Reeves drive is getting on my last nerve!

The Craftsman lathe with Reeves drive was freed again this evening. I would think as much as I keep sanding on it, there would have to be running clearance before long! Tried graphite for lube the last six or eight times but if I turn every day or two I might get twenty or thirty hours between teardowns. If the drive sits on my open back porch with a tarp over it a few weeks without being used it is almost a given it will jam.

I put it together with some thick nasty moly wheel bearing grease this time. Concerned about the dust issue but so far it isn't getting enough running hours on it to get dusty!

Need some pieces ready for a weekend sale the first weekend of November. Maybe a dozen just need a little sanding and finish or are ready but I'd like to have six or eight more pieces. The sale is kind of a long shot, it is part of what they call a fifteen mile yard sale. Will have the work at my sister's antique shop so at least some of the people stopping in are expecting to finds stuff at more than junk prices but I'll have to see how it goes. If nothing else I should get some comments and feedback.

Hu
 
I've felt your pain. Now you know why most of us who've owned that lathe eventually replaced it. ;) But it's good to see you're making some product with yours. :thumb: Mine more than paid for itself.
 
I had a Jet 1442 with a reeves drive and i had no problems with it over 5 years of use. Never replaced the belt. Sold it to a newbie in my turning club and it is still working. I think you will ultimately only be happy when you upgrade from Craftsman. Harbor freight is not an upgrade. Grizzly may be but I only have experience with their table saws. Don't kill the old lathe; fix the speed at 1000-1300rpm and make it a buffing station. The Delta and Jet Midi lathes have variable speed and have many happy loyal owners. Christmas is coming up....hint, hint.
 
I'm a Chip off the 'ol block here...I know...had to do it!:rofl::rofl:. I had the famous HF 14x48 $100 POC and moved up...anything was a move up!! Some of the Grizzly stuff, General and my favorite...Jets are hard to beat! If you have the chance to try a couple out...do so! But there is no way I'd think of a HF as an upgrade...unless you want to talk about metal lathes?
 
I have a little history with lathes, actually own three at the moment, two in storage. I have a highly modified pool cue building lathe not the repair lathe, a small metal lathe, and the Craftsman wood lathe. I actually bought one of the Harbor Fright wood lathes back when they were very cheap. Sat around and gathered dust awhile and I gave it to a friend. Maybe that is why he quit calling me. Oh yeah, I actually own three and a half lathes, I bought half of a Jet mini that is in storage. Probably sturdier than this Craftsman that is three times it's size but my brother wants to turn pens someday and he gets that lathe.

I also owned a Jet 14x40 metal lathe. The machine worked fine but I found out it was a lot like sausage, best you don't know how it is made! I had to go into the carriage first thing to fix a broken lock. The lock appeared to have been made by impressing a shape into dry sand and pouring it full of metal. Rattiest looking casting I have ever seen and that is saying some! Much of the rest of the innards were scarcely better. Machining halfnuts for the lathe should have helped accuracy a bunch but I never got around to it. No issues with accuracy as long as I didn't reverse direction anyway. When I went into the headstock I found the same thing, all of Jet's efforts to make something nice are spent on the outside. Even at that they tend to have bondo filler on the outside of the main castings before painting, the castings aren't nearly as nice as they look. Years ago the story was that all of the castings came from the same government ran foundry be it a Jet, Griz, or whatever. Seemed to be true when you looked them over. No idea if that has changed or not.

Having said all that, I'm going to hold my nose closed as firmly as possible with my left hand and buy a 3220B if I get able to. The Vega 2600 lathe is the cheapest that might fill my needs and the 3520 is much cheaper than any other lathe that has a movable headstock which I need. Not getting another pivoting headstock after my experience with the Craftsman and I need to minimize bending and twisting since my lower back doesn't actually do either one anyway. Like many of us in the states, if a large chunk of cash were to drop into my lap the American Beauty would be a no brainer to purchase. Barring a miracle, there will be a few steps in between one and the Craftsman if an American Beauty ever happens at all.

