- Joined
- Dec 22, 2015
- Messages
- 561
Reverse on a mill and a lathe are done by reversing the motor if done with a drum, rotary or spindle switch. I use reverse frequently when tapping on the mill and all the time on the lathe, but then that is my setup. Bottom line, if your belt is old, or was OEM on an Asian machine it is probably fit to be tossed. Belts, both wear out and become stiff with age, so like on your car need to be replaced over time.
Now that you mention it, my smaller lathe (10 x 22) does have a switch to select forward or reverse and I'm pretty sure that switch reverses the motor. I will confirm on my next trip out to the shop. My larger lathe (12 x 36) has a forward / reverse handle on the carriage and I'm pretty sure that does not reverse the motor but I could be wrong and will also check that when I go out to the shop. My mill drill doesn't have a reverse feature but I know if it did, it would be accomplished by reversing the motor. I've had the motor on and off a few times when I first got it and note there is a wiring diagram inside it for running in reverse.
My small lathe is 2 years old, my mill drill about 1 year old and the 12 x 36 lathe is a few months old. All are of Asian origin and have the original belts on them. The only exception being the high speed belt on the small lathe. The belt that came with it was almost impossible to put on when changing to the higher speeds. I got a link belt for that purpose and it works great. Very easy to install and runs very smooth. The belts on the 12 x 36 lathe cause some vibration and I will probably change those to link belts while I'm doing the other changes. The belts on the mill drill are horrible and cause a lot of vibration and NOISE from the plastic cover rattling.
Edit: Went to the shop and checked. The motor on both lathes reverse. So may not be a good idea to use the link belts on them. While I was out there I figured I would pull the motor pulley belt from the mill drill and run the motor by itself just to see how much vibration was being caused by the belts. Turns out the belts aren't the problem. The MOTOR is causing the vibrations.
Note to the OP: might want to check that on your machine.
Now what? Is there a way to make these motors run smooth?