Reeves drive on HF 34706

[TIM WITT]

I have only turned a coulpe of projects when my belt broke.Bought new Napa 3L240W belt to put back on it.When took old belt out(which was shredded) the pulley on the motor is offset about 4 inches from the drive pulley.I see when I speed up control it opens wider but should motor pulley move down shaft also?

[David C. Roseman]

Tim, I don't have this lathe, but know that it uses a Reeves drive for speed changes. You are right that the pulley on the motor shaft should be expanding and contracting as you move the speed control lever. A Reeves drive uses two spring-loaded, variable speed pulleys that move inversely to each other to change the speed ratio. If you go to Youtube and search for "Reeves Drive in Action," you can see a video of how it's supposed to work.

Sounds like the movable half of your motor pulley may be hanging up on the motor shaft, and that the whole pulley may even have shifted out of alignment with the spindle pulley (or vice versa). You can probably trouble-shoot and fix this yourself. Hopefully it's just a matter of readjustment and lubrication. If the motor shaft, or the spindle, has been galled (e.g., from a slipping set screw), it may require removing the pulley and lightly filing the damaged area smooth.

David

[Jason Ritchie]

This lathe is well known to have sticking pulleys as they don't come very well greased from the factory. I had this issue once on this lathe and used WD40 to get the pulley loosened up then used a heavy grease to keep it lubed up. Whatever you do just don't pry on the pulleys as they are very brittle and will shatter. The cost of new pulleys comes very close to the cost of a new lathe.

[Kevin Lucas]

The bottom pulleys do slide and expand. As Jason said they are brittle I broke a set of mine but got them replaced for like 20$ from HF California warehouse. The spindle pulley is a tight fit for putting the belt on since the housing is close. Put the belt on it first. Feed it to the bottom of the motor pulley. You should be able to put your fingers in that one and pull it apart even with the spring pressure. Between the last belt changes I have done the pulley got tight and needed lubed to move. Friction and dirt I guess... The good thing are belts are fairly cheap for this one.