Making the lathe into a buffing station is definitely an idea as is maybe keeping it as just a sanding and finishing unit. Sure would like to shoot it but I hate cutting off my nose to spite my face! Maybe I'll just shoot it a little bit, then I'll stab it, just a little bit. After that I'll hang it a little, then maybe a small fire . . . It will take a manly effort but I'll try to stay away from the HE.

Was cleaning up some pieces I will offer at the sale in two weeks and took this snap. Lousy picture and the pieces run from "sign somebody else's name to them" to barely acceptable but I have to admit between cussing it and working on the Reeves drive I have turned out a little bit of stuff on the Craftsman. Hope to get some more turned this week, have to see how it goes like everything else. This shows about half the stuff I have turned with the gray and white thing second from the bottom, second from the right being one of the last things I have turned. The bean pot looking thing sorta modeled after Mexican pottery in the middle on top is another recent turning.

Hu
 

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You will not regret buying a PM 3520B.....please join the Mustard Monster club. And there is nothing wrong with the Jet 1642 either. Vega owners sing their praises, too, although I have never turned on one.

Nice looking pieces. They don't look like they have any finish yet which will make the colors really pop.
 
Can't speak for your machine but I had a Grizzly for six years and used much with no problems. In that time it went through four belts and one of those was defective, not the machines fault. I finally sold it to a professional turner who has sent me, not one, but two handwritten letters thanking me for selling it to him. In use it required minimal maintenance. I think I only used WD-40 on the shaft a few times for lube and cleaned occasionally. I'm surmising the Reeves system is not the problem with your lathe but other factors might be at work. From your post I'm guessing maybe over lubeing. But, dunno really. Good luck.
 
Hu,
You didn't say where your machine is jamming... I have a Jet 1442 that I've had some problems with the Reeves unit... I have for all practical purposes rebuilt the inside of my head stock... there's two places on the Jet that seem to create most of the problems... the bearing that fits inside the tear drop doohicky (obviously I don't have a name for the part) but the bearing slides along the head stock shaft when you change speeds... this shaft will get dusty and dirty from the wood dust and the rubber dust off the belt and can jam up the bearing so that it doesn't slide... the bearing will stick and slide out of the holder... a repair man suggested I put a few drops of Locktite on the outer bearing bearing race and that does seem to help.

I try to keep the drive shaft as clean as possible, and Jet says to lube it, but not with graphite... WD40 seems to work best as a lube for me, although it's not the best (according to Jet).

The other place I have trouble is with the motor pulleys that open and close on the motor shaft to change the drive speeds.
The drive pulleys are the most troublesome for me... I've had the key way slot wallow out a little and not hold the aluminum pulley ridgid... it will shift sideways slightly and the teeth will meet point to point instead of meshing... then not open or close when you are changing speeds. That is the most difficult fix as it's hard to move just one of the pulleys back a bit so it can be shifted back into place. One fix would be if the pulleys were of a harder metal than aluminum. I also had problems with the set screws slipping and letting the pulleys be pushed up agains the motor housing and misaligning the belt, which causes it to wear prematurely. To solve that a friend and I put washers between the inside pulley and the motor housing so it can't slip into the motor housing... seems to work pretty well and haven't had that happen since.

My lathe has been a real work horse and I'm usually on it at least 5 days out of 7. If and when I can replace it, I will definitely go to an EVS speed control.
 
Frank, Chip,

I do agree that the Jet and I suspect the Powermatic both function just fine. After some tweaking that was actually an issue with a third party chuck that was at the limits of tolerances without being rejected I turned out some very high precision work with my Jet metal lathe. I have spent hundreds of hours on small and medium sized Jet lathes and mills in a machine shop that have thousands of hours on them. The shop finally wore out a bearing in the mill head and they purchased an entire new head. That mill probably had twenty thousand hours on it. The working quality of the Jet is plenty adequate. I was very disappointed when I took mine apart and found that the build finish quality was only skin deep. Been inside old iron that was designed and built to last several lifetimes so my expectations were a bit unrealistic. I'm not going to pay triple the price for a Bridgeport mill now built in Taiwan, I'd buy the Jet. My J-head Bridgeport the same age I was is far better than either. It isn't just a love of old iron, far better designs and no corners cut. The J-head was considered light duty, still far better made than anything near that size today and out of better iron.

