I bought an old Delta wood lathe that has a variable speed feature. The variable speed works by varying the spacing between two sheaves that changes the net diameter of the pulley and thus the speed ratio from the motor. Typically two sheave type pulleys are used in conjunction so that the effective diameter of one increases while the other one will decrease keeping the net belt length constant.
My question is whether this type of drive can be used with the link type V-Belts?
These link type belts do run much smoother on fixed size pulleys I have on my jointer. Here is a picture comparison of a conventional V-belt and a Link type belt. They are also length adjustable in increments of approximately 3/4 inch (20 mm) by adding or removing links.