/confused.gif maybe.

[john whittaker]

Jim, can't answer your question specifically but have been considering link belt myself for an old bandsaw & scroll saw and wondered if the link would fit properly since the pulleys on the scroll are smaller. What I found out is that a company named Power Twist makes link belts in a variety of styles and sizes so you should be able to find a good match to yur lathe. Try looking here. www.fennerindustrial.com (http://www.fennerindustrial.com) Maybe someone from this company could answer your question.

Nice lathe.

[Scott Coffelt]

I have a link belt on my cruddy Ridgid lathe and it works fine, but it is the type where I have to move the belt by hand to the correct pulley. I find with the link belt I can run it a tad bit looser and still not loose grip. It actually made the lathe runner smoother. I guess you could always try it and if it doesn't work, use the belt on something else.

[Keith Burns]

I tried them on the same lathe and they worked but could tell no difference. I put new regular belts on and it runs smooth with no vibration. I've got the link belt on a single pully lathe, table saw, band saw and drill press.

[Jack Wood]

It is my understanding that link belts work best on machines that have the weight of the motor held by the belt, as in a table saw. But when you have a static belt where the weight is spread by two set pulleys then you don't get as much of difference in how smooth the machine runs. I know that it made a big difference on my DeWalt TS and I was going to put link belts on all my machines when I read about the difference and decided to just use cog belts instead, but I will wearout the ones on my machines a bit more before doing so. :D

[Jim Becker]

You should be able to use a link belt for this application...just be sure to get the correct width belt...there are three of them. The only place I've seen all three widths (but I really haven't looked much) is Grizzly. One thing...if this is a "fixed position" belt, you'll need to re-tension it a couple times after installing. They stretch a little when new and you'll want to take up the slack.

[lou sansone]

real nice lathe. I have used link belts in this type of application and have not been overly impressed. That lathe will probably use a A or B belt which you can simply order from mcmaster carr if you know the outer diameter of the belt. I happen to be fond of the "cog" style belt, also know as AX or BX type belts. They have much less tendency to memory and that is one of the main sources for belt vibration. Just MHO

best wishes


lou

[Steve Schoene]

The advantage of a link best in this case, with the Reeves drive, is that it is much easier to put on the new belt, which otherwise calls for a fair chunk of disassembly since a belt must go around the spindle shaft.