How do you change the drive belt? Dohh!....

[Hardenfast]

OK gents, so I finally got a little spare time over the break, and I thought I'd start some restoration work on my recently purchased old Woodfast 6WL (see my previous thread below). In loosening off the motor mounts to check out the specs ( so I could let Soundman know), I noticed that the drive belt had a metal joiner with 2 crude & longish bolts which would be tapping away at the pulleys as the machine ran. Unacceptable!!

No worries I thought, I'll put a new drive belt on as the first order of business! Except...

:? :? :no: :)( :doh: :doh:

How the fudge do you replace the belt without pulling the whole headstock assembly apart? Maybe I should do this anyway to clean & re-grease the bearings etc? I know I'm showing my complete naiveity here, but are all drive belts installed with a joiner for this reason? Surely not?:no: There must be a better way? Has to be?

The new variable speed Woodfast is starting to look pretty good, I'm afraid. Any learned & constructive comments will be most welcome as always.

Thanks. Wayne (PS, It sometimes seems the more I learn the less I know)

[Stuart]

Got any pics?

[Tankstand]

Two (Better than what you have) options.

Strip headstock and change belt and bearings or,

Use a linked Vee Belt http://www.fennerdrives.com/high_performance_composite_vbelts/hpc_vbelts.asp?gclid=CK-Csf23u4kCFSMhYQodtGFpQA

[Hardenfast]

Thanks Tankstand - I'm definitely going to get me one of those linked belts for next time - that's a great revelation!

In the meantime I went ahead & pulled the headstock apart - I couldn't see any way around it before I knew about the retro-fit belts. Here's what it looked like before I began banging:

37300 37301 37302

By the way, there's a snapped off bolt/stud in the outer end of the headstock (see arrow in 1st photo). What was this? Maybe an original outboard turning attachment? Anyway, the bearings were/are all very good - no movement at all. I backed out all the grub screws and began to tap the arbour out:

37303

No probs. A nice 3/4" hardwood dowel and there it was:

37304

Notice the metal joining plate on the drive belt. The belt has holes in it all the way round, so I'm guessing it's designed to be joined? As I said, the bearings semm fine so I'm just going to clean & re-pack them and put it all back together. Maybe a bit of new paint?

Is it all worth it, or should one just buy a new machine and be done with it?

[Poloris]

I have used a similar segmented link belt on my contractor saw and found it greatly reduced belt/pully vibration. I would recomend them for that reason alone.

Is that a "tough" lathe?
It looks very similar to my own bench mounted lathe.

[David L]

Give it a coat of paint and you will think it is new.

[Hambone]

HI ,
Now that you have worked out how to pull it to pieces .Tap the bearings out ,take them to the local bearing shop and buy a couple of dust proof ones and you won't have any trouble in that area .They will probably cost you about $50 at the most

Regards,
Ron

[Hardenfast]

Poloris, I too thought this lathe was of very similar appearance to photos I have seen of the Tough lathe. However, our forum friend Mr Woodfast has confirmed that this is indeed an older Woodfast 6WL, although the badge is missing. Also, I'm very interested in the Fenner Drive segmented belts which are new to myself (thanks again Tankstand), and I can buy them locally. Seeing as how I've already got the headstock pulled apart I'm going to fit a new conventional belt, but I'm also going to try one of the segmented belts to compare running performance. Thanks.

Hambone, did as you suggested and removed the bearings. It turned out that the outboard one had already been replaced with a sealed dustless job, the other I replaced ($27.00). Many thanks.

David, yes, I've decided I'm going to give it a coat of "Hammertone Grey" once I've finished working on it. Then I think I'll sell it and buy one of the new yellow Woodfast variable speed jobs.

Much appreciated, y'all.

[Penpal]

37562This is a pic of my old Woodfast Lathe and a head stock identical except it was empty and minus the endcaps when I bought it many years ago.I turned two end caps in brass,installed two sealed bearings. FR Tough was still in business all that time ago with the original owners or family,they sold me a shaft and precision steel set of pulleys, I remember the shaft and pulley set cost me 189 dollars plus freight from W.A.
I used to own a Tough lathe as well and the only difference I could find was a slight variation in the main ways width.
In the pic they are both Woodfast headstocks,the main lathe pulleys are original and they are aluminium.The head stock on the right has the Tough shaft and pulley.They are identical.
At that time the man from Tough explained the firms Woodfast and Tough challenged each other for many years over authenticity of patent.To me I can not separate the two lathes,colour was different,both firms sold heavily to schools,one day I wll find a lathe bed to go with the spare head and tail stock I have. Peter:2tsup:

[rodent]

try the wood smith len now sells them.ph 03 97229663 he also has a web page cant recall it at the moment

[RETIRED]

Gooday.

I have used the segmented belts in an emergency but found they seem to wear out fairly rapidly. Bear in mind that our lathes work up to 10 hours at a time.

When you find the belt that fits, get 2. Fit 1 on and put the other over the headstock pulley and tuck it out of the way.

This does 2 things: You have a spare to fit straight away without dismantling the headstock. The other is that while you have that spare there the belt won't break because of Murphy's law.:D

[scooter]

Good tip, , ta :)