Clausing 5400 drive belt removal

If you want minimum hassle, cut the belts and replace them with Fenner PowerTwist Plus and have a smoother running lathe.

It's an interesting idea -- though the reeves drive is a lot rougher and noisier than the spindle drive. The powertwist belts are well-recommended and it could save me a lot of trouble.

I'd still like to know the recommended procedure for belt replacement > If you want minimum hassle, cut the belts and replace them with Fenner

According to Mike Berger :

Well ... I've got a 5418, not variable speed, but still those three belts in parallel from the countershaft to the spindle cone pulley.

You'll have to remove both the spindle and the back gear (actually underneath gear) from the headstock to do it.

The next section of the manual (if yours is like mine) is:

How to Remove Headstock Spindle

And after the "Re-Assembling the Headstock Spindle" you will find the:

How to remove back gears

Once you have done this, you can lift the headstock clear. It is secured by four bolts through two clamp bars from the bottom. It will also probably have a taper pin through the front lip of the headstock casting into the near ways rail, to assure precise repeating of the position.

At least you won't also have to remove the countershaft to actually *change* the belts for what you are doing.

Good Luck, DoN.

If anybody else needs to do it:

Remove the back panel and loosen the two jack screws in the cross ties to reduce the belt tension. Remove the 4 hex screws from the bearing caps for the countershaft and remove the caps. The countershaft can be pulled out the slid away from the belts.

According to Mike Berger :

I'm quoting from the manual which I got from Clausing -- matched to the serial number of my lathe. You should be able to get one as well, and it covers not just what you have but related ones.

But for quick-and-dirty, you could download mine:

Enjoy, DoN.