Lathe problems

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 :huh: 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 :dunno: 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 :dunno: 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?
 
It sound like a Reeves(sp) drive and one of the drive wheels are not moving in and out like it should maybe the one that you said is real dirty. Clean it up as best you can and use some WD-40 to make it move in and out.

This is only a guess as I haven't seen this lathe.

Jay
 
It sound like a Reeves(sp) drive and one of the drive wheels are not moving in and out like it should maybe the one that you said is real dirty. Clean it up as best you can and use some WD-40 to make it move in and out.

This is only a guess as I haven't seen this lathe.

Jay

Ah yes, Reeves drive that is what it's called. Thanks for the response, Jay. Actually the pulley that is moved by the arm is moving, just that when it's completely backed off (400rpm), the belt is not grabbing it. I'm leaning towards a new belt, but maybe there's something I'm missing yet :dunno:
 
Westley, I had that same lathe, and saw your exact problem a few times. I think Jay nailed it. Your belt is slipping on the Reeves drive at lower speeds because one of the sliding pulleys is stuck, at least partway.

The upper pulley has a very heavy spring on it that constantly tries to push the two pulley sheaves together. My guess is the sliding sheave is getting stuck before it can close the gap all the way.

Here's what it looks like without the belt. (For now, ignore the hardware on the left...it's a rig I built for removing the spring.) The two sheaves of the upper pulley are touching:

Reeves Drive No Belt.jpg

And here's what it looks like with the belt in place. The outer edge of the belt should be almost flush with the edge of the upper pulley:

Reeves Drive Low Speed.jpg

The first time mine was stuck, I wrestled the belt off, and there was a gap of about 1/2" between the upper sheaves. I started tapping on it lightly with a dead blow hammer, and all of a sudden WHAM! They slammed shut faster than a mousetrap. I was VERY glad I didn't have my fingers in there. It would have probably meant a trip to the ER to get the tips of my fingers sewn up.

Anyway, see if you can get some graphite or other non-sticky lube on the places where the upper sheave slides, and see if you can get it unstuck. If not, or if it keeps happening repeatedly, then you'll probably need to remove the spring and outer sheave to clean up the shaft better. If you get to that point, let me know. I did it enough times, you might as well avoid the mistakes I made. ;)
 
............... Here's what it looks like without the belt. (For now, ignore the hardware on the left...it's a rig I built for removing the spring.) The two sheaves of the upper pulley are touching...............

Holy cow, that looks like you sacrificed the long end of a Bessey clamp for your puller :eek:
 
Holy cow, that looks like you sacrificed the long end of a Bessey clamp for your puller :eek:

You're right about the clamp bar, but it was from a ultra-cheap imported clamp that was useless. (I think four 48" clamps cost me something like $10 on eBay, and it was $10 wasted.) It's just a little shorter now, and it's still useless. :p
 
What Jay and Vaughn said.
After two years and obvious gunk around, do replace the belt. Easier now than later. Just cut it. Clean up the whole area. Without the belt you can work the pulley with the control lever. Open the top pulley and lube. I like a lube called Break Free, it cleans and leaves a Teflon deposit on all surfaces. Reeves drives do require some maintenance but that is a small trade off for what they do for you with only a small investment. I used on happily for six years. BTW, I replace my belt four times in those years. Once after only a short while due to a defective belt. So with two years of use you are right on track. Get as good a belt as you can find. I have been told those from NAPA are very good.
 
...Get as good a belt as you can find. I have been told those from NAPA are very good.

Unfortunately, I was only able to find the belts for my lathe like this from Sears, although I'd guess Palmgren (who made the lathe) also sell them. Both the Reeves belt and the drive belt are oddball sizes and profiles, and the typical belt suppliers don't seem to carry them.

Still, you're right about Reeve drives being a pretty good bang for the buck as long as you keep everything maintained.

Westley, if the edges of the Reeves belt are looking a bit frayed, it's probably time to replace it. Be forewarned that Sears is pretty proud of those belts...I think I paid $35 or $40 for the ones I bought.
 
Don't know if it would work, but woudl a link belt make installation easier? I know a guy with an old craftsman lathe, just step pulleys, that cut the old one and then replaced it with a link belt so he didn't have to take the spindle out of the bearings. Maybe the belts on reeves drives are different? :dunno:
 
Don't know if it would work, but woudl a link belt make installation easier? I know a guy with an old craftsman lathe, just step pulleys, that cut the old one and then replaced it with a link belt so he didn't have to take the spindle out of the bearings. Maybe the belts on reeves drives are different? :dunno:

Jeff I was just curious did the old Craftsman have the tube style ways? I'm thinking not. But if it did all he had to do is remove the cover & replace the belt.
 
