Need help setting up a new to me lathe

M

Machdaddy

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Hello Folks
I'm in the process of setting up a nice little South Bend 9A with lots of tooling and I can't seem to figure out the belt drive system. I know that the cheesy idler "pulley" ain't right, but what is? I expect to see some sort of hinge system with a lock but there doesn't seem to be provision for one. I can shorten the belt and use the slidability of the whole casting what is supposed to replace the idler ? I can replace with something that looks better but I'm looking for suggestions of a more elegant solution...

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Well the "idler" thing is a homemade kluge. It's someone's attempt to give some adjustment more than just the slots in the base. It's wrong anyway because it should push against the upper portion of the belt not the lower and it should be a wheel of some kind not a stick-like shaft which is what it looks like. I'm sure you can come up with something better in your sleep LOL
Mark
ps nice lathe there
 
Is there supposed to be an idler. If so I'll make a better one. Pics of what it's supposed to look like?
 
Looks like someone installed a flat belt that is much longer than the original. If you want me to, I will take some pictures of my 9A belt system and send them to you along with general measurements. I replaced my original leather flat belt with a multirib rubber belt that works much better. Also replaced the original 1/4 HP motor with a 2 HP -- Jack
 
That's kind of what I was thinking, Jack. How do you have slack enough to switch belt speeds?
 
I have attached 2 pictures which show the stock belt tension system that came on the lathe. Its pretty simple, you set it up so that when the lever is pushed to the rear of the lathe the mechanism goes slightly over center and locks into place. The turnbuckle lets you put the right amount of tension on the belt. Good luck and let me know if you run into other issues == Jack

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I see your countershaft is hinged. Mine has no hinge, nor that lever system that activates it. No empty screw holes either. I guess Ill have to fab something up. Thanks for all your help
 
There are several levers listed on e-bay, many with the turnbuckle and pin. In my opinion only the lever is needed, all the rest is simple hardware and can be found many places == Jack
 
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