Atlas 7B shaper - belt replacement question

Hi all,
I recently acquired an Atlas 7B shaper that I'm doing a semi-restoration on.
I have it cleaned up fairly well, and the motor is wired up and running as of today.
Both belts need replacing, and I have new ones of the proper sizes in hand.
Here's my question: How do I replace the one that lives between the step pulleys on the "operator" side? Not the motor drive pulley, that one's easy, the other one. I can't see a simple way to replace it. The belt visible in the photo is the one in question.
I've had the motor completely off for cleaning and rewiring, and that didn't help, so any advice appreciated.

-Mike

Where is problem?

I'm not seeing the problem, both shafts are "open" on one end allowing the belt to come off without taking it apart. There must be a way to tension the belt too?

That's the thing, I don't see any method of tensioning, and the belt is too tight to come off or go back on right now.
I plan to investigate more this afternoon, but I thought someone who owns one might know the proper procedure, so I didn't damage anything trying to monkey it off.

You must have the wrong size belt. That is clearly for speed changing, and IIRC, those use a lever and that belt as a clutch. So there should be a lever that de-tensions the belt so you can change speeds. If you can do that, the belt can also be removed.

BTW, that's a really tiny shaper, and is also a "hobby" brand not allowed to be discussed here......

If I understand correctly, the problem is that there isn't enough room between the sheaves and the casting with the feed mechanism. At least, this was the problem with a similar shaper that was donated to Tuckahoe and we had to partially disassemble to move it out of a basement.
The solution should be to loosen the sheaves and push them toward the body of the shaper. Of course, you will have to re-align them once you install the new belts and mount the motor.

Paolo

I got it figured out. I had to just basically manhandle the old one off and the new one on. There's no specific mechanism to detension the belt beyond the normal amount allowed by the clutch, which I already knew about, and wasn't really enough.
Atlas is a 'hobby brand' and taboo discussion? You people have some weird rules...
My shaper is up and running smoothly. I was going to post some photos and a video, but it sounds like it's too insignificant for you big time tool gurus.
Anyway, I'm out. Thanks to those who tried to help. I appreciate it.

Elmojo said:

I got it figured out. I had to just basically manhandle the old one off and the new one on. There's no specific mechanism to detension the belt beyond the normal amount allowed by the clutch, which I already knew about, and wasn't really enough.
Atlas is a 'hobby brand' and taboo discussion? You people have some weird rules...
My shaper is up and running smoothly. I was going to post some photos and a video, but it sounds like it's too insignificant for you big time tool gurus.
Anyway, I'm out. Thanks to those who tried to help. I appreciate it.

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I wouldn't say that yet. There are a few of us who own Atlas shapers and small mills and have replaced the cheap parts with other ones we made. The shaper, for instance, has iron gears to drive the ram. It has possibilities but not all are as clean as yours. I think Atlas cheaped up with the feeds but that was a weak link. You definitely need a Foot under the knee box.
The knee is the table and that foot rides over that accurate surface which we see. If it isn't clean, how are the the pawls supposed to drag it across evenly without something breaking.?

I'm sorry, I don't follow...wouldn't say what yet?
I don't quite get what you mean about the foot either.
I know how it's supposed to work, I think. I don't recall saying that I was running it without the foot in place... or did I?
Anyway, I finally got it all cleaned up, lubed and running today. It cuts really smooth.
I have a short video uploaded to Youtube. Is it permissible to post that here?

Elmojo said:

I'm sorry, I don't follow...wouldn't say what yet?
I don't quite get what you mean about the foot either.
I know how it's supposed to work, I think. I don't recall saying that I was running it without the foot in place... or did I?
Anyway, I finally got it all cleaned up, lubed and running today. It cuts really smooth.
I have a short video uploaded to Youtube. Is it permissible to post that here?

Click to expand...

I'm saying, don't cut yourself loose from this site.

I'm not. It seems like I'm being evicted.
JST, who seems to be the senior poster here, said I can't talk about Atlas machines on this board.
I don't want to get banned, in case I ever buy a "real" machine and need help.

The belt length should be enough for the "clutch lever" to release the drive, AND allow you to pop the belt onto a different groove pair to change speeds. That should also let you get it all the way off. Yes, it may take a bit of "manhandling", but it is do-able.

yeah, I had one of them also. Found it to be too small for a lot of things, I really want about a 6 foot stroke planer..... better that than just a bigger shaper.... go big or go home!

