[spiracy]

I am a total newb with a mini lathe but I brought myself a new Conquest Super Lathe.

I'm having trouble drilling any kind of metal.
I can drill a small hole in steel and bronze with a center bit followed by a small drill bit, but when I use any drill bit over 10mm it just makes a high pitch squeel followed by the chuck stopping spinning and a grinding noise like the belt is slipping on the pulley, but no metal is being cut.
All my drill bits are brand new.

Does anyone on here have any idea as to what the problem could be???

Thank you!
Richard....

[Jim Dawson]

Sounds like you are running out of power or have a loose belt. Maybe try feeding a bit slower or check the belt tension.

[mbservice]

Is the drill on centre line

[spiracy]

Sounds like you are running out of power or have a loose belt. Maybe try feeding a bit slower or check the belt tension.

Thats what i thought. I have no idea what the tension should be on the belt but it looks and feels loose. the belt split in two in the first miniute of running the motor and it went back for repair. They replaced the broken belt with a more sturdy looking belt but I don't think they adjusted the tension.
Do I need to adjust the motor position to do this and any guides on how tight the belt should be?

- - - Updated - - -

Is the drill on centre line

I will check that.

[Jim Dawson]

Do I need to adjust the motor position to do this and any guides on how tight the belt should be?

I expect that you would have to move the motor, normally the mount or motor base is slotted to allow for adjustment. Tightness? Maybe 1/4 inch or so deflection with moderate finger pressure midway between the pulleys. This is a subjective measurement, but just get it pretty tight.

[CS900]

Another thing that could be happening is you may just be running the spindle too fast. If there is a belt speed adjustment i would slow the spindle down. This will give you more torque which means you can feed a bit harder. Of course this won't help if your belt is loose so i'd start there anyways.