Lapidaryforum.net
Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Fixing, Modifying and Refurbishing your Lapidary Equipment => Topic started by: Downwindtracker2 on January 22, 2020, 08:50:03 PM
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As I work my way along the club's shop set up , I'm working on the 18" . I made up a simple tensioner for the feed belt. Loritone used a pulley on a bar. The bar is bolted at one end and has a 1/2" shaft at the other . I guess they expected you to tighten the bolt enough so that the bar would remain in place to take up the slack in the belt. I don't think it worked. the last owner had fitted a belt short enough that it was tight. What I did was use a 1/8"x 1 1/4" x 18" flat bar .I drilled a 1/2" hole at one end and slotted the other end. The slot was for a 5/16" carriage bolt . The slot was 5 1/2" long, making it fairly mistake proof. Both holes, the 1/2" and 5/16" were centered 1/2" in. I like using carriage bolts, by squaring the hole, only one wrench is needed to tighten. Here I just used a washer and a wingnut. It fit like one had once been intended. Rather than cursing, this worked. A spring would have been more fancy.
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Thanks for the description of the flat bar and carriage bolt setup. No worries about spring tension that way.