Best replacement belts?

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?
 
Now what? Is there a way to make these motors run smooth?

Yes one way to make the motors run smooth is replace them with a strong treadmill motor with speed control. That way it will be smooth and have infinitely variable speed.
 
Yes one way to make the motors run smooth is replace them with a strong treadmill motor with speed control. That way it will be smooth and have infinitely variable speed.

Looks like I need to find a cheap treadmill on Craigslist. Do they typically have powerful motors. My mill motor is 230V at 11 Amps (2 hp according to the label).

Did you solve the vibration isue with yours?
 
Looks like I need to find a cheap treadmill on Craigslist. Do they typically have powerful motors. My mill motor is 230V at 11 Amps (2 hp according to the label).

Did you solve the vibration isue with yours?

Search your local Craigslist for treadmill motor. Someone may have already harvested the motor and controller and you would just need that.

Some are strong can get a 4hp one so that won't be a problem

Search eBay for treadmill motor

Waiting on belts for mine.
 
So got my 5/8 Fenner Power Twist belts on. Took some time to get the two belts just the right length, one link larger or smaller makes a big difference and the pulleys and housing fit has a tight tolerance. It made a huge difference in shaking of the mill. One unexpected issue was the top didn’t fit on because the belts stand a quarter inch or so over the edge of the pulley. I decided to trim the inner plastic on the double wall cover away and that let the top close and not rub.

The post on replacing with high quality new v belts is a good idea and if I read that before ordering the Fenner I would have tried that first. Probably from the local NAPA for Gates belts then return if I didn’t like them. The old belts are original heavy and stiff and probably 10 years old.
 
So got my 5/8 Fenner Power Twist belts on. Took some time to get the two belts just the right length, one link larger or smaller makes a big difference and the pulleys and housing fit has a tight tolerance. It made a huge difference in shaking of the mill. One unexpected issue was the top didn’t fit on because the belts stand a quarter inch or so over the edge of the pulley. I decided to trim the inner plastic on the double wall cover away and that let the top close and not rub.

The post on replacing with high quality new v belts is a good idea and if I read that before ordering the Fenner I would have tried that first. Probably from the local NAPA for Gates belts then return if I didn’t like them. The old belts are original heavy and stiff and probably 10 years old.

Glad to hear that solved your problem!

Wish mine was that simple but following your suggestion I did find a free treadmill on Kijiji that has a 2hp motor and controller that work. Going to pick it up and take it apart. At first I thought this would be easy but after a little research it appears there is a lot more to it than just mounting the motor and using the controls that come with it. I may be in over my head with this one.:concerned:
 
Have you removed the pully from the motor and run up? I've seen quite a few pullys that the bore was not central on, also have you room to fit ribbed belts? these take tight turns and as they are run with little free deflection do not whip as much as a V-belt. Nice little turning project. I've fitted one to my drill press and intend to fit either a ribbed or a toothed belt to my lathe to replace the two B-section belts as with the flat back it is easy to fit an idler to further reduce any vibration plus ribbed belts are super quiet.
 
Glad to hear that solved your problem!

Wish mine was that simple but following your suggestion I did find a free treadmill on Kijiji that has a 2hp motor and controller that work. Going to pick it up and take it apart. At first I thought this would be easy but after a little research it appears there is a lot more to it than just mounting the motor and using the controls that come with it. I may be in over my head with this one.:concerned:
Would these be of any use?
 

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Treadmill motors will have more than enough power.

On our tools with motor off you can turn the spindle by hand on precision bearings. When the motor is on and tool in use we carefully push a tool to the metal and move it across to take a few thou of metal off, sometimes drill a hole. Barely disturbing the motor, far from bogging it down.

On a treadmill you would not be able to turn the pulley to the treadmill belt. Bearings are industrial not precision. The motor directly drives a large belt 2 feet wide and 12 feet long. AND there is a 300 lb man jumping up and down on the belt. Treadmill motor handles that.

So power to drive home hobby size tools not a problem.

Bonus since they are D/C with the controller you get infinite speed control.
 
Would these be of any use?

YOU BET! Those are awesome and thank you. Maybe with those and a little help from the members I will be able to pull this off.

As luck would have it, I'm going into the city on Tuesday and have found a used treadmill for free. Will pick it up then, unless the owner has given it away before I get there. She did say she would save it for me though. I would seriously LOVE to have variable speed on the mill and not have to change belts. It's a real PITA. I'm getting excited about this.
 
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