Elmojo said:

I'm not. It seems like I'm being evicted.
JST, who seems to be the senior poster here, said I can't talk about Atlas machines on this board.
I don't want to get banned, in case I ever buy a "real" machine and need help.

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I am NOT the moderator here. I do moderate a different area, but I have been known to edit out a forbidden brand name if the thread is interesting, so that it won't get the chop.

The man who owns the site is fussy about no "hobby brands" of which that is one, and I just commented on it. He wants to keep the site "for professionals". This particular area of it is usually more tolerant. Not my place, not my rules, and I "get" why he specifies that.

You are good until and unless the moderator of this area says no you are not.

And usually, if you just do not mention a forbidden brand, you can get the question answered with no fuss, the brand is usually not important to the sort of question most have anyway. Ask the question, don't mention the brand, no problem.

The site owner (Milacron) is the one who writes the rules. We have to respect the owner's wishes because he has created a valuable website that benefits all of us to some extent. The forbidden brand rule is here:
Machinery Discussion Guidelines

Note that you can post horizontal shaper questions and comments in the Antique Machinery section, but certain brand names must not be mentioned.

We all started somewhere, often with inexpensive equipment. And then we got older, more experienced and, with luck and skill, better equipped. I got my first wood lathe and my first metal lathe and my first drill press in 1953 and 1954. They were bought in a local department store that had a free tool catalog that I studied intently. When I got to University of Michigan engineering school in 1958, I saw my first little shaper in the welding lab. It was being used to make tensile test coupons from welded joints. I noted that it was the same machine sold by my local department store, but with the maker's nameplate instead of the store's brand. On another floor of the building were dozens of actual industrial quality large machine tools of all types. That little shaper did not fit in, but the welding professor was a little different from most of the other professors, so I suspect he was the one who chose the shaper and was the only person to actually run it. He was a great teacher and had me gas and arc welding in a very short time. He had taught men and women to gas weld steel tube bomber frames at Ford's Willow Run plant during WWII.

Employees Assembling Bomber at Willow Run Plant, March 1943 - The Henry Ford

In following years, I bought two of those shapers with some thought to maybe actually using them. But I soon decided, twice, that the best use was to sell them for a modest profit and buy something better and more likely to get used. The last machine tool that I bought from the department store was in 1973. It was replaced with a new Asian lathe a few years later, which was, in turn, replaced with a used Clausing lathe in 1984. And, in between, I bought a new Rockwell mill, a used Brown & Sharpe surface grinder a herd of Hardinge bench lathes and mills and other good quality machines.

Larry

Understanding! Then able to move into the fast lane without forgetting. That is so helpful !

Ok guys, I understand the rules, even if I don't agree with them.
Do I need to edit the title to remove the brand name?
I feel like I could get some help here, but I don't want to cause any trouble...

JST: You're right about the belt, sorta. The new one is, well, new. It's tight right now, so it doesn't slip enough to allow the clutch to function. I've read elsewhere that this is common until it breaks in and stretches a bit. The belt I bought is the same length as the one that came off, or so I'm told by the folks on the antique machinery forum. They have a database that shows the belt sizes for that machine.
I was able to work the old one off and the new one on without much trouble, once I knew that that was the proper process.

The late great Dave Sobel whom some of you on this forum would recall and may have bought machines or parts from liked to refer to A***s brand lathes as "the lathes that won the war".

Tom B.

Riderusty said:

The late great Dave Sobel whom some of you on this forum would recall and may have bought machines or parts from liked to refer to A***s brand lathes as "the lathes that won the war".

Tom B.

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yeah, a lot of home or garage outfits were contracted to make parts. And many of those had Atlas machines, most likely, although they had not been out that long in 1941/42

How many of those parts actually passed QC I would not like to guess at. But the parts contracted out may have been ones without tight requirements just due to that possibility.

You got a shaper, I got a shaper. So freakin' what. Small potatoes. Let the "A" word go for good reason. Dynamics and engineering is found by rooting up the tail sometimes. Why did they do that. Because it cost 1/5 of an industrial shaper. Hey we get the knack of how these work.