101.07301 Belts

[Spokerider]

Guys,
My 101.07301 came, from the PO, with a link belt. I'm wanting to replace them with FHP belts.

Now, I've read that this lathe takes "3L" belts.....so I went out and bought some. Yes, *some*, because I'm not sure what length I need yet. I got 4 different lengths. Since trying one of these Made in China 3L belts on the spindle for fitment, it appears to sit proud of the pulley V groove. Hummm. This is the way the Link belt sat, proud of the pulley groove and I see a ridge forming in the walls of the different pulley grooves. Soft Zamac….being worn by the proud-sitting Link belt? Dunno. I see similar V groove ridges in other peoples pics on here.

Now, I do have one belt, made in Canada, that is 5/16ths in width. It appears to fit the pulley V grooves much better, being flush with the top of the pully edges, and not proud.

So which is it? 3L or a narrower belt? Am I just being overly concerned?
My lathe is an early one, BTW, with the L9-20A and M6-21 counter shaft and counter shaft bracket. Dunno if that matters or not.

Thank you for your thots.

 

[wa5cab]

For some reason, although the 618 changed to the third version of the countershaft bracket (I think that they should have stuck with the first version as it mounted to the bed like the 12" one does), according to all of the catalog photos the 101.07301 stuck with the second version.. And although they look the same in the photos, the lead screw and the bed both have Ln-nn part numbers.

And for any of you Americans who don't know, "stand proud" or "stand proud of" and other variants means to stick out just slightly. Often with the implication or understanding that it should not do so. And I don't know why most of the 3L belts that you bought stand proud of the pulley grooves.

Unfortunately, we don't have because Atlas or Sears apparently never did a mounting drawing for the 101.07301 as they finally did for the 612 and 618 with the 3rd version bracket. Unfortunately, where you drill the mounting holes for the bracket relative to the bed determines what length belt fits.

 

[Spokerider]

Thanks Robert.

Did any of these lathes come with a 5/16th width belt?

I was over at another member on here's home last week. He was kind enough to show me his Craftsman 101 and chat a little about it.

We got to discussing belts for them, and he mentioned where I could buy the 3L belts in my city. He has also mentioned that he "custom ground" his 3L belts to better fit the V groove pulleys. I had noticed that they did not sit proud on the V groove, and his pulleys had the same "step" wear pattern on the sides of the grooves that mine do. Although I did not measure them, his belts were more narrow than my 3L...…..prolly close to, or at 5/16ths at a guess.

 

[wa5cab]

No, they didn't. The industry belt numbering system for FHP belts jumps from 2L (1/4") to 3l (3/8"). 5/16" wide belt would be 2.5L. I won't clam that no one ever made a 5/16" wide belt but I can't recall ever seeing one. Besides which, if the belt stands proud of the pulley, there should be no discernible wear pattern near the top of the pulley grove. You would eventually get that only if the belt were smaller than the V-groove. What you took to be a wear pattern could be a mold parting line if the belts used in the pulley is larger than the V-groove. The 5.16" wide belt that you got from Canada could be an 8mm belt.