Mini-Mill Belt Drive Conversion

[Chris Taylor 3Participant @christaylor3]

Supplier of Kits

[Chris Taylor 3Participant @christaylor3]

Does anyone know anything about a Turkish supplier – http://www.mbbilici.com ? They advertise custom built belt drive kits for most mini-mills and the photographs of the parts look very good. Most of the other suppliers do not have kits available.

[Hugh Stewart-Smith 1Participant @hughstewart-smith1]

We hope to have belt drive conversion kits in around 6-8 weeks if you're not in a hurry.

Hugh Amadeal

[DellParticipant @dell]

Posted by Hugh Stewart-Smith 1 on 29/12/2021 12:07:05:

We hope to have belt drive conversion kits in around 6-8 weeks if you're not in a hurry.

Hugh Amadeal

I have emailed about the belt drive conversion but had no reply

[Chris Taylor 3Participant @christaylor3]

Postscript – I bought the kit from Murat Bilgin BİLİCİ (mbbilici@mbbilici.com) in Turkey and I’m pleased with it. It arrived within a week, it fitted well and the machining is very good quality. The only issue I had was the design of the belt cover, it is adequate but could easily be improved, which I will do. Some photos attached without the cover for clarity.

 

Edited By Chris Taylor 3 on 29/01/2022 19:50:21

[MikeKParticipant @mikek40713]

I have the Stirling Steele conversion kit (which I think was the original maker?) and the belt cover is a quickly-made bent piece of acrylic. Do post if you make a better one. Congrats on the belt drive, it's a wonderful upgrade.

[oldveloParticipant @oldvelo]

4 Rib Poly Vee conversion will out perform any Vee Belt

[Chris Taylor 3Participant @christaylor3]

The manufacturer recommends “ polyurethane 60 degree V belt for small pulleys. Minimum flection resistance, minimum powerloss, maximum belt life. Polyurethane 60 degree V belts (Japanese brand Mitsuboshi) performs appropriate and best results for small size pulleys. Cloth-coated or rubber belts are not suitable for small pulleys.”

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by oldvelo on 30/01/2022 18:53:55:

4 Rib Poly Vee conversion will out perform any Vee Belt

A 4 rib belt is hardly necessary on a mini-mill!

[Anonymous]

Glad it worked out for you Chris. They certainly look like decent parts at rather good prices.

Can you take out your earplugs now?

[Chris Taylor 3Participant @christaylor3]

Peter, can you explain the earplugs comment?

[Anonymous]

Oh, just that when I fitted a belt drive to my Wm-14 lookalike mill, the noise-level went down enormously.

[David Scott 4Participant @davidscott4]

Having burnt out a motor and mashed a gear on my WM 18 cutting holes in the new motors base and working on a belt drive is the logical way forward.

Of course the reply of "Many people fit COOLING FANS to their mills!!" from Warco did not go down too well. Most modern stuff needs to be considered a starting point these days, still. The belts and pulleys I got from Bearing Boys waits to be done. Well the 15mm by 5 mm pitch belts will be got when I measure from the job. They are pilot bore so you can choose the hole size.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 30/01/2022 21:30:52:

Posted by oldvelo on 30/01/2022 18:53:55:

4 Rib Poly Vee conversion will out perform any Vee Belt

A 4 rib belt is hardly necessary on a mini-mill!

.

But does it do any harm ?

Very light sections are available

MichaelG.

[oldveloParticipant @oldvelo]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 31/01/2022 08:13:39:

Posted by Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 30/01/2022 21:30:52:

Posted by oldvelo on 30/01/2022 18:53:55:

4 Rib Poly Vee conversion will out perform any Vee Belt

A 4 rib belt is hardly necessary on a mini-mill!

.

But does it do any harm ?

Very light sections are available

MichaelG.

Mine works fine 4 Ribs "J" section powered by a 1.25 hp DC motor

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

I there a belt conversion kit available for a Warco WM14 ? If so I would be very interested in it.

Mick

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by mick H on 01/02/2022 08:51:51:

I there a belt conversion kit available for a Warco WM14 ? If so I would be very interested in it.

Mick

Same query for WM16. the nearest I have seen is the equivalent for Grizzly 0704 on their site, they supply kits for the 0704 but from the states, which requires large import / custom charges.

George.

[Chris Taylor 3Participant @christaylor3]

I don’t know the configuration of the Warco mills, the critical criteria are usually the diameters and keyway dimensions of the spindle and of the motor shaft. The maker of the kit I purchased does a kit for one Grizzly machine, he’s very helpful and modified his kit for my machine – no harm in contacting him: https://www.mbbilici.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=57&product_id=75

[Martin of WickParticipant @martinofwick]

I have a Warco WM16 gearhead mill and was also considering taking a punt on this Turkish supplier of belt conversions http://www.mbbilici.com/

I would be interested to learn from anyone that has purchased a conversion unit, what was the actual customs / VAT charge on import?

Has anyone fitted that particular conversion to an actual WM16? Do they have pictures or a description they could share? Looking at the picture of the unit, I cant grasp how it is fitted to a WARCO 16 other than somehow over the spindle on top of the existing Hi/Lo gear stack. Does this mean that the motor cover / speed pick up may have to be modified to re-fit? Is there still a noise issue with the gears (presumably less as no longer under load).

Can this mod be simply carried out with the head left in place on the machine? Or does it actually involve pressing out of bearings etc. to remove the intermediate gear shaft and/or Hi/Lo spindle gears? (ie. almost complete dismantling?).

From the warco manual, if the shafts are pressed out of the head casting, will this damage either the upper or lower bearing on removal and require a replacement? may not matter if the intermediate gear and shaft is to be binned anyway.

Any info gratefully appreciated.

Even with ear plugs, the ear shattering shriek from this machine of when running at speed is tiresome, to put it mildly and puts me off using. While I have managed to avoid damaging the plastic gears so far, I suspect that is down to good luck rather than good management, so any simple mod that engineers out these two issues would be a delight!

 

 

[Martin of Wick]

On Martin of Wick Said:

I have a Warco WM16 gearhead mill and was also considering taking a punt on this Turkish supplier of belt conversions http://www.mbbilici.com/
[…]

Any info gratefully appreciated.

[…]

 

Can’t help with any answers, but I’ve just looked at the specific product page and am suitably impressed:

https://www.mbbilici.com/Belt%20drive%20conversion%20kits?product_id=91

MichaelG.

[Martin of WickParticipant @martinofwick]

Having poked and prodded my WM16 mill to take a few dimensions, I made some amazing discoveries peering through the little inspection port on the head…

The Hi/Lo gear assemblies are in fact both steel on my version, gasp! explaining two things, why I haven’t managed to break them and why they are so bloody noisy. I must have the pre ‘value engineered’ version of the mill!

I am fairly certain now that the belt drive large pulley from the kit just slips over the collar on top of the mill spindle and is crimped into place with a grub screw. This means that all that needs to be done is to keep the gear selector at zero engagement and a quiet drive should result.

Clearly, if the belt option is employed, changing the speed range of the mill will require taking the motor cover off and a bit of manual fiddle, but worth it to preserve ones hearing.

Should you have a future dispute with your neighbours, it will also be easy to restore the mill to original condition and continue to run at maximum speed into the early hours of the morning.

 

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