freeing rusted reeve drive

[Tai Fu]

So I just got the Powermatic 1150 in. I found the front reeve drive (the part attached to the quill) is extensively rusted. I was able to free the drive side but that's because it didn't have that much rust.

There is a ton of rusting on the quill side of the reeve drive, so much that it's completely stuck and nothing will free it. What can I do? I need to free the reeve drive before I can take it off of the spline.

[Bill Huber]

I would get a can of Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil and spray it down and let it set, then do it again. Let it work for a day and hopefully it will come loose.

http://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Wrench-L112-Super-Penetrant/dp/B000ZZWNYG

[Tai Fu]

Liquid wrench isn't available in my country, I'm sure an equivalent product exists but I do not know what it is. I am using WD40 but no luck... I even tried getting the whole pulley assembly off with no luck... it's stuck on so good that it might as well be epoxied in. I tried heating and it isn't doing it either.

[Mike OMelia]

WD-40? Surely you can get some of that?

[Tai Fu]

scratch that... just spotted someone selling big cans of liquid wrench but honestly I think I want to give ATF a try, I heard it works well.

[John Lanciani]

A mix of 50% automatic transmission fluid and 50% acetone is about the best penetrating oil you can get, way better than any of the common name penetrants. Both of those should be easy to source for you. If this mix doesn't work you'll probably need to use heat to get the parts apart.

[Tai Fu]

Good thing too, it's almost 12am and gas stations sell ATF, and they open 24/7.

[Michael Poorman]

Another thing you can do it heat up the area with a propane torch. Not glowing red or anywhere close to that. Just be sure to evenly heat the area with the flame and that will help. Let it cool, try to remove the reeves and repeat the heating cycle until things slip off. Heat in addition to some kind of penetrating oil was the ticket when rebuilding my TS from the 1920's!

[Tai Fu]

I did use heat, but it did not work. Does it take more than one tries?

This Powermatic 1150 better be worth it (ie. heads and shoulder than equivalent new Powermatic/Delta/etc. drill presses)

[Tai Fu]

MILESTONE!!!

I don't know if it's the ATF/acetone mix but I suddenly thought of driving wooden wedges into the pulley. So I found a few pieces of wood that's vaguely wedge shaped and squeezed them together with a C clamp. Lo and behold the part started sliding loose! I will then make larger and larger wedges and press them together with a large C clamp, and the part should be loose in no time.

I read another thread about the PM 2800B and how the drill press was disappointing despite costing more than 1000 dollars new. I guess I can see why those older PM drill presses are worth so much on ebay. The casting is really heavy, easily several time heavier than my Grizzly drill press. In fact just the column/table/base assembly alone was heavy enough that it took 2 people to move it. So does anyone not make good drill presses anymore? In Taiwan all we have is Taiwanese drill presses, and while they do the job nobody sells anything with a reeve drive. I was pleasantly surprised to find this one for so cheap.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

MILESTONE!!!

I don't know if it's the ATF/acetone mix but I suddenly thought of driving wooden wedges into the pulley. So I found a few pieces of wood that's vaguely wedge shaped and squeezed them together with a C clamp. Lo and behold the part started sliding loose! I will then make larger and larger wedges and press them together with a large C clamp, and the part should be loose in no time.
.
Be careful you don't crack the case iron pulley with your wedges. There are no spare part any more. Let the ATF/acetone work, keep adding more fluid as the parts start too move apart. Tom

[Loren Woirhaye]

Concur with Thomas, take it easy and let the penetrating oil do its work. It can take awhile. If you can put a pipe end over the shaft you can use that to tap the top reeves drive sheave, which will help the oil penetrate and break up little bits of rust. Eventually you may be able to get it to move down a little, then you can clean the shaft and see about getting it to go up a little with your wedge method.

[Tai Fu]

The wedge didn't need much force and was able to free the parts without much difficulty. I don't think any part is damaged but the initial push was the hardest for sure.

[Myk Rian]

WD-40 doesn't do a thing for rust. I don't know why people believe it does.
Mix 50-50 of Acetone and Auto Trans Fluid. Shake well and apply.

[CPeter James]

WD-40 doesn't do a thing for rust. I don't know why people believe it does.
Mix 50-50 of Acetone and Auto Trans Fluid. Shake well and apply.

The answer is advertizing!!! I have given up trying to tell people about WD40. There are those who hate it and those who love it religiously!!

CPeter

[Jeff Duncan]

WD-40 doesn't do a thing for rust. I don't know why people believe it does.
Mix 50-50 of Acetone and Auto Trans Fluid. Shake well and apply.

Well that depends…..if your trying to remove rust without making a lot of dust it actually works pretty well. It's a well known technique to spray a rusted cast iron top with WD40, scrape with a razor blade, then finish off with maroon scotch brits pads. Now it's not the best for removing frozen parts, but in terms of "doing something for rust", I think it works pretty well:D

JeffD