Tough pulley removal - need suggestions

[Matt Mattingley]

I set Guide pins, gears, sprockets and plates... quite often. We call it an interference fit. We always freeze or heat. Any motors we use Loctite 620 and no freezing. Just a little bit of heat will reveal if Loctite is your culprit. As I said before, you will see this liquid candy pushing out of the fit if it is not interference. Sure, any hydraulic press will break this retaining compound. I’ve even driven pins in that have a 0.010 interference fit with a 800 ton press with no locking compound. It would probably need a 1600 ton press to remove this with new weld fit.
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[Matt Day]

If I do resort to heat, would MAPP gas be preferred over propane?

[Carl Beckett]

Doubtful. My guess is it was whatever the company was cutting with it. Maybe sound insulation for inside the pianos or something. I briefly looked up how pianos are made and there’s some felt in there and some other felt-ish looking stuff.

I’m going to start soaking the pulley tonight.

Agree it looks unrelated to how the pulley might be attached.

[Robert Engel]

On the pulley, with no grub screw, my guess is a tapered shaft/press fit.

[Bill Dufour]

Mapp gas ceased to be made around 2008. the current MAPP-pro gas only burns 100 degrees hotter then propane. I assume it has more heat then a propane flame. Waste of money for heating a pulley, if you have time to wait, a little longer for the temperature to go up. Probably safer to use propane, less chance of warping and cracking.
Bill D.

[Bill Dufour]

At yard sales I pick up twist lock electrical plugs,cheap. When I pull a difficult motor, like this bandsaw, I cut the cord and install a male/female twist lock on the motor supply. Any future motor work will be much easier and at a minimum I do not have to stand on my head to reconnect the motor wires.

[Matt Day]

Thanks Bill, for both tips.

[Matt Day]

Got it. Big puller and it came slowly with a decent amount of pressure. Thanks guys. Now to see what the motor looks like, guessing red!

[robert wiggins]

Pulley re-install will be interesting.

[Matt Day]

I’ll freeze the pulley which should help. I might do a light sanding of the shaft to take a thou or two off, and add a drill and tap for a set screw.

[Al Launier]

Glad to see you had success. Obviously I'm late with a suggestion, but what I've done in the past providing the motor casing is substantial enough behind the shaft & is sufficient to withstand the pressure is to use 3 bolt & nut combinations (making them up if needed) & install them between the sheave/pulley & motor. Unscrew the nut to apply a bit of pressure at a time while tapping as you go. Doing this slowly will pop the pulley. Although a wheel puller works well I've always feared breaking the outer diameter flange; the use of bolts would not. The downside with the use of bolts would be a motor casing that is not beefy enough to support the pressure of the bolts. Care is needed here.

[Al Launier]

I’ll freeze the pulley which should help. I might do a light sanding of the shaft to take a thou or two off, and add a drill and tap for a set screw.

You might also apply some anti-seize to the shaft once sanded.

[Andrew Seemann]

It would be heating the pulley for reassembly; it needs to be larger, same as for disassembly. I suppose you could dip the shaft in liquid nitrogen instead

If the motor has a standard shaft size, it might make more sense and be a lot easier to just find a regular set screw pulley from Graingers, McMaster, etc.

[Peter Christensen]

You would heat the pulley to mount it. If you cool it it shrinks and the hole gets tighter making it harder to put on. Put the pulley in the oven at 250ºF to 300ºF and it will probably slip on without the need for a press.

Andrew types faster than I do.

[Al Launier]

If you are looking to have a set screw are you able to drill & tap a threaded hole through the hub, even if at a slight angle, or, if there is enough wall thickness at the bottom of the pulley "V" drill/tap there but keep the head of the set screw below & lock with Blue Loctite.