The reeves drive in my HF lathe appears to have seized up.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I put my new MDF honing wheel on my older HF 34706 lathe. It worked well but I wanted to pick the speed up. It had been set at 600 rpms the last time I used it. It was stiff for some time before i stopped using it in favor of the new Mustard Monster.

I tried to adjust it last night and it won't go. In fact it squealed and stopped spinning altogether.

So I took the cover off of the top back side and took a good look. I had never seen what was actually a reeves drive before. It looked to me like it was a pulley you could change the diameter/size of so that you got differing ratios for variable speed. (I look it up this morning and I was right. :)

However it appears that the changeable portion of my drive, the upper pulley, was frozen in place. So that when I moved it, or rather tried too, no matter how hard I tried nothing shifted.

I am wondering about maintenance and how to get things working again at this point. I blew everything out with my air compressor. Got lots of dust out. I have a can of PB Blaster, which is just an aerosolized penetrating oil. I can use that to try and break things loose but I am wondering if it is really the best idea. I wonder about it attracting so much wood dust that it would just bind back up etc...

Anyone have any suggestions for me? Anyone ever done it before and have sage words of wisdom?

Thanks,
Joshua

[Cody Colston]

The Reeves drive seizing because of dust buildup is a common problem on that lathe...and the Jet 1236, also.

Blowing out the dust with HP air and lubricating it should free up the pulleys. Go ahead and put penetrating oil on it.

[David Hostetler]

The Reeves drive seizing because of dust buildup is a common problem on that lathe...and the Jet 1236, also.

Blowing out the dust with HP air and lubricating it should free up the pulleys. Go ahead and put penetrating oil on it.

I know this should go without saying... But put the penetrating oil on AFTER you have cleaned the sawdust out...

Joshua, Google "Reeves Drive Stuck", there is a good picture essay on how to clean and lube a Reeves Drive (on a Craftsman lathe, but you get the idea...). This is a common problem with these setups...

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I know this should go without saying... But put the penetrating oil on AFTER you have cleaned the sawdust out...

Joshua, Google "Reeves Drive Stuck", there is a good picture essay on how to clean and lube a Reeves Drive (on a Craftsman lathe, but you get the idea...). This is a common problem with these setups...

Is this the one on Darrell Feltmate's aroundthewoods website? I am looking at that one now. I was just wondering if I should keep looking for something else.

Thanks,
Joshua

[Larry Komroff]

A word of caution. Be careful with the pulleys. They break very easily. Don't ask me how I know that.

[John Keeton]

While you are in there, put a quality belt on it. I started to get some slipping, and decided to check my factory belt. It was in bad shape before I realized it. There is an auto parts replacement belt that fits, Napa Belt Replacement number: 3L240W

[Joshua Dinerstein]

A word of caution. Be careful with the pulleys. They break very easily. Don't ask me how I know that.
I saw that one of mine was cracked. It is still usable but it was surprising to see it.

Thanks,
Joshua

[Joshua Dinerstein]

While you are in there, put a quality belt on it. I started to get some slipping, and decided to check my factory belt. It was in bad shape before I realized it. There is an auto parts replacement belt that fits, Napa Belt Replacement number: 3L240W
I wish I had seen this last night I would have done it. Ah well. I will keep track of this. Having 2 lathes turns out to be very helpful. I hadn't planned on that. Having a good solid spindle, a variable speed motor, a tool rest, etc... even when not turning is just great to have around.

Joshua

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Thanks to one and all for the help.

As always you guys are amazing. I got home last night and had a few minutes. I got my spray can back out and went to work on it.

I found that both pulleys were frozen in place. By that I mean that they wouldn't open and close though they were both spinning appropriately.

I started with the lower one, which in my lathe is a spring loaded on the motor arbor. I hit it with the penetrating oil and waited 30 seconds or so and then manipulated it manually to compress the spring and widen the pulley. I expected it to close back down but it didn't. On closer inspection I could see the key it was sliding on and I worried it wasn't lubricated well enough. I tried to close it and nothing happened. Too much force for me to want to use my hands. I then decided to turn the lathe on and it popped closed immediately. I did this a few times just to make sure it was working smoothly. It did.

One note: Stand out of the line of fire. I got sprayed right up the middle by the oil when I turned it on on the first time. Had to wash those clothes several times last night to get the oil out. Luckily it was garage clothes versus work clothes but I digress.

Having had that level of success I went on to the top pulley. This one is, again in my lathe, the one connected to the speed handle and attached to the lathe's spindle.

I started working on this one by re-opening the bottom spring loaded pulley. This loosened the belt enough for me to get better access to the top pulley. I then went down into the gap between the "teeth" on the pulley and lubricated there. I worked my way around did just a bit of the oil in about 5 spots. I again let it sit for another 30 seconds or so. I fired the lathe back up and it once again sprayed out the oil. I remembered and stood out of the line of fire this time. This one didn't free up as fast as the first one. I started to get some movement but only some. I shut it down and let it sit again. Trying to get the oil to penetrate further. I didn't put any more in because it was pretty smelly stuff. After waiting about another minute I fired it back up and managed to get the pulley fully closed to the lowest speed. In doing that I got much better access to the back of the reeves drive lever piece. (I have no idea what the proper term would be.) I then lubricated these pieces again very lightly and waited.

