# need a pulley for a 4" Rockwell/Delta Jointer



## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

Hello all,

I have brand new old stock Rockwell 4" jointer with an open stand. It came with the wrong motor and pulley. I found a new 1725 rpm motor and am now looking for a pulley. Does any one have one of these jointers with the 1725 motor and larger pulley? I am trying to find out the diameter of the pulley .I believe it is about 6" diameter but am not sure. Your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks, John


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## davidpettinger (Aug 21, 2009)

Hey John, do you have a model number. Maybe with that there will be a way to find a manual that will give us an idea.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

My old Delta-Rockwell 6" jointer has a 1/2" x 7" pulley on the 1725rpm motor and a 2&3/4" pulley on the cutter head.I know you have the 4" , but I am assuming that in the end , they would turn at the same rpm's.


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

I have the instruction manuals for this jointer and the stands.

I have the 50-290 open stand. The jointer came with this stand. I have the correct motor for the other stand ( 50-518 ) which uses the 3450 motor and 3" pulley. I can use this on the other open stand. However, the stand 50-290 shows the 1725 motor and larger pulley. I might just use this 3450 motor and pulley and get the link belt pulley to reduce the vibration. The manual for my stand does not indicate the size of the pulley. The manual for the motor and pulley I have states the pulley size (3").l


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

Dusty56, are you sure the shaft is 1/2"? Both of my motors have 5/8" shafts. I think the 7 1/2" would be the same pulley for both jointers. The cutterhead diameters are probably the same for the 4" and 6" jointers.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

I'm sorry , the 1/2" measurement that I gave was for the V-Belt….let me see if I can measure the shaft diameter for you : )


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Yes , the shaft is 5/8" , but the pulley is only 7" as stated above . : )


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks Dusty for the info.

Now the search goes on for the pulley.

Does anyone have a 7 1/2" diameter x 5/8" bore pulley for sale?


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## MarkwithaK (Sep 12, 2009)

Check with Grainger.


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## RvK (Nov 22, 2009)

may also want to try eReplacementParts.com and Tool Parts Direct


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## mcguiver (Nov 2, 2010)

Since I am a new member, I will now dive in. I am finishing a restoration on a Delta 37-290, 4 inch jointer and trying to figure out the correct motor and pulley size. So, a 3450 RPM motor can use the smaller 2 3/4" pulley with a link belt or a 1725 RPM motor with the larger mystery pulley with the mystery shaft size. Currently, I have a sears motor that has a 5/8ths shaft at both ends. It probably came from a dual tool use platform. I am assuming that one end of this incorrect motor is used to drive the jointer and the other end will eventually be used to bring me to the emergency room after it winds my pants leg up. Let me know where you found the pulley. I need the 7.5 inch one with spoke wheel if possible. It will make all of my wood projects look better if I feel better. Putting an Ace hardware, washing machine pulley on a Delta 37-290 would be a sad day for this cast iron beauty. Might as well make a pulley out of wood…


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## mcguiver (Nov 2, 2010)

Thanks Rick. Very helpful. So, you don't think that a 3450 rpm with a 7 inch pulley driving a 2.75-3 inch inch jointer pulley will make it go too fast?
I would hate to have my jointer look like the Rolls Royce engine on that Airbus A380 this morning!


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

The original size pulley for a 1750 RPM motor is 2.75" on top and 6" on the bottom. I would NOT put a 3450 motor with this pulley configuration.


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## lilredweldingrod (Nov 23, 2009)

John,
Applied technologies.com has just about any pulley or bearing you can think of and they are everywhere. Rand


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## mcguiver (Nov 2, 2010)

Thanks for all the tips,
I just purchased my bearings from Applied. They were a little expensive but they were the exact bearings required with the extended collar.


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

John…..Here is a calculator that will help with determining the correct size pulley for the motor and cutter head.

