Weight of motor and 1950's Rockwell Delta.

[Syncman]

Is the weight of a motor, too much for the bearings on a lathe? I recently dumped my treadmill/speed control home made setup. Was slow to reach max speed, and stalls too easy. Going back to pulleys and belt. Nothing is locked in yet, till I figure this out.

 

[Spectric]

Are you using the weight of the motor to tension the belt ? What is the actual problem ? Also if you find it stalls when you apply a load and the belt is not slipping then it has to be the motor is lacking power, what is on the motor plate ?

 

[Syncman]

Thats a new motor. I dumped a treadmill motor because it was too weak. I want to know if the weight of THIS motor, hanging on the belt is too heavy as a tensioner for the lathe bearings. No, its not stalling. The treadmill motor was stalling.

 

[Paul Hannaby]

I wouldn't have thought the motor weight would put excessive tension on the belt or excessive strain on the bearings. With most lathes, I would let the motor drop under gravity to tension the belt and then push it down more to put more tension in the belt and if that hasn't caused premature bearing wear, just gravity alone won't either.