# Wood to Aluminum Pulley in 3.5 hrs.



## horty (Dec 18, 2019)

I bought some $24.00 step pulleys awhile back and they seem to not be wide enough and want to tear the edge of the belts..
so I thought I should make my own, with that on my mind this morning I went ahead and made my first one ever..and about
an 1/16" wider so the belt will set below the edge and just about touch the bottom of the groove.

Took about 3 1/2 hrs from cutting the wooded circles to machining the pulley, and a fun project.

Going to make a few different sizes tomorrow to have around, and I need some for the shaper Im building.

So, thats thats,.
Tim


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## Winegrower (Dec 19, 2019)

What was the purpose of the wood?


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## cathead (Dec 19, 2019)

If I were to guess, I would say Tim does some green sand casting and the wood is the mold.  Maybe he will chime in here......


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## coherent (Dec 19, 2019)

Prob a silly question, but is the original aluminum pulley solid or is the metal thick enough on at least one side to just put it on a lathe and widen the grooves as needed?


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## Canus (Dec 19, 2019)

You probably already know this but remember that the belt should never touch the bottom of the pulley.  Belts are designed to drive the pulley using the sides of the belt never the bottom.  Machinery handbook should have the specs for most sizes of pulleys.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Dec 19, 2019)

You are not using the correct belt.  Car fan belts are different in the contact surface angle then electrical motor drive belts which is why you are tearing up belts.  With that said,  you did a great job at casting and carving up a new pulley set.


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## Winegrower (Dec 19, 2019)

Anybody who could make a mold, sand cast and machine a finished part is ok in my book.  If you can do it in 3.5 hours, you can have the book.


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## horty (Dec 19, 2019)

The wood disks that look like a pulley is the pulley pattern for the green sand casting,  I cut a square piece and have centers on my belt grinder table,I put a nail in the center of the square, pick the right size center and in less than a minute I have a disk with the 40 grit belt, I have the dust collector hose mounted below the belt to catch the dust, with out that it would sure be a mess in here.
I then put a little glue on the parts, line up the centers with the nail and put in a few brads, pull the nail out and drill to 5/8".
I mix up about 1 table spoons of body filler and make a fillet on the seams. 

The original aluminum pulleys are really thin, any machining at all would make the edges razor sharp, and they are hollow so cant really do anything with them

I have tried many different belts on these pulleys, and always a problem, the pulleys on the drill press are a little thicker and better built and have no problem there.
The pulleys are even a different size, 1/8" difference in diameters and from the same company..


Winegrower said:


> Anybody who could make a mold, sand cast and machine a finished part is ok in my book. If you can do it in 3.5 hours, you can have the book


Sure, I'll take the book, can you tell me more about it.?
Somethings aren't to complicated if the plan is followed, and I most always have a plan figured out beforehand.


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## brino (Dec 20, 2019)

horty said:


> The original aluminum pulleys are really thin, any machining at all would make the edges razor sharp, and they are hollow so cant really do anything with them



Apparently, you can........melt them down and make something better! 

-brino


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## horty (Dec 21, 2019)

brino said:


> Latinrascalrg1 said:
> 
> 
> > You are not using the correct belt.  Car fan belts are different in the contact surface angle then electrical motor drive belts which is why you are tearing up belts.  With that said,  you did a great job at casting and carving up a new pulley set.
> ...


Brino, last year I did melt down 3 old 4 step pulleys a friend gave me, they were zinc and by the time I degassed and removed
the dross I only had about 1 cup of good zinc, they must put alot of crap in the melt to make it go farther.

Just like hotdogs, the janitor at the butcher shop sweeps everything up at the end of the day and uses that to make the hotdog, 
alittle chew, some cig butts, something of the farmers shoes... I love a good grilled hot dog, as long as it almost black..but then a  neighbor of mine eats them raw dipped in mustard, YUK, he does seem to have alot of health problems to...


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