开云体育

Mini-mill Belt Drive conversion

#MILLS #MODS

Prasad All Messages By This Member #1483 I just finished the belt drive. After plenty of thinking on the project of making it using Jerry's drawings, I decided that it was easier to buy the kit from LMS which was on sale last week. It was an easy task to install. Took me about 30 minutes. Everything works fine but I do not like the acrylic guard supplied in the kit. It is too weak. I am in the process of making a 3D-printed guard.?? The guard has to be removed whenever the belt is accessed. It is easy to forget to replace the guard after moving the belt from one set of grooves to the other. This can be risky as my hands may access the belt area when the mill is running.? Prasad Eastern PA??
CLevinski All Messages By This Member #1492 Prasad, Congratulations! I can't do ANYTHING in 30 minutes. I didn't realize that the installation was so simple. When I did the belt drive modification to my Real Bull mill, I got a kit from the UK. The belt guard is also a flimsy, thin piece of acrylic that has been heated and bent. I didn't replace it, figuring I would do so when it broke, but I have had this mod in place for probably 8 years and have never had to replace it. One thing I like about the acrylic guard is that I can see the belt. I know that you have mad 3D printing skills, but are able to see the belt with your design? -- Regards, Charlie New Jersey, USA SATTINGER’S LAW: It works better if you plug it in. EDWARD'S LAW: It works even better if you turn it on.
Prasad All Messages By This Member #1493 Hi Charlie,? The reason it took me so little time was that I left the internal gears alone. I moved the speed selection lever to a midpoint which disengages them. The acrylic guard I received is milky style and not see-through. It has a tiny rectangular hole in the front to view the belt. The mill has become so quiet now.? Prasad
CLevinski All Messages By This Member #1565 Hi, Prasad, I ended up removing all the internal gears except the "dumbell-shaped", high-low double-gear that was mounted on the spindle to do my belt-drive mod. I left that in place to add a bit of mass to the spindle. (This gear is metal in the Real Bull mill.) As removing the other gears and shafts required removing the "head", it took me quite a bit longer than your 30 minutes! Some years later, while replacing the spindle bearings, I had to remove the high-low gear and left it off during reassembly. One issue that I have with the belt-drive kits is that you always seem to end up with a faster speed range. For example, my mill with gears had speed ranges of 50-1250 RPM (low) and 100-2500 RPM (high). After the modification, my "low" pulley position has a top speed of 1700 RPM (with a proportional decrease in torque) and the "high" pulley setting has a top speed of 3900 RPM.? This is great if you are using a 1/8 inch end mill, but a disadvantage when spinning a 50 mm face mill! Best of luck with your modified mill! -- Regards, Charlie New Jersey, USA SATTINGER’S LAW: It works better if you plug it in. EDWARD'S LAW: It works even better if you turn it on.

Previous Topic Next Topic