Unimat drive belts.
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Unimat drive belts.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to obtain drive belts for my Unimat lathe please, bearing in mind this is an old machine purchased c1975 which I intend to start using again soon, TIA.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
A search of the internet shows that there do not appear to any retail outlets selling drive belts for the Unimat lathes but a search for "unimat driving belts" brought up quite a lot of results via EBay.
Terry Bendall
Terry Bendall
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Decades ago, I recall Peter Clark(*) showing me how to make new Unimat belts from flexible polymer of the appropriate cross-section. The material came on large reels. Cut the length required, heat the ends until they soften, and push the two ends together, hold until they set. The first one or two will be wonky and probably break quite quickly. Do two or three, or arrange some holder to keep the ends in line, and they'll be decent belts. If you get a little "lumpy fat bit", that can be pared back with a knife.
(* Model Railway Club member, maker of numerous bits of rather nice machinery, and regular winner of awards at the Model Engineer Show. Peter died a few years ago).
(* Model Railway Club member, maker of numerous bits of rather nice machinery, and regular winner of awards at the Model Engineer Show. Peter died a few years ago).
Nigel Cliffe - Blog of various mostly model making topics
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
https://www.pjtoolmakers.com/how-to-make-your-own-unimat-belts may be of assistance to you if you follow the DIY belt route, and covers both the SL and 3 models.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
These people sell lengths of neoprene (??) round drive belt that is cut and melt bonded (like Terry says). I used an old flat kitchen knife heated in the gas ring to bond mine which I use on my Cowells lathe without any problems.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/
They also supply a large range of lathe associated tools and accessories etc. Worth a look at their products.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/
They also supply a large range of lathe associated tools and accessories etc. Worth a look at their products.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Thanks gentlemen, never bought anything from ebay, looks like I'll be going down the home made route then.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Used to be a Hoover belt could be 'pressed' into use. Still got a couple kicking around in the drawer. Do you remember those Hoover spares places - I got belts and a selection of motor brushes I was able to file to the right size to refurbish the original motor. Brushes were no longer available for it.
Most important thing is to remove the belt once you have finished using the lathe, the belts last for ages if you do that.
Most important thing is to remove the belt once you have finished using the lathe, the belts last for ages if you do that.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
If you're looking for belts for a Unimat 3 then I bought some in bulk from a firm in Bordon, Hampshire. I've got the codes somewhere. I think this is what some of the resellers on ebay do.
Sorry but can't help if you've an SL.
Sorry but can't help if you've an SL.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Enigma wrote:These people sell lengths of neoprene (??) round drive belt that is cut and melt bonded (like Terry says). I used an old flat kitchen knife heated in the gas ring to bond mine which I use on my Cowells lathe without any problems.
The torque on a Cowell is likely to be more than on a Unimat, so if the round cut/bonded belts are fine on that, they'll be fine on the Unimat.
Cowells will supply you with the correct V-belts if asked. They're still around.
http://www.cowells.com/
- Nigel
Nigel Cliffe - Blog of various mostly model making topics
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
I just use a standard Nitrile O-ring on my Unimat 4
If I remember correctly a BS336-N70 for the short one and a BS343-N70 for the longer one.
I'm sure Google will help you find a supplier. Mine came through work so was fairly easy to get.
Hope that helps.
If I remember correctly a BS336-N70 for the short one and a BS343-N70 for the longer one.
I'm sure Google will help you find a supplier. Mine came through work so was fairly easy to get.
Hope that helps.
Andy Westcott
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Having had a further look on the web I have found this site https://unimat.homestead.com/belts.html. It is based in the USA and has lots of useful information.
