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loosening belt tension on 10K

flatfendershop

Aluminum
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Location
Utahhhh!
On my 10K there is a brass tag that says to loosen the belt tension when lathe is not in use. I forget constantly! :rolleyes: What is the reason for having to release the belt tension? Is this doing the machine harm to forget to do it? It runs a flat belt that looks like some sort of rubber/nylon composite. Thank you!!!
 
That plate with the caution is there,
because leather belts stretch when left
under tension.

And when the lathe was built, all belts
were just that: leather.

I don't know for sure that it's OK to leave
the texalon ones tight, never having had one
of those. Others no doubt will suggest
the best course of action. But that's
the reason why it's there.

Jim
 
I have a Texalon belt on my 10K and it does
stretch. I have a piece of cardboard with a
hole in it that I keep on the tensioning lever.
When I tension the belt the cardboard goes on
a nail by the door which is next to the lathe. If I forget and start to leave the shop I'll
see that cardboard and remember.

Ed P
 
I have a vee belt on my 10K and i still loosen the belt tension, why just my lathe and not my drill press, car, truck they all have the same vee belts. I don't know because the tag says so...Bob
 
Bob, your point is exactly what got me thinking and wondering. At work I do some really non-sense sort of stuff just because I'm told to. Otherwise, left undone, no one would care or notice.

Since the 10K was built with the school market in mind, similar to the locking covers, I wondered if it was an approach at safety.

This lathe was built in 1983 according to the paperwork from the factory I have on it. Unless the instruction plate was not changed from early production when a leather belt may have been used, I would think that the nylon/rubber flat belt would have been a factory oem type thing.

Might it be something like a bias ply tire left sitting for some time that develops a bit of a flat spot, would the belt tend to get two places that each time they go around the drives would cause some sort of slight vibration?

I'm not trying to get out of loosening the belt, just trying to understand.
 








 
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