Don't know if it would work, but woudl a link belt make installation easier? I know a guy with an old craftsman lathe, just step pulleys, that cut the old one and then replaced it with a link belt so he didn't have to take the spindle out of the bearings. Maybe the belts on reeves drives are different? :dunno:

No on the links. Won't work. Installation is easy. With the top pulley fully opened, just work the belt over the bottom pulley first then the top. Do not move lever until power on, then work back and forth a couple times. Belt will self-adjust.
 
Wes,
If you've never used them, the Belt Store in Lafayette, LA has just about anything you might need... they are inexpensive without being cheap in quality. I bought 3 belts for my Jet 1014 plus shipping for the same price as one from Jet...

Try: www.beltsforanything.com
or call them at: 337-235 9736

I recommend them highly.
 
Well here I am responding to something that you have all helped me on 6 months ago! Kids these days. I haven't been on here in so long, although I have been quickly pondering posts when I get the chance. Thanks for everyone's replies! I have quite a few threads to start and show you guys some pictures. Hope it's not too late to show you the Christmas presents I made 5 months ago lol.

Jay and Vaughn, you nailed it. Jay I'm sorry if it seemed I didn't have faith in you at first. That was not the case, I was just confused with what the problem was and what I was even looking for :doh: The bottom pulley was moving, and that's what I was looking at, but the TOP pulley was stuck open. I didn't even know that one moved :huh:

But I ripped it all apart and built something very similar to what you've made to take off the top pulley, Vaughn. Worked very well, thanks for the pic!

So as I continue to make things on the lathe over the past few months, one day I notice that my lathe is stuck at 2,000, won't go any slower. Looks like it's time to rip it apart again. Hopefully I can lube it up enough to prevent this from happening anytime soon. As I noticed this problem I thought to myself "hmm I don't think I ever responded to that post about my lathe getting stuck 6 months ago" :doh: Sorry everyone. Thanks for your help I really do appreciate it. Now it's time to head down to the shed and tackle this thing.
 
Westley I also had this same lathe. When I removed the pulleys and belt I would take some fine crocus cloth and clean the shaft. Also glued some crocus cloth to a piece of wood that fit the slot in the pulley for the keeper to clean it out. Then wiped it all down with mineral spirits. I used a dry lube on it. It would last maybe 6 months or so. Also keep a eye on the speed change mechanism. It wears pretty bad and can cause a lot of headaches. I replaced all those levers I think twice in 2 yrs. Like Vaughn said if your belts have any fraying to them they need replaced. There are 3 belts and they are pretty pricey. I think the one on the motor and the big one are around $75 or so. I got so tired of taken it down all the time I just got rid of it for parts giving it to another guy that had one. I bought the Nova DVR XP and he got tired of fixing his all the time so he bought the Jet 1642.
 
Well Bernie I have to be honest that does not sound very promising lol. I appreciate the honesty and thanks for the heads up and advice. Looks like I'm going to be doing this quite a few times. Not long after I got it, it started making a noise while it ran. It's a hard noise to explain but I'm sure it has something to do with the pulleys or reeves drive system. It has been making that noise ever since. But it was given to me as a gift by my family so I'm going to get all the use out of it I can. Someday I will upgrade but for now I'll have to deal with whatever it throws at me. Thanks for the help everyone :thumb:
 
Dale I'm about 5/6 hours from Minneapolis, I'm pretty much in the Southeast corner of WI. I appreciate the offer but for now I'm going to hang onto the Craftsman lathe. Plus I enjoy turning large bowls. Maybe someday when I have extra cash and more room I will get a mini to do pens and such, but for now I'm going to stick to what I have, thanks for the offer though!

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours thoroughly going through my lathe. This time it was the bottom pulley that was stuck. But I took both the top and bottom pulleys apart and cleaned them up really well. I also went over the tailstock. I've always noticed it had a little bit of play in it but I never did anything about it. Now I cut up a soda can into little metal shims and shimmed the tailstock until it was perfectly lined up center to center at the points with the headstock. It's nice and solid, no play, yet still slides smoothly. That mixed with the new Nova live center I bought awhile back should be a good combo :thumb: I always noticed when I made pens there would be a liiiiiiittle more material on one side of the brass tube than the other. Hopefully I've fixed the problem by shimming the tailstock. Time will tell :dunno:
 
I always noticed when I made pens there would be a liiiiiiittle more material on one side of the brass tube than the other.

Check your mandrel to see if it has any 'bend' or runout on it.

I used to make the mistake of over tightening the tail stock when I made pens.

It would bend the mandrel ever so slightly.

Even a cheap dial indicator an magnetic base from Harbor Freight can help to see if the mandrel is bent.

You can use setup to tweak it back into straightness with light tabs with your hand. :thumb:
 
Ah yes good point, Brent. Haven't thought of that. I may have snugged it up a little too much once or twice. Although I've been cautious of that everytime I tighten it. Who knows, could have done it. Thanks for pointing that out
 
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