Thread: Drill press pulley V Belts

I had the belt go on my crappy old drill press and just went to the local auto parts place and got a fan belt the same size. Worked well and will probably outlast the drill.

EDIT : ohh yeah, it was a Bosch belt, so does that count as a "quality belt"

Originally Posted by Vernonv

I had the belt go on my crappy old drill press and just went to the local auto parts place and got a fan belt the same size. Worked well and will probably outlast the drill.

EDIT : ohh yeah, it was a Bosch belt, so does that count as a "quality belt"

Thanks Vernon,

Actually I tried an auto place and they weren't helpful at all, they suggested calling any power transmission place.

BTW, after changing the belt, did you notice any changes with drill press vibration?
Zelk

I'd try a different auto place ... seems like they don't really want your business.

I don't recall noticing any difference in vibration levels after changing the belt - it was always pretty good, vibration wise.

I changed from a round, soft, wire cored rubber belt, to a standard auto belt and the only issue I've had was occasional stalling at startup. This only occurred initially, until the belt softened and was probably exacerbated by the low power motor on the drill press.

Originally Posted by Vernonv

I'd try a different auto place ... seems like they don't really want your business.

I don't recall noticing any difference in vibration levels after changing the belt - it was always pretty good, vibration wise.

I changed from a round, soft, wire cored rubber belt, to a standard auto belt and the only issue I've had was occasional stalling at startup. This only occurred initially, until the belt softened and was probably exacerbated by the low power motor on the drill press.

Did you get a cogged V belt?

Originally Posted by zelk

Did you get a cogged V belt?

If I recall right ... yes it was cogged.

G'day Zelk

Another thing to maybe consider, not to long ago I ordered some of the Power twist link V belt from a guy on ebay see here. I cant remember exactly what i paid, but it wasnt much more than $30 including postage....and it arrived 4 days after i ordered it even though he's in the US

I found it hepled out my drill press with the vibration quite a bit. And if one of the links ever break its easy just to hook up a new one and away you go.

cheers
BD

Originally Posted by Brown Dog

G'day Zelk

Another thing to maybe consider, not to long ago I ordered some of the Power twist link V belt from a guy on ebay see here. I cant remember exactly what i paid, but it wasnt much more than $30 including postage....and it arrived 4 days after i ordered it even though he's in the US

I found it hepled out my drill press with the vibration quite a bit. And if one of the links ever break its easy just to hook up a new one and away you go.

cheers
BD

Hi BD,

I did consider the link belts and after a bit of searching have found a couple of places in Australia that sell them. I was surprised at how vague the salesperson was regarding what width of link to get, even though there was only a choice of three widths. One salesperson discouraged me from getting the link belt because of the constant issue with the belt stretching and having then to adjust it. Have you had any issues with stretching.
Zelk

For what it's worth, I was told by a guy who sells
belts that there is a vast difference in quality in
belts.

He said the cheap ones from India didn't last.

I was surprised at how vague the salesperson was regarding what width of link to get, even though there was only a choice of three widths.

i had the same problem deciding on which width ...I did find some info on the net somewhere that suggested which belt for which application but i cant remember where . The belt I have is the same as the one in the link in my first post....the 3/8" 3L and its fitted to a H&F series 25 pedastal drill press

Have you had any issues with stretching.

not that ive noticed...Im always adjusting the belt tension on the drill press anyway (when changing speeds). So cant say ive had to adjust specifically because the belt has stretched and gone loose.

cheers
BD

Thanks Guys
Zelk

Originally Posted by Brown Dog

i had the same problem deciding on which width ...I did find some info on the net somewhere that suggested which belt for which application but i cant remember where . The belt I have is the same as the one in the link in my first post....the 3/8" 3L and its fitted to a H&F series 25 pedastal drill press



not that ive noticed...Im always adjusting the belt tension on the drill press anyway (when changing speeds). So cant say ive had to adjust specifically because the belt has stretched and gone loose.

cheers
BD

Hi BD,
Before you made the decision to buy a link belt, did you check the pulleys for alignment and bearing freeplay?

It would seem that the more I tension the belts the worse the vibration at the motor becomes.

Zelk

hey Zelk

I did check the alignment of the pulley and for any slop in the bearing...as far as i could tell both these thing were fine.

I also noticed the same thing with the old belts...the more you tigten the worse vibration was...to the piont where a drill vice if not scecured would vibrate off the table quite quickly.

Since i installed the link belts you can still see the motor vibrating, something must be out of out of wack the motor doesnt vibrate with no belts attached. Though he Link belts seem to isolate some of that vibration. Its still not perfect (probably never would be on a cheap drill press) but it has noticably improved.

cheers
BD

Originally Posted by Brown Dog

hey Zelk

I did check the alignment of the pulley and for any slop in the bearing...as far as i could tell both these thing were fine.

I also noticed the same thing with the old belts...the more you tigten the worse vibration was...to the piont where a drill vice if not scecured would vibrate off the table quite quickly.

Since i installed the link belts you can still see the motor vibrating, something must be out of out of wack the motor doesnt vibrate with no belts attached. Though he Link belts seem to isolate some of that vibration. Its still not perfect (probably never would be on a cheap drill press) but it has noticably improved.

cheers
BD

BD,

I notice that on my drill press the pulleys are not horizontally aligned, they are out by only a few mm.

The idler pulley is however is sloppy, the anchor pin is loosely fitted into the head of the drill press head and what's more the bearing has freeplay without making any noise.

Not sure if I should shim the anchorage point and change the bearing of the idler pulley.

Zelk

Originally Posted by zelk

Hi BD,

I did consider the link belts and after a bit of searching have found a couple of places in Australia that sell them. I was surprised at how vague the salesperson was regarding what width of link to get, even though there was only a choice of three widths. One salesperson discouraged me from getting the link belt because of the constant issue with the belt stretching and having then to adjust it. Have you had any issues with stretching.
Zelk

Here is a link to a supplier in Australia for power twist belting .
http://www.motionind.com.au/Catalogu..._sub_grp_id=12
If you click on each belt size it opens another page with the Blackwoods' part number ,
if you have a Blackwoods' shop near you you should be able to get it easily .You can buy it by the foot and it is cheap enough to buy.
They even had it in stock in Darwin which surprised me
I use power twist on my lathe and had no issues with it .It works very well and runs quieter than a normal belt .

All belts stretch and will need adjustment ,even normal type vee belts
Vee belts are measured by section and length .
You need to measure the width of the belt at the top and the thickness to determine what section the belt is ,so it fits the pulleys profile correctly other wise it will not grip properly and will slip under load and wear the belt and pulley premeturely.
I don't have the sizes in my head ,but I do have a copy of the Engineers Black Book that has all this info in it .
I can scan the page and post if any one is interested.

Kev.