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Warco Lathe WM280 Speed reduction / Increased torque drive pulley addition

Having owned a Warco WM280 for some years I was always unhappy with the slow speed,  certain machining tasks require a slow speed and high torque eg. threading work and Drilling holes larger than 13 mm. The slow speed had low torque capability which also caused over current if the rotation was stalled.

During a machining process I over-torqued the lathe and over loaded the DC Control board,  which burnt out the SCR’s  on the PCB, it was time for a modification. I have now added a reduction pulley assemble which reduces the speed and increases the torque. I was inspired by some modifications viewed on the web.

Design Conditions:

Assembly must be robust.

Must use the existing Spindle pulley and motor pulley without alteration

Pulley wheel must be light weight aluminium with a double row ball bearing. I used an engine cam belt bearing.

Must use the existing V belt and an additional  Gates V belt (SM 800 )

Assembly must be adjustable for equal tension of both belts.

Belts must be removable without having to loosen the the main pulley set tension adjustment.

Belt change from single to double must be quick and effortless.

Belts must fit over the pully wheels for reconfiguring without adjusting the assembly to fit.

 

During close examination, I discovered the V belt profile didn’t match the profile of the existing drive pulleys, this is a design problem with the lathe, this has always caused  a curious clicking sound as the belt is forced into the pulley groove when rotating…. curious …nothing I could do about this problem.

Unfortunately the cover had to be modified to accommodate  the additional pulley assembly. The cover was strategically cut, folded  and fortunately fitted to a new profile accommodating the pulley assembly, it then required sheet metal work,  welding and painting

I can now use larger drills for boring tasks and large threading previously very difficult  on this lathe.

One thought on “Warco Lathe WM280 Speed reduction / Increased torque drive pulley addition

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