15-04-2014, 06:56 PM
Hi,
Thanks Gary; yes I do my best to avoid drilling lots of holes into these old machines unless absolutely necessary. I'm sure the colour alone would brighten up any Christmas?
I've spent most of today making a wooden jig for use in belt jointing. I don't want to use metal belt fasteners so decided to go the hot hide glue belt jointing method but I needed to taper the belt ends? This belt tapering isn't as easy as it appears to be if a close fitting joint is to be achieved. I used off-cuts of timber and MDF I had kicking around to construct the jig from. The belt was carefully measured and these measurements determined the jig size.
This leather belt which was supplied with the Lorch is very old and quite stiff but certainly good enough to practice belt jointing and hopefully if successful will get the Lorch running. I used a steel tape measure to take measurements around the pulleys giving the total belt lengths; the motor was set in its lowest position and the counter-shaft set in its highest position to give the shortest belt lengths and also provide maximum adjustment range. I double checked then checked again the measurements because a mistake here would prove rather frustrating. Having now established the correct belt lengths one thing I didn't want to forget was to add the extra length on for the joint? The belts are 1" wide x 3/16" thick; I settled on a joint length of 3 1/2". At this point I made my first mistake; I had cut the shortest belt to correct length; (plus 3 1/2") the end of the belt was positioned in the jig using double sided self adhesive tape to secure it from moving around; I had added a pair of "runners" to the top of the jig because I intended to use my small router with an 1/2" dia cutter? All went well until the cut was almost completed using the router then suddenly the cutter grabbed and destroyed the joint; Oh well not the end of the world and I still had plenty of belting. Two lessons were immediately learned from this; don't use a router and don't cut the belt to length?
I removed the two runners but could still use the jig which was basically a good design. This time I installed the loose end of the roll of belt still using double sided self adhesive tape; some progress was made using a sharp 1" wood chisel but it was hit or miss so I really needed something to give better cutting control and accuracy; I thought I'd try using my Stanley shoulder plane; now things were going well and the first half joint was completed. The tape adhesive was a bit of a pain to remove each time but I managed to roll the bulk free using a finger the remainder was removed by scraping with a thumb nail I love this high technology stuff? In the end the jig worked well and both belts are now ready for gluing; I've mixed a small quantity of hide glue with water and tomorrow I'll set about gluing the joints but firstly another jig will be made to aid alignment during gluing.
It pays to pre-stretch leather belts but hanging a heavy weight on the belt end for a day didn't appeal to me so I marked the bench for each belt length then clamped the loose end of the belt roll securely to the bench and stretched the belt as tightly as I could and whilst still stretched I marked the cutting position on the belt; the shortest belt could be stretched 3/8" the longest belt 1/2" and I didn't forget to add the extra length for the joint in each case I added just 3 1/2" to each belt length. I tried cutting the belt with a craft knife but thought I might end up cutting my fingers so I gripped the belt in the big engineering vice and dropped the hacksaw through in safety; all it takes is one slip whilst using a craft knife to end up in A&E to have a few stitches added; my hacksaw gets a lot of use. I can't stress just how easy it is to make silly mistakes whilst doing something new like this; in future I'll ensure one end of the belt is tapered before cutting to length then if a mistake is made only a short length of belt is lost.
I've done lots of veneering using hot hide glue so I'm used to using this glue and always have plenty in stock; I also have the old fashioned cast iron double container type glue pot and a single electric hot ring for use in the garage; I've never attempted joining a leather belt previously using hide glue so I might be in for a bit more fun tomorrow?
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks Gary; yes I do my best to avoid drilling lots of holes into these old machines unless absolutely necessary. I'm sure the colour alone would brighten up any Christmas?
I've spent most of today making a wooden jig for use in belt jointing. I don't want to use metal belt fasteners so decided to go the hot hide glue belt jointing method but I needed to taper the belt ends? This belt tapering isn't as easy as it appears to be if a close fitting joint is to be achieved. I used off-cuts of timber and MDF I had kicking around to construct the jig from. The belt was carefully measured and these measurements determined the jig size.
This leather belt which was supplied with the Lorch is very old and quite stiff but certainly good enough to practice belt jointing and hopefully if successful will get the Lorch running. I used a steel tape measure to take measurements around the pulleys giving the total belt lengths; the motor was set in its lowest position and the counter-shaft set in its highest position to give the shortest belt lengths and also provide maximum adjustment range. I double checked then checked again the measurements because a mistake here would prove rather frustrating. Having now established the correct belt lengths one thing I didn't want to forget was to add the extra length on for the joint? The belts are 1" wide x 3/16" thick; I settled on a joint length of 3 1/2". At this point I made my first mistake; I had cut the shortest belt to correct length; (plus 3 1/2") the end of the belt was positioned in the jig using double sided self adhesive tape to secure it from moving around; I had added a pair of "runners" to the top of the jig because I intended to use my small router with an 1/2" dia cutter? All went well until the cut was almost completed using the router then suddenly the cutter grabbed and destroyed the joint; Oh well not the end of the world and I still had plenty of belting. Two lessons were immediately learned from this; don't use a router and don't cut the belt to length?
I removed the two runners but could still use the jig which was basically a good design. This time I installed the loose end of the roll of belt still using double sided self adhesive tape; some progress was made using a sharp 1" wood chisel but it was hit or miss so I really needed something to give better cutting control and accuracy; I thought I'd try using my Stanley shoulder plane; now things were going well and the first half joint was completed. The tape adhesive was a bit of a pain to remove each time but I managed to roll the bulk free using a finger the remainder was removed by scraping with a thumb nail I love this high technology stuff? In the end the jig worked well and both belts are now ready for gluing; I've mixed a small quantity of hide glue with water and tomorrow I'll set about gluing the joints but firstly another jig will be made to aid alignment during gluing.
It pays to pre-stretch leather belts but hanging a heavy weight on the belt end for a day didn't appeal to me so I marked the bench for each belt length then clamped the loose end of the belt roll securely to the bench and stretched the belt as tightly as I could and whilst still stretched I marked the cutting position on the belt; the shortest belt could be stretched 3/8" the longest belt 1/2" and I didn't forget to add the extra length for the joint in each case I added just 3 1/2" to each belt length. I tried cutting the belt with a craft knife but thought I might end up cutting my fingers so I gripped the belt in the big engineering vice and dropped the hacksaw through in safety; all it takes is one slip whilst using a craft knife to end up in A&E to have a few stitches added; my hacksaw gets a lot of use. I can't stress just how easy it is to make silly mistakes whilst doing something new like this; in future I'll ensure one end of the belt is tapered before cutting to length then if a mistake is made only a short length of belt is lost.
I've done lots of veneering using hot hide glue so I'm used to using this glue and always have plenty in stock; I also have the old fashioned cast iron double container type glue pot and a single electric hot ring for use in the garage; I've never attempted joining a leather belt previously using hide glue so I might be in for a bit more fun tomorrow?
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
