Shopsmith Forums

Hi, I've got an old shopsmith MkV.

pulled it apart and experimented a bit and feel it'll still work excepting the drive belt is missing altogether.

I'd like to use the machine just as disk sander. Which is pretty much the only thing I can use it as, since the rest of the parts are missing.

So, I just want to put a belt in there, and living in Australia, postage costs are heavy from the US, so was hoping to just buy a cheap car belt to surfice locally.

hoping someone could help me with the radius of the belt. Not clear to me exactly what size I need. If I have a measurement in mind I can choose myself at the shops.

thankyou kindly

Jake Darvall

The Shopsmith drive belts were 26 1/2" X 9/16 or 17/32"" wide. If you use a 26" X 1/2" belt, you need to stay at least 2 letters away from the SLOW and FAST postions until the belt gets a few hours on it. The 26" belt may try to get below the tips of the sheave vanes at the SLOW or FAST positions and damage or destroy the belt. The belt will make a unique sound/noise when this happens so back off quickly when you hear a different sound/noise. Try to find a full 1/2" wide belt as many are less than 1/2" wide.

I still like the link (flex) belts due to less headstock vibration with this belt.

thankyou kindly for the help.

I should be able to find a belt like that.

Jake

billmayo wrote:The Shopsmith drive belts were 26 1/2" X 9/16 or 17/32"" wide. If you use a 26" X 1/2" belt, you need to stay at least 2 letters away from the SLOW and FAST postions until the belt gets a few hours on it. The 26" belt may try to get below the tips of the sheave vanes at the SLOW or FAST positions and damage or destroy the belt. The belt will make a unique sound/noise when this happens so back off quickly when you hear a different sound/noise. Try to find a full 1/2" wide belt as many are less than 1/2" wide.

I still like the link (flex) belts due to less headstock vibration with this belt.

Does the link belt cause more wear on the sheaves/pulleys than the regular belts?

jmoore65 wrote:Does the link belt cause more wear on the sheaves/pulleys than the regular belts?

I find many sheaves with grooves and uneven wear that used the Shopsmith drive belt. I have chucked these sheaves on my metal lathe and recut the face on the sheave so there is a lot of metal that can wear off before there is a problem. I find that the link belt wears more evenly on the sheaves as there is more sheave contact with the link belt. Also, I believe there is less belt slippage using the link belt. Yes, I find some aluminum dust in the motor pan from using the link belt but the wear on the sheaves seems to be about what I see from using the regular Shopsmith belt. I have not done any precision measurements as to how much wear occurs.

The link belt does reduce vibration and noise in the headstock. I have used link belts on Shopsmiths for many years without any failures that I am aware of at this time. I cannot say this about the Shopsmith drive belt as I have to replace them all the time. To me, it was a good trade-off to reduce vibration, noise and later belt replacement. The added cost for the link belt was the only drawback I found. Of course, all of the above statements are just my opinion as everyone has at least one.

Thanks Bill!