rockwell 14" x 40" lathe

Great white hunter

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I got my delta rockwell lathe running. The only issue i have is the belts for the vari drive are very loose and there is no adjustment. Are they supposed to be loose? These are not the spring loaded vari belt pulleys. They are a solid vari pulleys. Can anyone get me the correct size of these belts or the correct part number? I dont know if the wrong belt is on it or what? I can stop the chuck with my hands. The belts are 1-1/2" wide. Are these belts supposed to be loose? I never had a vari drive anythig before so I dont know. The lathe is a rockwell delta 14" x 40" all the 14" rockwell lathes used the same vari drive belt system. Thank you, Jason:anyone:
 
I will check with a guy I know who has a Rockwell lathe but not the same as yours, but it had a similar belt system. I know he replaced the belts and got them commercially. It's very unlikely they are the same belts because his machine is much smaller but, it might lead to more information...

Give me a couple days to track this guy down. He's in the Marines and recently moved but I have his email...

Ray


I got my delta rockwell lathe running. The only issue i have is the belts for the vari drive are very loose and there is no adjustment. Are they supposed to be loose? These are not the spring loaded vari belt pulleys. They are a solid vari pulleys. Can anyone get me the correct size of these belts or the correct part number? I dont know if the wrong belt is on it or what? I can stop the chuck with my hands. The belts are 1-1/2" wide. Are these belts supposed to be loose? I never had a vari drive anythig before so I dont know. The lathe is a rockwell delta 14" x 40" all the 14" rockwell lathes used the same vari drive belt system. Thank you, Jason:anyone:
 
Jason

There is a yahoo group for the Rockwell lathes. In the files section is a txt file on belts. This is what it says for the fourteen

Reeves Drive Belts for 14"

49-099 2322V422
49-087 2322V364

There is also the service manual in the files section along with other info on these lathes.

Walter
 
I have a 10x36 Rockwell lathe. When I got it I had the same problems with the variable speed drive. Either the belt would slip, or if I tightened it up it would overload the motor to where there was no oomph left to do any work. I converted to a 3ph with VFD and three pulley steps. Could not be happier with it. Runs smooth and quiet and never shows any sign of bogging down. I did a right-up early on in this section. Henry
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/3320-Converting-Rockwell-10x36-to-3ph-w-Vfd
 
That looks pretty good. That wont work on my lathe so I would have to come up with something different. But you did give me a good idea if I ever want to get rid of the vari drive system. Thank you.:idea:
 
Jason,

How come you went with VFD instead of getting new belts? Where there other problems?

Ray
 
Ray, the problem was that the tension on the belts would change as I moved the speed through its range, from too loose to too tight. I think this was the reason the PO sold the lathe. The belts were new so he had tried to deal with it before. It seemed like a lot of friction losses for a dinky 3/4hp motor to overcome because after trying to do some work with the lathe when I first got it, I noticed the magic smoke trying to escape. Henry
 
Gotcha...

Good solution you came up with.

PS: I got your name wrong... Sorry...


Ray

Ray, the problem was that the tension on the belts would change as I moved the speed through its range, from too loose to too tight. I think this was the reason the PO sold the lathe. The belts were new so he had tried to deal with it before. It seemed like a lot of friction losses for a dinky 3/4hp motor to overcome because after trying to do some work with the lathe when I first got it, I noticed the magic smoke trying to escape. Henry
 
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