I have purchased pulleys from Surpluscenter.com. They are well made, cast iron or aluminum and balanced.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Hi MedicKen…..I followed your link and it brought me to the "cuts per minute" calculator. Is that correct ?
Thanks


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

Dusty56….That should be able to figure pulley sizes needed for the correct cutter head rpm. If that one isnt satisfactory you might look at this one


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## Dominionsden (Mar 23, 2013)

I am looking for a replacement pulley for my new / my fathers old Rockwell 4'' jointer. The model number for the jointer is 37-130 and the model number on the pulley is J-17. The pulley has a bore of 9/16'' and a diameter of 2 3/4''. I have tried the sites listed above (surpluss center, mcmaster, grainger) along with a number of local dealers and have not been able to find one. I found one on ebay but it's sold as is with no returns. Any suggestions on a new place to search?


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

http://zorotools-www-1481028176.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/g/V-Belt%20Pulleys%20Fixed%20Bore/00095373/

*ZORO Tools *hooked me up with high quality pulleys at great prices for my equipment. Give them a shot : )

Are you positive the bore is 9/16" and not 5/8" ? They might have a bushing to fill the void for you if you can't find a 9/16" bore.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

I was in a Tractor Supply Store last week and I noticed they have quite a selection of pulleys there. Might check them out


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## shampeon (Jun 3, 2012)

Are you certain that it isn't a 1/2" bore? I've never seen or heard of a 9/16" shaft or pulley on a woodworking machine.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

I went into my shop and measured my old Rockwell Delta 4" , and it is also a 9/16" shaft / bore with the J 17 
2 3/4" pulley.


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## Dominionsden (Mar 23, 2013)

A brief update… I was not able to find a vendor that sells a stock 9/16'' pulley. I did find a few online sites that sell pulley and bushing combinations that will work. After reading a few reviews I decided to go with Baldor/Maska. The pulley part number is: MAL30 and the bushing is LX 9/16.

The one issue is that the pulley/bushing combination is designed to use a metal key to connect to the shaft but the shaft is designed for a set screw. As a result I went to the local hardware store, purchased a small piece of square steel and used a hacksaw to cut a key that was broad on the botton with a thin ridge on top. Think of an upside down "T". This allowed it to fit the flat spot on the shaft were the set screw would normally connect and the slot in the pulley/bushing.

Any recomendations for buying a good set of cutting knives?


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

OK, lets go to the source on this one. I just rebuilt my Rockwell vintage 1952 37-290 a coupla summers ago and faced some of these same issues. Rockwell 4" jointers come in 2 different - the 37-290 and the 37-110. Differences between the 2 are minor. You can find manuals for either here

First, the pulley on the cutterhead shaft. Yah, that pulley is 9/16" and it is not standard! Finding a new replacement is virtually impossible and I read many testimonies to that effect while rebuilding my jointer. Stock pulley size on either Rockwell 4" is 2 3/4". Good on you for finding a replacement.

Secondly, the manual for 37-290 jointer recommends 4000 RPM cutter head speed while the 37-110 manual recommends 4200 RPM. Minor difference, about 5%. Let's go with 4000 RPM. To get the proper cutter speed, the ratio of the pulleys has to match the ratio of motor speed to cutterhead speed.

For 1725 RPM motor:
4000 / 1725 = X / 2.75

where X = the motor pulley diameter. Solving the above equation gives a motor pulley of 6.38" - use a 6.5" pulley.

For a 3450 RPM motor:
4000 / 3450 = X / 2.75

which gives a pulley size of 2.93" - use a 3" pulley.

I used a 1/2 HP (probably overkill on this size jointer) 1725 RPM moor with a cast iron 6.75" pulley from McMaster-Carr. It gave about 6.4" diameter with a type B V-belt. It wasn't cheap, but I diidn't want a flimsy pot metal pulley.

Thirdly, are you sure you need new knives? I got my original ones resharpened. The place that did it said that the old steel knives are much preferable to any new steel, most of which comes from China nowadays.


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## rockrunner (May 10, 2012)

americanationalknife.com $18.90 Bought mine here.


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