I purchased a Seneca Star lathe this week and have spent much of the weekend overhauling and cleaning it.
The motor assembly wasn't attached when I looked at it so I wasn't able to run it before buying it, but it did seem in pretty good condition. Someone added a taper attachment and an aftermarket QC gearbox at some point. The name on the gearbox is "New-All aviation company" or something like that.
Question 1) What size belt should I use? The pulleys are
1 1/8" wide. I've heard that there should be a 1/4 on each side, but that would leave a 5/8" belt and that doesn't seem like very much. Would a 1" belt work?
Question 2) Type of belt. I was planning on purchasing leather from McMaster and skiving it. But I saw that they had NBR and SBR synthetic belts already premade in the size I need. Would these be better than leather?
Question 3) It came with a 1/3 hp motor. I've got three spare capacitor start motors: 1/2, 3/4, and 1 hp. Is the
1/3 hp enough or should I use one of the bigger ones?
It also came with a one-point steady rest (or at least that is what it looks like - it isn't a follower rest). Where these common at one time?
Thanks for the help, Aaron