Don't go too small on pulleys for your Picador. Mine came with an M section one a little smaller in overall diameter than the drums. Bought a similar size one for the motor but drive was never satisfactory. Lots of belt slip-stick and stall tendency if more than light pressure was used. Changed pulleys for largest I could get in. Want to say 3 1/2 inches OD but sold the finisher many years ago so can't be sure. Nowadays I use multi-groove so a small pulley would do fine.
Made a new post for the table so I could lift it bit getting more belt clearance which helped. Think I also made longer bottom rails to use a readily available belt length too. Think getting Picador ones was hard in my neck of the woods. Even with the larger pulleys I had minor drive issues. Sorted those by turning things round and putting the drive pulley on the front drum rather than the more logical rear one. I imagine the longer belt put some shock absorbing into the drive as it could be seen jumping up and down in use.
Cast iron bearings on mine had worn a bit oval so it got some T section oilite bushes with integrated thrust face, courtesy of a mystery box from friend Whistons Cat-a-log, and put proper flip top oilers on. Which meant new axles for the drums. Worth the effort as it was a freebie. Sold it after 15 or 20 years to get a modern Draper branded belt'n disk sander. Which was not an improvement! Interestingly that has a tooth belt drive to the drum.
Clive.
Edited By Clive Foster on 21/08/2018 12:18:51
Edited By Clive Foster on 21/08/2018 12:21:02