Terry Bendall
Terry Bendall
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Thanks for all of your help and advice everyone.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
I measured my Unimat belts and concluded that they were 5mm cross section with 65mm and 75mm internal diameters. As the larger sizes appears to fail more frequently I have ordered 10 of these off ebay. I have made my own belts, but feel that the Nitrile belts are more flexible with a better grip.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Belts arrived today, when measured they were about 4.9mm cross section. Very tight when first installed so ran the lathe whilst running the belt between my thumb and index finger to warm the belt up. Its now fine with no sign of slipping when turning items. We will see in the longer term but, it looks as if my days of hot joining lengths of drive band material is over.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Could you share a link to the Ebay supplier you purchased from, please. I have had a look but gave up after about 15 minutes.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=Unimat+Drive+Belts&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIupnXxrG67wIV5OjtCh0ykwhtEAMYAyAAEgLu8fD_BwE&matchtype=p&adgroupid=60349927404&geo_id=32251&MT_ID=584536&cmpgn=1537574600&crlp=435274623257_&keyword=unimat+3+drive+belts&rlsatarget=kwd-296597044722&abcId=1140026&loc=1006563&sitelnk=&norover=1&mkrid=710-154084-066388-8&network=g&poi=&mkevt=1&adpos=&mktype=&_odkw=Unimat+3+Drive+Belts&device=c&mkcid=2 should take you to a range of Ebay suppliers of Unimat belts, both nitrile and polyurethane. Another possibility is https://store.lathes.co.uk/parts/emco-umimat-3-drive-belts. Yet another is https://www.zamdgakuen.com/emco-unimat-3-4-lathe-drive-belts-polyurethane-pu-rubber-pair-set-p-215251.htm. These purport to be Emco belts but I suspect that branding arises from a connection with the Unimat 4 machines that were a Taiwanese clone of the 3s.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Thanks John,
I notice that the stores.lathes.co.uk site also lists hollow plastic tubing with metal "mushroom" connectors. I have used this in the past and found it fairly good and it gives the advantage that you can make up belts without resorting to welding the ends together.
Quite a few of the ebay products come from Austria and incur the now common ex-EU deluvery charges, as opposed to the free P&P offered in the UK.
Jol
I notice that the stores.lathes.co.uk site also lists hollow plastic tubing with metal "mushroom" connectors. I have used this in the past and found it fairly good and it gives the advantage that you can make up belts without resorting to welding the ends together.
Quite a few of the ebay products come from Austria and incur the now common ex-EU deluvery charges, as opposed to the free P&P offered in the UK.
Jol
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Sorry, not very good at this. I just logged in for 80mm dia Nitrile "O" Rings. It came up with a fairly comprehensive choice.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
You can buy round Polyurethane Belting from RS Components and others.
Simply cut to required length and join together with a hot knife.
Plenty of You-Tube videos showing how to do it. Here's a couple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJuQdiyFSB8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iD8bLfTwVA
and one actualy for the Unimat SL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za0taS7rIWY
regards
Alan
Simply cut to required length and join together with a hot knife.
Plenty of You-Tube videos showing how to do it. Here's a couple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJuQdiyFSB8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iD8bLfTwVA
and one actualy for the Unimat SL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za0taS7rIWY
regards
Alan
Last edited by Alan Turner on Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
As covered above, I did not find the simply join with a hot knife was all that successful. It did work but the joints did not hold well. So when I subsequently found proper belts on sale, as in John's post, I was relieved.
Its taken me all week to find the box that my spare belts are hidden in, I was hoping there would be a receipt or something to indicate where they came from but no joy, just the nameless Jiffy bags!
Its taken me all week to find the box that my spare belts are hidden in, I was hoping there would be a receipt or something to indicate where they came from but no joy, just the nameless Jiffy bags!
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
I have purchased the orange belts, but I'm inclined to think they are to rigid for the small distances between the pulley wheels. On my quite old Unimat 3 I've had to replace the spindle and bearing of the idler pulley, a weakness not helped by using rigid belts. As I don't like fiddling/modifying standard parts, when the weather improves I intend to turn up a replacement idler pulley and incorporate a suitable ball race from Arc Euro. I should add that many will be aware that the older Unimat SL did incorporated a ball race on the idler pulley.
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Re: Unimat drive belts.
Indeed, the spare belts I got also came with spare ball races.
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