Help with my reeves drive please?

[tom fasbinder]

I Have a Jet 1442vs with a Reeves drive.
It started squeeling a little and has been hard to change speeds so I decided to change the belt and bearings. With a lot of effort I finally got the thing appart, cleaned up, and new parts in hand.

Upon reassembly I had a very hard time getting the right spindle pulley (the one that travels) onto the spindle............it wasn't a matter of not lining up the keyway correctly............it just seemed to be to tight. I sanded the inside of the pulley enough so the I could get the thing on, then with much efforf finally got the thing back together.

I fired it up and the noise was gone but I could barely move the speed selector handle.
That part is worse than when I started.

Now my question is ..........should the movable pulley slide on the spindle easily by hand (when everything is apart) and if so any ideas on how to increase the inside diameter of the pulley enough to make that happen?

It is currently so tight of a fit that it will actually pull the bearing out of its seat in the shifting lever bracket when I try to change speeds.

Any help would greatly be appreciated. Also, any tips on reassembly would be helpful.

[Curt Fuller]

I'm not familiar with the Jet version of the reeves drive, but I have and older Oliver with a reeves drive. The pulley needs to be a snug fit with no slop but it also needs to be lubricated so it can slide. On the Oliver it actually has some grease fittings that provide the lubrication. But in similar posts I seem to remember folks talking about lubing these newer drives with powdered graphite. If you haven't already done that, give it just a shot of WD40 or something to see if helps temporarily. If that helps that's probably the problem.

[tom fasbinder]

I applied a thin coating of Lithium grease.is that a bad idea?

[Mike Ragsdale]

Tom, I have never been into a Reeves drive on a Jet but if they are like the others then your problem with adjustment is most likely with the key itself if you have a steel key. The slightest bit of wear will cause it to bind. These drives usually wear a key in the area it is run the most so there is a rounded corner on the key. The sheeve will also wear. They make a (for lack of a better term) nylon or plastic key for these that will fix most of the problems. I would suggest using Moly Paste for the lube if you can not grease it regularly with a grease gun. You can get the moly paste at a Honda motorcycle shop in your area. It comes in a small tube for the mini grease guns.

Thanks
Mike

[Kevin Lucas]

I just replaced my reese pulleys a few months ago (I broke them trying to take them off the hard way duh). When I went to put them back on they were tight and did not want to go back on. A little LIGHT sanding with 4 and 600 helped. I thought about graphite but could not find any. I used wd40 as a wet sanding medium just to try and clear any nibs etc. For lubrication I used spray white lithium grease. The speed handle is stiff at lower speeds 1 and 2 slot or so but faster it moves easily.

As for the bearing in the moving arm was there a C ring? There was on mine to hold it inside the arm. I did find that without the spring to the arm I could move the sliding pulley with the selector. Maybe a light scuff of the spindle turning by hand will remove some oxidation or such and allow it to slide better?

[Greg Just]

lubrication is the key. I have a 5+ year old Delta and I'm having to lub it up about once a month and then it works fine. I'm saving my money for a better lathe with the electronic speed control.

[tom fasbinder]

On the jet 1442, the c ring holds the bearing to the pulley but the bearing is only friction fit into the shifting lever bracket.
So I'm hearing that the pulley should be snug but slidable on the spindle............right? Like I said, I had to really force the pulley onto the spindle even without the key in the key slot.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom...did you clean the shaft with some solvent while before you put the pulley back on? Did you clean the inside of the pulley before lubricating it?

Often when something is lubricated like that, in the course of being used dirt, wood dust etc, will get into the lubricant and literally bind stuff preventing it from functioning.

A few weeks ago I helped a friend with that same lathe and we removed the pulley, cleaned the shaft and pulleys and relubed it and it worked fine.

One question? Remove the screws from the end of the motor cover nearest the tailstock, remove the cover and check to see if is a zertz fitting.....a grease fitting in the end of the motor shaft closest to the tailstock end of the motor. There was a tiny hole in the shaft under the area of the sliding pulley. Later it dawned on me that it was probably for lubricating the sliding pulley.

Good luck.

[tom fasbinder]

I did clean the spindle shaft and inside of pulley well before lubing.
As far as the motor shaft is concerned.....the pulley on the motor shaft works fine. Its the pulley on the spindle shaft that sticks.

[tom fasbinder]

Okay, so after a cooling off period and a mind reset I took the thing apart again. I took some emery cloth around a wood dowel and some steel wool and took off enough of the inside diameter of the sliding pulley half so that it would slide on the spindle shaft.
Lubed it with a light coating of lithium grease and put it all back together.............what a difference in re-assembly!!!!!
Now it works great.............shifts easily and no noise. Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!

[Curt Fuller]

Good, glad to hear you're back in business.