Getting at the belt of a Turncrafter?

[pshrynk]

I had some spare timeyesterday, but not enough time to turn a pen, so I was trying to look at the belt on my Turncrafter VS10. It looks like I need to remove the wheel from the left hand side of the belt housing. So I loosened the set screws and tried unscrewing it and pulling on it, but it did not budge. Before getting medieval on it, I thought I'd see if anyone knew what the accepted method is? The manual is less than specific.

 

[Scissortail Pens]

Brian, you shouldn't have to remove the handwheel to remove the belt. Just loosen and lift the motor and remove all of the shroud parts and the belt should come right off and go right back on. Shouldn't take more than 30 seconds or so to do. Oh, and the handwheel is a left handed thread, if you do ever need to remove it.

 

[gtriever]

Much easier than my HF lathe. Lucky you...

 

[pshrynk]

Brian, you shouldn't have to remove the handwheel to remove the belt. Just loosen and lift the motor and remove all of the shroud parts and the belt should come right off and go right back on. Shouldn't take more than 30 seconds or so to do. Oh, and the handwheel is a left handed thread, if you do ever need to remove it.

Okay... The housing over the upper part of that side of the unit looks like it has to have the wheel off to take it off. I'm probably missing something. I'll have to take another look at it tonight when I get home. Thanks!

 

[Robert Taylor]

Brian, you shouldn't have to remove the handwheel to remove the belt. Just loosen and lift the motor and remove all of the shroud parts and the belt should come right off and go right back on. Shouldn't take more than 30 seconds or so to do. Oh, and the handwheel is a left handed thread, if you do ever need to remove it.

Okay... The housing over the upper part of that side of the unit looks like it has to have the wheel off to take it off. I'm probably missing something. I'll have to take another look at it tonight when I get home. Thanks!

You should be able to see a space between the handwheel and the casting that the belt will pass through.

 

[monophoto]

You do not need to remove the handwheel on a Turncrafter to remove the belt.

1. Loosen and raise the motor to reduce belt tension.
2. Open the lower headstock door to get access to the bottom pulley.
3. Loosen the nut on the upper shroud a bit (don't take the knob all the way off - if you do, you can lose it in the shavings that live under your lathe - DAMHIKT) - and then just lift the shroud up to access the upper pulley.

At this point, you can take the belt off the pulleys, but it will still be around the shaft and captured behind the interference plate that closes the opening in the upper shroud. You can easily pull it over the handwheel, but to remove it completely, you must remove the plate. To do that, continue to unscrew the nut on the shroud completely - just be careful to catch it before it falls into the shavings. The plate can then be removed, and the belt can be extracted around the handwheel. Repeat the process to replace the belt.