This time I managed to get it moving SO SMOOTHLY it is amazing. It is actually better than when it was brand new. The detents still lock it down at the speeded needed but it works fabulously.

All of this even with the unknown facing me it was still about 15 total minutes. A quick repair that works fabulously.

Thanks guys for the advice and ideas.

But now the BIG QUESTION! How long does it take the smell of penetrating oil to fade? Because my wife hates the smell and it is totally permeating the garage at the moment. I opened the window to try and get it to move out. But I have to find a better way. I am thinking about cracking the garage doors and putting a fan into the window to try and draw through and out.

Any ideas on time frame or how to clear it out?

Joshua

[John Keeton]

Joshua, glad it all worked out for you!! Get one of those replacement belts if you can. My old one was leaving a bunch of black garbage all over everything from the disintegrating belt.

[Paul Atkins]

Luckily it was garage clothes versus work clothes There is a difference? Glad you got it going and learned more than you wanted to know. As far as the smell, just remind her it is better than the copper smelter you used to have nearby.

[Rob Cunningham]

"I then decided to turn the lathe on and it popped closed immediately."

Joshua, glad you got it working. A word of caution though, any of the machines at work (machine shop) that have a reeves drive say not to change speeds unless the machine is running. I'm not exactly sure why, maybe someone else knows.

[Jim Underwood]

A word of caution. Be careful with the pulleys. They break very easily. Don't ask me how I know that.

Ditto over here. I got one in the shop right now with busted pulley. Anybody want it?

Be careful prying on it. It's just a cheap zinc casting...

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Luckily it was garage clothes versus work clothes There is a difference? Glad you got it going and learned more than you wanted to know.
For me there is. I am a software engineer by trade. I like woodworking better. But I have to keep paying the bills so this remains a hobby for me. :)


As far as the smell, just remind her it is better than the copper smelter you used to have nearby.
True! So very true.

Joshua

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Ditto over here. I got one in the shop right now with busted pulley. Anybody want it?

Be careful prying on it. It's just a cheap zinc casting...
A good point. I was just squeezing it with my hands. I didn't pry on it with anything metal or hard.

And for the record I didn't change the speed setting with it off. When I said I opened it it was just that bottom on pulled against the spring. I tried to get it back but it wouldn't go. It didn't "slam" closed. It just seated once it was turned on. Glad I didn't do any really bad damage to it. But I am also very glad I got it working again.

Joshua

[Jeff Rich]

Same problem I have had with mine.
All of the gear components in this lathe are a bit quirky.
They use a cheap grease that hardens over time.
Sony used to have a real problem with some of their VCRs shredding tapes while loading and unloading, draw arm with cheap grease.
Once cleaned and properly lubed, you should not have any problems.
And be careful of flying springs!

[GLENN THOMAS]

Joshua,

I have the same lathe and noticed one day it wasnt working right. I took the cover off and instead cracked pulleys or a frozen drive I noticed the pulleys were warped. I looked like they had melted in a fire or something. I cant imagine how it happened because I had the cover off before and they were just fine.

GT

[Greg Just]

Seems to be a common theme here. I took my Delta apart over the holidays to replace the belt. While I was in there, I cleaned everything. I couldn't beleive how dirty everything was. Then I lubricated all the moving parts. Boy what a difference. It is still noisy, but things move a lot easier. One of my pullies was cracked on the edge, but it still works ok for now.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Seems to be a common theme here. I took my Delta apart over the holidays to replace the belt. While I was in there, I cleaned everything. I couldn't beleive how dirty everything was. Then I lubricated all the moving parts. Boy what a difference. It is still noisy, but things move a lot easier. One of my pullies was cracked on the edge, but it still works ok for now.

I hadn't realized before they were, or at least could be, so fragile. I wonder if there are replacements anywhere that can be purchased of if once they break you are just out of luck...

Joshua

[Larry Komroff]

You can order parts from Harbor Freight. Each pulley half is about 9 dollars. I ran into the same problem a while back and found Grizzly has a pulley set that will fit. The part is P0462021and cost was 34.50 for the inner and outer. I really dont know if the quality is much better than HF but HF was out of stock and i did not want to wait untill they got theirs in. That number is for the pulley that is mounted on the spindle, not the motor. I know Jets 1236 motor pulley will work on the HF but not their spindle set. The quality of the Jet replacement part looked better than HF.

[Michael Laico]

Joshua,
I worked for Dodge - master - Reeves for 25 years. If you truely have a Reeves Motodrive, get the serial number off the nameplate and call them. If you dont have a serial number, get the item number off the disc, Reeves stamped item numbers on every part. They will pull the Bill of Material and will sell you replacement parts if you need thim. You can buy disc sub-assemblies if you want to modiy the variable speed.

Here is a link: http://www.dodge-pt.com/products/gearing/motodrive/motodrive.html

Reeves was purchased by Dodge in the 1960's, the Reeves manufacturing plants is still located in Columbus In.

Milt Reeves started the company and also built cars, built an Octocar that had 8 tires. http://www.clevelandreboot.com/2009/04/2009-cleveland-reboot-mock-draft.html


Hope this helps you, good luck.

Michael