I do hate sending my money to china but that is another issue all together. I like equipment I can trust. Quite right I'll never be happy with this Craftsman. I don't know if the thing will work today. There is no way to lubricate it except to tear it down. I have been using colloidal graphite to lube it because of the dust issue and lubing about every eight to twelve hours of use by lack of choice! Trying moly wheel bearing grease this time, doubt it runs long enough for grease to be an issue. Out of love with this lathe to put it mildly. Just damned it mightily on another forum when someone was looking at a similar beast. I do know that some of the reeves drives that can be lubed without disassembly perform pretty well and the fact this one lives under a tarp on my back patio with two sides open doesn't help things.

I'm very tired of working on the lathe seemingly every time I go to turn wood and I can't afford to upgrade at the moment. Just ain't a happy camper!

Hu
 
Chuck,

We were posting at the same time and I missed yours. The half sheaves top and bottom are out of steel, actually looks like cast something or another. The half pulleys keep freezing up, sometimes top, sometimes bottom, when I first tried to use it after sitting for years, both. Corrosion the first time, not unreasonable. None too sure why they freeze up now, just to be contrary apparently! Been considering opening up the running clearances quite a bit and probably will one day when I am really annoyed.



Chip,

These pieces have cut lacquer on them or maybe more accurate to say, in them. I thoroughly saturate the surface and let dry. It pulls into the wood and protects it while looking unfinished. I'm building up a few coats of lacquer on some pieces now, others I will just sand and wax for a satin finish and the feel of no surface build up at all. One or two of the rougher looking pieces I will probably just lightly sand and leave rustic looking. Trying to offer choices and see what people like.

Hu
 
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious here, but you're storing this machine outside, under a tarp, in southern Louisiana? I assume it's rusting up from the humidity.
 
would seem reasonable ...

David,

Would seem to be a reasonable assumption except none of my other bare steel on the lathe is rusting, neither are the exposed parts of the sheaves. The machine is under roof, no direct rain on the tarp. I'm about as far north as you can be in south Louisiana and when checking rainfall there is a teardrop shaped anomaly of dryer climate I am in the middle of. That matters because further south where I have lived most my life between the rain and humidity the ground can get so saturated that we create our own climate and weather system. I'm between 200-250 feet above sea level here too, a far cry from most of the land below the I-10/I-12 line that is typically less than ten feet above sea level even before I-10 drops down to New Orleans. It doesn't really matter, a few people get an example of this machine they like, others all over the country hammer it pretty severely, mostly about the malfunctioning Reeves drive. The company that made it got completely out of the wood lathe business last I knew although they still make other equipment and Sears likes to pretend this one never existed.

Hu
 
Hu I tried, without success, to find the link to the web site for the China factory that builds so many tools under many brands that a lot of people think are American made. However, Jet and Grizzly tools often come off the same assembly line in that factory. And many of them look near-identical. I much prefer buying American but most of us don't have a choice. I'm not even sure if there is an American made brand of home shop quality lathe made in the U.S.
 
talking about where things are made . . .

Hu I tried, without success, to find the link to the web site for the China factory that builds so many tools under many brands that a lot of people think are American made. However, Jet and Grizzly tools often come off the same assembly line in that factory. And many of them look near-identical. I much prefer buying American but most of us don't have a choice. I'm not even sure if there is an American made brand of home shop quality lathe made in the U.S.


