Reeves drive sticking

[Jake Helmboldt]

Earlier in the year I picked up a Jet 1236 new in box for a song (~$150). I contemplated selling/trading but based on feedback I decided that for the price it was a good way to test the turning waters.

It has been in storage for a couple year from what I gather. So, I put it together yesterday and I experienced what I was afraid of; the reeves drive is gummed up. It was stiff at first but adjusted from high down to low. However, I can't get it to go back up to high speed. It did free up a bit and now shifts through the first 3 or so speeds but won't go any higher. The hande itself moves and the mechanism moves the length of the shaft but the the sheeve doesn't continue to separate (i.e. a gap opens between the sheeve and the mechanism that shifts it). I sprayed WD-40 on the shaft hoping to loosen up the grease and it is cold here so I'm sure that hasn't helped with the lubrication.

So I have three questions:

1. How do I free up the drive to travel the rest of the length of the shaft?
2. I believe creeker Paul Engle mentioned lubing it with a grease gun. Is there a small port to accomplish this?
3. In general what kind of maintenance is needed to keep it moving freely?

thanks, JH

[Curt Fuller]

On my old Oliver it has a grease fitting at the end of the shaft that lubes the Reeves pulley. But every year or so it will get gummed up from sawdust, etc and I take it apart, clean and lube it, and it's good as new. Your jet could possibly even have some rust on the shaft that would clean up with some emory cloth. Be careful taking it apart. The spring that pushes the pulley is pretty strong and can smack you a good one when you remove the retainer clip. DAMHIKT!

[Steve Busey]

The Reeves on my dad's old Sears lathe froze up on me, so I ended up getting a $30 gear puller at the auto parts store and pulled both gears off, cleaned up the drive shaft with some steel wool, added some lithium lube, and put it all back together. And yes, watch the spring. I built a little gizmo with a board (with a hole to remove and later replace the C clip) and a couple clamps to let the tension adjust slowly. HTH

[Paul Engle]

Jake,
On the end of the shaft there is a ball check which takes grease like in the old days of zerk fittings, this be on the motor shaft , it is best to dissasemble this also to clean and repack (you will need a C clip pliers to get the retaining ring off ) and be sure to run some thru the ball check to make sure the inner shaft is full and then once a month I would put two or three good squirts thru it till it comes out, wipe off the execess, the reeves pully on the spindle you will have to take apart to CLEAN first then reassemble ( I use hi temp wheel bearing grease on both , kind that is designed for disc brake spindles ) , you will need a C clip pliers to get the retaining ring off the spindle end , slide everything off , clean good inside and out , take out the shaft connecting the moveable side of reeves to the stroking handle pivot shaft with mineral spirits ,not gas or diesel , wipe dry, let evaporate a few minutes then coat all with the good grease, test stroke the glide before you assemble so you do not have to fight the spring.SHOULD NOT BE RUNNING to do this.It is a good idea to take off the stroke handle controler and clean and grease this also with a light coating.If you run into any problems holler . BTW I replaced my AC motor with a VS DC and electionic control as the motor from Jet the shaft is not standard size so I can run from 20 rpm to 3000, I changed over to a sealed VSP pulley ( 30$ ebay)on the motor and it requires no maint...You cannot do that on the Jet AC motor as the sneaky rascals machined it down to non standard size to make the whole unit proprietary.....so when your pulley wears a groove in it ( they are aluminum) you will have to go to them and the unit is spendy.Give me a shout if you need help and I can walk you thru the process of cleaning and assembley over the phone if need be.
Paul

[Jake Helmboldt]

Thanks guys. I'm in the airport waiting to get home from the holidays so I've not had a chance to use your advice. But I did use a low temp paint heat gun to warm up the shaft the other day before leaving and that actually freed things up (until the freezing overnight lows in my unheated shop got it stuck again.)

I'll be sure to clean it off and get some fresh lube in there and it should be good to go.

thanks again.

JH

[Jeff Nicol]

My cheapo lathe had the same problem and that is why it now has a Vfd and a 3 phase motor for variable control. Mine had no fittings for any grease, but over time the fine dust would pack in around the pulleys and jam it up so I took it apart a few times but got tired of that. The best thing that worked the longest was dry graphite powder. Tried oil etc. but just made it jam up quicker. So now I have full variable speed and no noise or goofy handle to turn or get in the way.

Good luck and enjoy the lathe no matter what!

Jeff

[Mike Ragsdale]

One thing I did not see mentioned here is if your drive still has a metal key replace it with the nylon version. This will solve many of the sticking problems and reduce the noise also.

Mike