Belt material

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mcostello
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Re: Belt material

Post by mcostello »

Used to make drive belts for 12 years in another career. Made up a synthetic belt and it lasted until just recently sold only after 22 years with no adjustments. Turned lots of commercial conveyor pulleys 48-56" long, got lots of use out of it.
chrismunn
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Re: Belt material

Post by chrismunn »

mcostello wrote:Used to make drive belts for 12 years in another career. Made up a synthetic belt and it lasted until just recently sold only after 22 years with no adjustments. Turned lots of commercial conveyor pulleys 48-56" long, got lots of use out of it.
Can you recommend a belt?

I have an under cab motor so the belt has to be split.

I went ahead and cut 1.125" off the length of the leather belt (also glued back the delaminating joint) and with the continued use of honey I was able to get the lathe operating better than it ever has for me so far. I just can't believe the belt has stretched that much. Remember, this is the second time I've cut length from this belt! I chucked up a piece of 3/4" mild steel and in low speed (not in back gear) and slowest feed rate i was able to make a pass at .130" per side using a carbide brazed turning tool. Had to keep the cut super wet with cutting oil tho. The second the oil stopped flowing the machine would bog down. Surface finish on the remaining diameter was terrible but I'm impressed that I could take that cut to begin with on this little machine. That's what finishing passes are for, right?
John Evans
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Re: Belt material

Post by John Evans »

You will be better served with HSS tools with positive rake. They take much less power to cut than negative rake carbide ,brazed is most likely 0 rake ,still not good. Negative rake carbide with a chip breaker will work more like a positive rake tool. I have a large assortment of carbide both insert and brazed and the brazed almost never is used now days . My light duty lathe is a SB heavy 10 that is used mostly for collet work and the taper attachment , cutters are either HSS or insert carbide depending on the job.
www.chaski.com
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mcostello
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Re: Belt material

Post by mcostello »

John is very correct, take the load off the belt when not in use. The honey will dry on there and I only used a bit every 3-4 years. When it dries the pulley will have a little black coating on it. Sort of like as if a commercial product was used. I made Habasit belts, You would have to find a belt shop to find it. I think McMaster or MSC will sell a properly prepared belt to assemble on Your lathe. I never had used the cold bond process as We always had heated presses to use. A little Googleing will find a source. Heat process is done in about 1/2 hour + cool down time. Cold bond means it sets overnight with out heat.Only tension the belt enough to take the usual load that You expect, more tension means needlessly short belt life.
chrismunn
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Re: Belt material

Post by chrismunn »

Stupid question. positive rake. top of the tool bit is not horizontal? tip of tool bit is leading?
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mcostello
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Re: Belt material

Post by mcostello »

Correct. If You can do some Googling, an article or two would help You understand. A very good inexpensive book to have is "How to run a lathe" by South Bend.
chrismunn
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Re: Belt material

Post by chrismunn »

My freaking leather belt broke! lol

I ended up putting the rubber belt back onto the lathe. I got the belt to a good tension and everything is working fine so far. However, I went out and did a quick lathe project today and noticed that all the honey i had used to dress the belt had turned to oil! It's been pretty humid and rainy here and i think that had something to do with it? I ended up celaning it all off and haven't had an issue.
spro
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Re: Belt material

Post by spro »

After this time, can you describe the type of "rubber belt" ? People have used cogged timing belts inside out/ inside in, for grip to what works for them. Yours is the ribbed type, which has linear contact. Between the ribs is where the best staples or cord is applied. This is between the contact surfaces. I forgot the word, maybe called different but the linear surface contacts are presenting more pressure than a wider belt floating.
There is a place for oil or residue between the ribs while full contact of the ribs to drive.
The other thing is, it is self governing by way of those ribs when aligned.
chrismunn
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Re: Belt material

Post by chrismunn »

mine is solid, no ribs. flat belt. stretchy rubber
chrismunn
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Re: Belt material

Post by chrismunn »

There was an automotive serpantine v belt on the lathe when i got it, only had 3 ribs, hence 3 clips and the thing failed pretty quickly. I tried like hell to find another ribbed flat serpantine belt but couldn't find a full 1" or anything with more than like 4 or 5 ribs i think?
spro
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Re: Belt material

Post by spro »

Okay. Then I ask if you have the head cover "lockout". When this rod is in place, you can't see the travel of the head belt to the lowers. There may be a bias required during use and when the tension is relieved, it springs to somewhere else.
spro
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Re: Belt material

Post by spro »

Okay even 5 ribs in a serpentine belt gets us 3 clips since they are offset. I know I have at least 4 in my flat belt.( 5-4) We need the next smallest size of a type known as "Clipmaster" and not "Alligator". I'll double check if required.
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