Lathe Drive Belt

[Quillpig]

Through inexperience and ignorance, I managed to destroy the drive belt on our Rikon 70-105 mini-lathe. (Lesson - just because it fits on the lathe, doesn't mean it is a good idea to try and turn it.)

I've contacted Rikon and they will ship me a new belt in a few weeks once they get another shipment from China. But do any of you know of an alternate source, or an alternate belt that might work until then?


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[Robert Taylor]

Check with beltsforanything.com

 

[Woodchipper]

Take the old belt to any auto parts store. I got belt for my old lathe at NAPA.

 

[NVSB4]

Don't know how much the belt was, but with that lead-time, I would order more than 1, so I'd have a spare on hand.

 

[CHARLES STOPCZYNSKI]

Stephen,

Google, small rubber drive belt. Many sources.

You hopefully have correct size of pelt printed on it. If not measure, or send your old one as a sample to one of these people after you contact them and tell them what you want to do.

Years ago in the office machine business we'd have a machine with an odd size belt needing replacement.

I wonder how long the belt on my old Jet-1014 is going to last. Might want to have a spare on hand, and directions to change it as well.

Charlie

 

[JimB]

You can also try Grainger. They carry a lot of belts. That's where I got one for my grizzly lathe.

You may also want to look closer as to what caused the problem. Turning a large item would not cause the belt to break. I have turned bowls on my mini lathe without problems. Our club has several mini lathes that are put through a lot and don't break belts.

 

[campzeke]

Woodcraft carries them.

 

[frank123]

Any "V" belt should have a size designation marked on its back (i.e. 4L-160 or similar). Any belt with that same designation is a replacement for the one that went bad, just call a few auto stores, hardware stores, or industrial supply houses to see if they have one in stock and it will work.

They're usually inexpensive but sometimes they are available in heavy duty versions (such as Kevlar reinforced) that cost substantially more but are worth it if you're replacing one that is hard to get to and takes a lot of time to replace.

 

[Quillpig]

Thank you for all the suggestions. Rikon said it might be two weeks, but they shipped the next day and we got them yesterday.

As we were installing the new belt, I think we found the reason the old belt broke. The set screw for the lower pulley assembly had backed out and the pulleys were offset from the upper pulleys, making the belt run at an angle. So we lined them up and socked them down, and we're back in business!


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