Seneca Falls Lathe reassembly

[projectnut]

I use standard leather belts made from stock available at McMaster:

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

Mine uses the 1 1/4" single ply 5/32" thick. I can't believe how the prices have gone up over the years. I bought 10' of it back in 1999 thinking I would have to change out a belt on a regular basis. At the time it was less than $2.00 per foot. Today it's over $10.00 per foot. I must admit it is good stuff. I made a new belt back in 1999 and I'm still using it today. I still have enough to make a couple more should the need arise.

 

[abunchofidiots]

I have used leather and link belts in the past. The link belt was way better. I have the headstock off right now, I figured it would be a good time to try a modern serpentine belt.

 

[matthewsx]

Assuming the spindle drive flat belt?

I use a synthetic leather belt made to my length specification, it has the metal laced connection so no need to remove the spindle if I want to replace it. Mine has held up fine for years and can be removed for cleaning if I get oil on it.

Here's one supplier, no affiliation to me and I can't remember if this is where I got mine.

Any size flat drive leather belts supplier: Al Bino Industrial Belting

Al Bino Industrial Belting is your supplier of flat drive belts tailored to your size requirements. Call for a quote and our smooth order process.

albinoindustrialbelting.com

While it seems like a serpentine belt would be good with it's excellent grip to resist slipping I have found that being able to adjust the belt so it slips when I do something stupid is a desirable feature. I can adjust mine really tight if I want but normally leave it so that it will slip first if anything binds up.

If the serpentine belt proves unsuitable it can always be cut off and a laced belt substituted without removing the spindle.

Gates belts have always served me well, the typical automotive application is several orders of magnitude more severe than we'll encounter on our hundred-year-old lathes so I wouldn't worry about any modern brand being up to it though.

John

 

[abunchofidiots]

My headstock is 8 bolts and all the shims are unique to align with the guide pins. It makes it fairly simple to remove to replace a belt.

 

[derf]

I got mine from vbeltsupply.com

 

[abunchofidiots]

It's alive!

 

[abunchofidiots]

Original headstock shims were .007. It would not turn and was bound up. Went to .010 shims, and settled on .016 shims. Some belt alignment is needed and testing for play.

 

[matthewsx]

Awesome. I’ll be offering mine for sale soon if anyone in Michigan is interested.

John

 

[abunchofidiots]

Lathe is running. I'm waiting on a new backing plate and chuck. The 4-jaw scroll chuck it had was busted up inside. The current problem I am troubleshooting is the power from the gears are not transferring to the feed.

 

[abunchofidiots]

The back gear engages properly. The lever to the left of the back gear does start spinning the drive hear to the lower gear box. The feed gears do not turn.
When engaging the lever to the lower left of the carriage, it toggles a lever under the head stock. This does not seem to engage the feed gear though.