Help with 1937 south bend lathe overhead drive v belt removal

[Wbutaud]

I have a recently acquired 1937 south bend lathe 9” swing and 4’ bed. Belts on it are so old and cracked they are gonna let loose any minute! So I’m trying to remove the belt from the lathe and am unsure how. I’ll post a YouTube video so you can see where I’m stuck.

I’m currently waiting for a manual but in the meantime I figure I’d post here

 

[Dobermann]

Sad to say but to get the V-Belt off you will have to either cut it or pull the spindle out of the headstock. You can help yourself if you're willing to use one of the segmented V-Belts which is made up of links that attach to each other. You can make yourself a belt of the correct length and then wrap it around the pulley's and connect the ends. That way you don't have to take the spindle out which is not a particularly easy job on that lathe.

Here's an example of one of the segmented belts. I don't necessarily recommend that you get it from Amazon but it does show what it looks like.

Amazon.com

Those belts are very effective and would work just fine in you application. I use them on my table saw and on my vertical mill and I've never had any trouble with them.

The reversing tumbler gear set that has you puzzled is removed as a unit. If you remove the clamp screw the whole assembly will pull out of the headstock. Once it's out you can access the individual gears and spindles. From the video it appears that grease has been used on those gears and that is not the recommended lube for those gears. They want oil. Grease attracts dirt and metal shavings which you don't want.

 

[packrat2]

It looks like some kind of homemade overhead setup, you better wait for the parts book so you don't
mess anything up on the spindle.

 

[Wbutaud]

Sad to say but to get the V-Belt off you will have to either cut it or pull the spindle out of the headstock. You can help yourself if you're willing to use one of the segmented V-Belts which is made up of links that attach to each other. You can make yourself a belt of the correct length and then wrap it around the pulley's and connect the ends. That way you don't have to take the spindle out which is not a particularly easy job on that lathe.

Here's an example of one of the segmented belts. I don't necessarily recommend that you get it from Amazon but it does show what it looks like.

Amazon.com

Those belts are very effective and would work just fine in you application. I use them on my table saw and on my vertical mill and I've never had any trouble with them.

The reversing tumbler gear set that has you puzzled is removed as a unit. If you remove the clamp screw the whole assembly will pull out of the headstock. Once it's out you can access the individual gears and spindles. From the video it appears that grease has been used on those gears and that is not the recommended lube for those gears. They want oil. Grease attracts dirt and metal shavings which you don't want.

Thanks a ton for this response! I was wondering about those adjustable v belts, and I think I’d rather buy one than try to find the true flex 3300 belt that looks 30 years old.

Now, I’m planning on doing some restoration of this old lathe, and wondering if dipping into the spindle and all of its bearings is more trouble than it’s worth.

I know that the guy who I bought it from had it in storage for a few years, but he inherited it from an old guy who died years before. I’ve only put oil on the lathe, but it’s nice to know about the no grease thing. I just saw on “this old Tony” YouTube that grease works well for tightening up that gear slop!!

Thanks a ton you experienced machine guys.

 

[Wbutaud]

It looks like some kind of homemade overhead setup, you better wait for the parts book so you don't
mess anything up on the spindle.

I was wondering about that overhead setup. But in my research I did find that there were some overhead benchtop type models that utilized v belts. Im thinking as long as the belt has enough friction on the pulley, and it’s not over torquing the spindle, that should be safe enough.
It’s a possibility that it’s factory built, but it has definitely been tinkered/welded/grinded on.