Lathe shopping - Reeves drive question

[David Glynn]

I'm currently shopping for a lathe, likely a used Jet, and wondering the opinion on reeves drive units. Are they to be avoided at all costs?

edit: Also, how can I know if a lathe has a reeves drive or not, assuming it is not mentioned in the description. Thanks

[Ronald Blue]

The short answer is if it's variable speed and you change speed with a handle and it must be running to do so it's a reeves drive. A reeves drive changes where the belt rides in the sheaves. The drive pulley adjusts wider or narrower and the driven pulley being spring loaded follows. Riding low for low rpm's and riding high for high rpm's on the drive pulley. The other preferred method these days uses a knob or dial and you are changing the motor rpm's electronically. Hope this helps.

[David Glynn]

Thanks Ronald
Are they troublesome, and to be avoided?

[Ronald Blue]

Eventually any mechanical drive will give problems no matter how well made. There are other's who can definitely tell you better than I. I am sure they will chime in.

[Bill Boehme]

Generally speaking, lathes with Reeves drives are noisy, high maintenance, and best suited for spindle turning. The reason for being high maintenance is that the pulleys are die cast zinc which is not durable enough for variable pulleys. Some really old lathes with Reeves drives were much better because the pulleys were machined cast iron. However, those lathes were primarily designed for spindle turning (small swing, long bed, and high minimum speed) so they aren't the best choice if spindle turning isn't your main interest.

I think that you would be better served by either a lathe with 5 or 6 fixed speeds or one with electronic continuously variable speed.

[Bob Bergstrom]

The Jet 14 x 42 lathe has had its share of problems. If cautiously watched, it will perfoam as advertised. The inside half of the motor pulley has a set screw in it. If it works loose it starts rubbing on the motor housing. It will grind away the hub of the pulley eventually. It is not noticeable till the belt gets pretty loose and by then the pulley set screw is rubbing on the motor.

[Tim Boger]

I must be the lucky one, I've had a Jet 14-40 for right around 10 years and use it nearly every weekend .. . other than blowing out the belt compartment and shooting some oil on the bearing I've never had a problem. That being said, I would love to have the accuracy of a digital speed control but can't say that the Reeves Drive is a problem.

Tim

[Wayne Kuhn]

The problem with reeves drive and step pulley is the low end speed is 500 rpm +-. That said unless you have a very balanced bowl blank its a little fast for bowls. Spindles no problem.
YMMV
Wayne Kuhn

[Russell Neyman]

I must be the lucky one, I've had a Jet 14-40 for right around 10 years and use it nearly every weekend .. . other than blowing out the belt compartment and shooting some oil on the bearing I've never had a problem. Tim

Me too! My Jet 1442 is at least seven years old (I purchased it used) and nary a problem, and I typically turn large irregular bowl blanks. In fact, I think I'll finally be replacing one of the pulleys soon, but after daily use for all those years, that's not bad.

[William C Rogers]

The problem with reeves drive and step pulley is the low end speed is 500 rpm +-. That said unless you have a very balanced bowl blank its a little fast for bowls. Spindles no problem.
YMMV
Wayne Kuhn

Not all PM 90's. Mine is about 300 low speed. I have no problem doing 11" bowls. That said I dream of a larger lathe with electronics. That is what I will get as soon as I wear this one out.

[Bill White]

Reeves drives just need to be maintained. Clean, lubed, good belts. Mine (Grizz) is about 12 years old with no probs.
The electronics required for the VS lathes are beyond my maintaining level.
Yep! I'm a dinosaur.
Bill

[David Glynn]

Thanks all, lots of good info and food for thought.

Where are the best places for finding replacement parts? In particular the Reeves pulleys on the Jet lathes?

[Bill Boehme]

The Reeves drive pulleys are not standard off-the-shelf items ... they are specific to only the lathe model that you have. This means that you will have to go to the manufacturer or US distributor and hope that they still stock parts if it is out of production. These days it is not unusual for a machine to be a EOL'ed as soon as it is out of production. Occasionally a parts dealer will buy up a manufacturer's parts inventory, but their selling price is liable to be rather steep. For example, in 2004 the motor pulley was $15 and the spindle pulley was $30 on my Delta 1440 lathe with Reeves drive. Several years after it was out of production, those same pulleys listed for about $100 and $300 respectively. The price didn't really matter since they weren't available anyway.

[david privett]

I would say one of the big drawbacks is no reverse .

[Russell Neyman]

Reeves [/COLOR]pulleys on the Jet lathes?

Jet has them, but be forewarned: when you log on to their website you must have the exact part number or you won't be able to locate it. I bellyached to them about it a while back, arguing that a simple "keyword search" would do wonders, but they poo-pooed my point.

[Roy Turbett]

I can't speak to the new asian made machines but I've rebuilt four Powermatic 90's including a 1955 first year of production and the reeves drives are very sturdy cast iron that require little if any maintenance. It is not even mentioned in the manual. The 1955 is the only one of the four reeves drives that shows any appreciable wear and that is to the positioning pins that the moveable sheave slides on. It also lacks the self lubricating brass sleeve that is found on later models. That said, the reeves drive still works but it is a little louder than my 1980 model until it finds itself after changing speeds. Both have 1 hp 3 phase motors with VFD's that run on standard 240v. In absolute terms the range on the 1955 is 0-4000 RPM, but in practice is more like 300-4000 RPM. The 1980 has a jackshaft that can be configured with different drive and motor pulleys. In absolute terms it has a speed range of 0-3000 RPM, but in practice is more like 200-3000 RPM. Both lathes have 3" riser blocks which gives them 18" of swing.

[Geoff Whaling]

The bad rap that Reeves Drives get comes mostly from very low end budget lathes with crap cast metal conical pulleys and lack of maintenance. Plenty of high end lathes including Vicmarc used Reeves Drives on their lathes in the 1980's - they were akin to the popularity of EVS now.