Aligning a new motor to a heavy 10 underdrive

[brandon428]

I've always used carpenters squares or flat stock in the past to align motors to headstocks/pulleys.

I went to swap a motor on my heavy 10 under drive yesterday, and after mounting the new one, I have what must be less than an inch of room between the motor pulley and cabinet. Worse, since the edge of the pulley is setback inside the cabinet, even if I could fit a ruler, I don't know how I could get my head in a good angle to see. Has anyone done this in the past or know a trick?

 

[C-Bag]

One of my many jobs was final assembly for a company that specializes in turf sprayers for golf courses. So there was a lot aligning pulleys and my go to tool became a 18” long piece of 1/2” square key stock. It could get into places nothing else could. The other invaluable piece of kit was a head light. I often wished I had a third arm/hand.

 

[piper184]

I often wished I had a third arm/hand.

Or a U-Joint for an elbow
or a tentacle with kung-fu grip.

 

[C-Bag]

Or a U-Joint for an elbow
or a tentacle with kung-fu grip.

LOL, but by far my biggest nemesis was stupid slotted motor mounts with no screw adjusters. They were the biggest block to being able adjust and keep alignment. The one time I did a motor mount from the ground up was on my 14” bandsaw. I gutted and tossed the stupid slotted mount and went to a hinge type off a table saw so once it was aligned and tightened down it didn’t shift once tightened. And like on a table saw the hinge uses the motor weight to automatically keep the belt tight. And it is a breeze to change the belt or saw blade as you just lift up on the jackshaft and take the upper belt off and then lower motor to the floor and the bottom belt is loose. No realigning once set up.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Can you hang a small plumb bob from the upper pulley?

 

[brandon428]

Interesting idea that's worth a try.

 

[gard]

I did all the alignment on mine when the entire underdrive was removed from the lathe so it was easy. Remove the control handle and there is only 3 bolts holding the whole thing in place. I used a chain fall to lower the underdrive onto some wood blocking and then to lift the lathe up and swing it around. I would be tempted to cut a big access door in the cabinet end panel if I need to get in there again.

 

[tk1971]

The motor mount on my Heavy 10 is mounted on a plate on a hinge that is adjusted with a large bolt/nut. The motor hangs upside down so it would’ve been really difficult to drill new holes and tap them for the new motor.

With the mounting plate off, it was actually easy. Use the motor to determine where the pulley would be and position the new motor for the same. Try to center the new motor on the mount while doing it.

Oh, one more thing. Due to the difference in the size of the new motor (original 1/2hp motor was heavy and big), I needed a shorter belt. I measured it, but still managed to get it wrong. All sorted now.