‘Old but gold’ is how the Robley speed variator could be described. Manufactured in Australia, the Robley has long been surpassed by electronic variable speed drives, but the utility and simplicity of the drive is unmatched.
We had one of these in our ‘heritage stock’, and we were finally convinced to let it go by a customer who would not use anything else!
Robley Features
The Robley speed variator fits between any driver and driven pulley, and by moving the speed control knob while the unit is running, the speed of the driven shaft is increased or decreased to any speed required.
As you can imagine, the Robley variator is simple, cheap and effective. The task it performs is now ably achieved by variable speed drives (of which there are many options), but we thought you might like to see a little Australian power transmission history.
Modern Availability
There are currently a few alternative manufacturers that have a product that performs the same task as the Robley unit. Some units are enclosed, whilst others are available with an inbuilt tensioner.
