A Peerless Shaper Followed Me Home Too

Belt length varies greatly even now. One had to get matched sets which were measured by the manufacture or supplier and still weren't great.
The gang sets available now, which are connected by the same backing, are great.
Because belt length varied so much people tended to over-tighten them so each belt had tension.
This caused bushings and bearings to fail.
If you use two or more belts, it's worth the extra bucks to get those with the single backing.
Tension is even and wear is reduced on the belts and sheaves.
 
More than likely the 5 belt sheave was close to the right size and laying around. I know how that works ! The width of the flat belt pulley might also have something to do with the use of the wide sheave. As in filling up the shaft length . If it's a DND stamped , it could be from the war. The war turned Canada from an agricultural country to an industrial one.
 
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Though probably not ideal I've had pretty good luck with matching belts if they came from the same lot. For now Im going to try a pair of link belt V belts, found a bunch of unused A section material at the dump. Getting proper belts and things like that around here isn't easy. Not much for industrial suppliers.
The casting that supports the end of the pulley shaft may well have been from a line shaft era. A narrow 2 or 3 groove belt pulley would have appeared tiny inside it.

Greg
 
Belts are now called matchmaker or something like that,, meaning you don't have to match the size range. Belts use to be marked with a# as well as a size. Like A-28 #49, the #49 meant it was under length, #50 being right on. This matchmaker seems to work if you stay with in brands. Belts stretch with use.
 
Decided to go with a steel dial. Will treat it with chemical blueing then polish the body to hopefully end up with dark lines.
The blank made, thats the original dial on top.
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I need 125 divisions on the dial, its an 8 TPI lead screw. Worked out that I needed a 25 division plate or attempt compound indexing as described in the machinist handbook. Decided it would be much easier to make a 50 hole plate.

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The dial engraved, now to mess it up with crooked numbers.

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Greg

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Looking good, that's a great restoration job. It's so nice when a project comes close to the end.
 
What a great find Greg. In Ontario you guys have access to more of that great old machinery. Out here in the west there was much less industrial work going on in the mid 20th century. Machines like that are scarce around here. Thanks for sharing.

John
 
Nice job , it really looks great I bet you'll love using it. Just something about the old ways . Machining done by machinist instead of cnc and no hands on labor. Your new dial is gona be the envy of others who have tiny dials and old eyes. Me included, yupp very nice.
Oh you could have used aluminum and then used aluma black. Or black anodized and then scratched your lines , but the old ones are steel so your right .
 
Heck, I don't even have dials on my shaper. It's a shop built, 7" stroke. The down feed is 3/8"NC and the cross feed is 1/2"NC. I'll change that when I put dials on it.
 
Its together and in its final spot, now have to make some room around it.

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The first cut, but not the deepest.

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Haven't worked it hard yet, a 20 thou cut makes no change in the sound of the machine. The minimum side feed is 15 thou per stroke, wish it would go lower, will be using a shear tool a lot I expect.

Greg
 
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