Good afternoon everybody,
I own a watchmaker's lathe I seldom use, it was first fitted with a smooth red round (polyurethane?) belt and, from what I remember, I didn't have problem with slippage.
Having to use it again, I found that, with the years, the belts had hardened and they almost immediately broke .
I bought some of the textured green belting available from various sources, but, though the hot melt joints are easier and nicer than the other type, the belt slips soon, offering almost no traction.
I first put this to the profile of the driving pulley (almost a perfect half round) and material (brass), so I tried to modify it to straight converging flanks, in order to have the belt to "wedge" in and improve traction.
Alas nothing changed, trying by hand, the feel of the belt on the pulley is almost as if there was liquid soap on it, probably using steel or aluminum would make little difference.
An idea I had, was coating the throat of the pulley with epoxy and sprinkle some sand over it, but perhaps you can give me some advice about how to overcome the problem with some specific kind of belting material.
Thanks,
Massimo
Edited By Massimo Dalmonte on 02/06/2021 14:18:56
Edited By Massimo Dalmonte on 02/06/2021 14:19:36