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Link Belt on a Hardinge Lathe?

edferg

Plastic
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Location
Washington State
Has anyone replaced their Hardinge lathe belts with a Fenner Link Belt?

I have a DV59 lathe with an OmniTurn CNC retofit. I replaced all the Hardinge electrics with a VFD. The vari-drive is intact and left locked in a 1:1 ratio.

The lathe has a newer Baldor motor and the headtock seems to be in good shape. The issue I have is a "rumble" from the vari-drive (the belt tension is set correctly on both belts).

I would like to remove the vari-drive shaft, move the motor to the right, and use a single belt to direct drive the spindle. If a link belt will work then it greatly simplifies the conversion.

I don't know if Fenner makes a link belt to replace the Hardinge, or if the link belt will introduce vibrations. From what I have read, they produce less vibration than standard belts.

Comments?

Ed
 
I think I know that rumble. My HLVH at work
does that.

I've replaced the belts, lubed the varishaft,
checked to be sure the varidrive sheaves are
not worn, checked the motor pulley and the
motor balance. But at certain rpms is really
does rumble, annoying as I've seen other HLVHs
there that are absolutely silent throughout
their speed range.

I would be suprised if you could find a link
belt wide enough to mate to the motor and spindle
pulleys - and it is a fairly long throw
between them. But my split-bed at home uses
two v-belts to do the same thing, and it's
very quiet.

My guess is there is nothing in your plan that
cannot be undone, you could always put the
old varidrive sheaves back in, and put in the
old belts. Or, if you feel like it, new ones.

Have you replaced the belts on it already? The
rumble on mine did get a bit better when I did
that, the belts were pretty old.

Jim
 
Thanks Jim. No, I have not replaced the belts. My thought is, if I'm going to replace the belts I may as well get rid of the vari-drive at the same time.

Fenner makes a 3L equivalent belts - I'm not sure if this is the correct one for the DV59.

The "rumble" is also accompanied by a small knocking sound from the vari-drive. The sounds will smooth out at higher RPM, but not disappear.

Ed
 
Check the belt width. My HLVH uses a belt
nearly an inch wide, and pretty thin. It
does not seem to match (in my mind, anyhow)
a standard V-profile (3,4,5-L) style belt.

I am sure the manufacturer for the hardinge
belts could supply a longer one, like it, in
non-link format.

I've never done a DV-59 belt, but the HLVH
wasn't that tough to do.

Jim
 
"Has anyone replaced their Hardinge lathe belts with a Fenner Link Belt?"

Considered it.

To replace the three ganged 3L belts on my TL would cost $125.

To select three 3L belts cost less than $25.
 
My ESM59 uses two ganged belts. Seems like
one is always tighter than the other, I've
tried to compensate for that by tweaking the
countershaft a tad.

I do recall somebody saying that they don't
sell 'matched belts' anymore, that they're
all controlled better than the matched ones
of yesterday.

I'm not totally convinced.

Jim
 
Jim, my HC Chucker with a few miles on it had that irritating rumble.
I cured it by using some left over Exxon Andock grease "super thick channeling type for spindle bearings" on the area where the sheeve slides, I possitioned the sheeve back and smeared a little on there at a time and then ran it up and down a few times.
I think also the sheeves carrier bearing area may have been a noise problem also along with the shaft walking back and forth. What I did there was
mix a little way oil in some melted Bees Wax to a sticky goo and applied a little on the shaft where it goes through the bearings.
Before I resulted to that, I replaced all the drive bearings and belts and still had that irritating rumble.
Now its quiet anyway.
 
My HLV-BK makes quite a rumbling sound in fact theres a knocking sound at low speeds, one of the moving sheaves in the vari-drive has a very worn bushing (I hope theres a bushing in there). I found this out by removing the motor drive belt and moving things around with my hand.

stan
 
I took the varidrive apart this morning. There is no bushing, both the shaft and the middle sheave bore were badly worn. The keyway is a mess. I built both the bore and the shaft up with brazing rod and machined it to fit back together. It will last till I find some used parts on ebay.

stan
 








 
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