Painting

Well, since the last post there's been some progress. I took the legs, chip pan, and bed to the car wash and used the engine degreaser to clean them. That did a really good job; I didn't need to use anything else to clean them. I applied a coat of primer and a coat of paint to all these pieces, then assembled them. I used Magnet Paints, Battleship Gray for most of it, and will use Mack Blue for some accents. A photo of the lathe:



I'm now working on painting the parts of the headstock. I used some degreaser and a hose in the driveway to clean up the main casting, and scrubbed up the rest of the pieces in the sink. I've got one coat of primer and one coat of paint applied:


I've been considering options to power the lathe. The way it was previously setup, power was transmitted to a 6 speed gear box, then down to a v-belt pulley that was attached to the flat belt pulley on the powerfeed gearbox. A leather flat belt connected the pulley on the gearbox to the spindle. I'd rather transmit the power the way it's supposed to be, using the cone pulley on the spindle. With a 1750 RPM motor, if I have the pulley on the motor half the size of the one on the 6 speed gearbox, and then have the output pulley on the gearbox be half the size of the cone pulley, then I should get a decent set of speeds. I'm having a little trouble trying to find pulleys to fit the output of the gearbox. I may end up using a multi-v belt or synchronous belt and using a pulley to match that on the gearbox. The cone pulley on the spindle should have enough area touching the belt that it won't need grooves or notches in it.