Westley Rosenbaum
Member
- Messages
- 229
- Location
- Vernon, WI
Hello everyone, I have the 15" Craftsman lathe and had some issues with it last night. I started it up last night to work on a project for my uncle and noticed that when I tried to swing at lower speeds (400-600ish), the lathe was not spinning at all. It did grab as I went faster, but even around 800 or so with a nice heavy cut I was able to stop the wood from spinning. Hhhmmm So I checked some stuff out online and ripped my lathe apart. At first I thought I was lucky and came accross this site. But the pictures and instructions are not very clear to me by the end. In the 2nd and 3rd to last pictures, it seems as though he's saying to loosen the "motor pivot bolt" and the he is wedging the motor towards the back Is he just tightening the small belt that is connected to the shaft of the motor?
... I do not even know that this is what I'm trying to achieve. This might be hard to explain or visualize if you don't have this lathe, but the speed control knob is threaded on one end, and whether loosened or tightened, moves this pivoting arm either forwards or backwards. This arm pushes on a tapered pulley that when turned to a faster speed, pushes the pulley in more, causing the belt to grab further out on the pulley and speeds up the lathe. In my case, when the control knob is turned all the way down to 400rpm, there is a good amount of slack between that pivoting arm and the pulley so the belt is not even grabbing the bottom pulley therefor not spinning until I get to a higher speed (around 800).
Sorry if that is hard to understand, though I'm sure this is not the only lathe out there with this sort of setup so hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about The only thing I can think of is if my belt is worn down enough that it is too narrow and won't grab the pulley at a low speed. There is a decent amount of rubber residue and grime inside the housing but my lathe isn't even 2 years old and I sure as heck don't use it everyday, so that's why I wasn't sure if it could be that or not. Anyone have this lathe or can help me out in anyway? Any help much appreciated everyone. Think I just need a new belt?
... I do not even know that this is what I'm trying to achieve. This might be hard to explain or visualize if you don't have this lathe, but the speed control knob is threaded on one end, and whether loosened or tightened, moves this pivoting arm either forwards or backwards. This arm pushes on a tapered pulley that when turned to a faster speed, pushes the pulley in more, causing the belt to grab further out on the pulley and speeds up the lathe. In my case, when the control knob is turned all the way down to 400rpm, there is a good amount of slack between that pivoting arm and the pulley so the belt is not even grabbing the bottom pulley therefor not spinning until I get to a higher speed (around 800).
Sorry if that is hard to understand, though I'm sure this is not the only lathe out there with this sort of setup so hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about The only thing I can think of is if my belt is worn down enough that it is too narrow and won't grab the pulley at a low speed. There is a decent amount of rubber residue and grime inside the housing but my lathe isn't even 2 years old and I sure as heck don't use it everyday, so that's why I wasn't sure if it could be that or not. Anyone have this lathe or can help me out in anyway? Any help much appreciated everyone. Think I just need a new belt?