Steel City Drill Press Drive Belt Question

[Alan See]

I managed to shred one of the belts on my drill press. Purely my fault - the drive pulley has 4 sheaves, and the idler pulley has 5 sheaves, so you cant just go bottom sheave to bottom sheave - live and learn. Anyway the drill uses two identical 28.5" belts, which I can't find locally. I can find 28" and 29". Would there be a problem if I ran the drill with one 28", and one 29"? That gives me the same overall belt length. I think the idler pulley floats enough to accommodate the change. Am I missing something? I know I can order the correct belts through Steel City, but I've got some holes I'd kinda like to drill today

Thanks

[Rick Thom]

Alan, I'm not familiar with the Steel City unit, but many of their products are similar to Delta comparable (for some reason..LOL) which is what I have. On my older-model Delta, I wouldn't hesitate. On mine, the motor adjusts horizontally to add belt tension by turning a short lever just in front of the motor. If your setup is the same, make sure that the motor shaft doesn't rub against the top case where it passes through into the pulley compartment.

[glenn bradley]

My Delta also has plenty of swing on the idler and I would not hesitate.

[Fred Belknap]

I have the SC drill and I just looked at mine and I think what you have a mind to do will work ok. Mine has the flat automotive type belts. The idler pulley looks like it will swing an inch or so.

[Karl Laustrup]

It sounds like what you're thinking will work. However, might I suggest you invest in link belts for your DP.

Karl

[Alan See]

Life prevented me from getting the belts today - son's science project that he's had 2 weeks to work on :rolleyes: - so I'll pick them up on Monday.

Karl, link belts aren't an option as the drill press uses flat thin belts like Fred mentioned. I have been very happy with the performance of the drill, and the flat belts run very smooth as long as you don't cross drive the pulleys :o.

Thanks again for double checking my idea.

Alan