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Hello,
I am building a buffer. I used the information that I found on this forum. I could not have done it without it.
I found an inspiration on this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=29770&p=395379&hilit=build+buffer#p395379
I am very lucky to receive help from an expert guy who knows a lot about bearings, pulleys and so on. Our building process is only halfway. We need to assemble the parts now. The person who is helping me says that I need some system to keep tension between the two pulleys, otherwise with time the motor will not transmit movement to the axe by the belt.
I checked with attention your system but I could not see any devise to hold the system tight.
Thanks Enrico

Greeting from America!

The simplest tensioning method for an application like a buffer, is to mount the motor on a piece of wood about the same outside dimensions as the motor. Then fasten it to the rest of your assembly with a hinge on one edge of the piece of wood. This allows the belt to be tensioned by the weight of the motor. You want the belt to be able to slip if you put too much pressure on the buffer, this makes it harder to burn through the finish as you buff it.

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If you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.

Thanks, I will keep in mind, even though, I don't seem to notice such a thing on other buffers...

The hinged/weighted motor is a nice and simple method, and about as easy as any other. It's a good method if you want constant and relatively low tension on the belt, so it slips if overloaded.

That said, if the motor is fixed and the belt is tensioned properly, it takes a very long time for a belt to loosen enough that it slips. For example, on cars, an alternator v-belt can go 5+ years without adjustment. If your motor is foot-mounted, there will probably be some slots for sliding the motor 1 cm or so for belt tensioning. That's an easy method, provided you can locate the motor so that 1 cm of adjustment is enough (a little trial and error with small screws works, too).

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David Malicky