Frank,

We have a tough time competing with under a dollar an hour labor costs but if that isn't bad enough our companies and corporations are often competing against the chinese government. Not a lot has changed in decades other than the players. Japan's government systematically targeted one area after another of our market to destroy competition from our own manufacturers. That is why the last I knew there wasn't a TV made in the US and a dirty little secret, our military isn't functional without parts and equipment supplied by places like japan. Of course the japanese outsource to china and other places and china outsources to north korea and other even more destitute economies. We can't buy a piece of electronics or a car, anything with very many components, without sending our money overseas. I try to minimize the flow but without much success. I may buy the Vega over the 3520 purely to minimize the flow of my money overseas but I may give in to practicality too. At least I have a choice, wood lathes are one of the few places we can still get something over 95% made in the US or Canada.

Things are confusing too. When we were annoyed with japan a few years back a town canceled it's order with Kubota and bought John Deere. The Kubota was made in the US and the John Deere in japan! Don't think it is true now but a few decades back there wasn't a tractor under 100HP made in the US. It's a sad and sorry world we live in and I think I have just derailed my own thread! :D Started off as a rant anyway, I guess one rant is as good as another!

Hu
 
Hi, I can't disagree with you. It is a mess. The tractor industry is an amazing, and scary, situation. Tractors are really multi-national bolted together components from all over the world. Components come from Czechloslovakia, Italy, India, China, etc. Before I gave up my farm I had to buy back tires (big :eek: ) for my tractor. The only ones available were from Czechloslovakia, I wasn't a happy customer that day, especially for the price.
 
Frank,

Some of those big tires are still hand laid up. Such short runs that is still the cheapest way to make them but as you no doubt discovered, that ain't cheap!

My 75HP John Deere 2750 had an engine in it made in France. Never considered France as a place with heavy industry but it was a good engine that sipped diesel. Burned about a gallon an hour! I run a much newer 32 horse John Deere of my brother's, it burns more diesel than my old dinosaur did.

My dad bought new back tires for his tractor; a monster, the second biggest John Deere made. Got into some black locust thorns with one tire before the molding marks were worn off of those tires. He spent days busting that tire by hand, finding all the thorns he could, hot patching the tube, and putting things back together again. Problem was the thorns didn't show and couldn't be felt inside or outside but when pressure was put on them as the tire rolled they would puncture the tube. After days of working on that one tire can to can't he finally had to give up and buy another. Those tires were $200 or more each, quite a sum in the fifties! Oh yeah, that monster tractor was 36HP and did two rows at a time.

Hu
 
Hu, I have such a craftsman lathe in my school shop. Thought my unheated shop was also the problem. Took it to school. Followed Vaughn's and other printed tear down on the reeves drive system. Didn't last two days. Tore it down again, again not long. Like you, I just can't bring myself to sell it to someone else. Putting my beal system on it might be its salvation. Otherwise, a bullet through its brain, I like your idea. 44 mag from Ruger Super Blackhawk or 454 Casull, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, choices, always so many choices. It gets a stay of execution until I heal!:rolleyes:
 
Hi, I can't disagree with you. It is a mess. The tractor industry is an amazing, and scary, situation. Tractors are really multi-national bolted together components from all over the world. Components come from Czechloslovakia, Italy, India, China, etc. Before I gave up my farm I had to buy back tires (big :eek: ) for my tractor. The only ones available were from Czechloslovakia, I wasn't a happy customer that day, especially for the price.

I found this to be somewhat enlightening: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tractors_built_by_other_companies
Granted it lacks the dimension of time so misses the many made by this company then that company then the other.. but still interesting to see how many brands are only made by a few manufacturers in the end (and I'd bet a wet donut that a lot of those from "different" companies come from the same foundries).
 
Frank,

Some of those big tires are still hand laid up. Such short runs that is still the cheapest way to make them but as you no doubt discovered, that ain't cheap!

My 75HP John Deere 2750 had an engine in it made in France. Never considered France as a place with heavy industry but it was a good engine that sipped diesel. Burned about a gallon an hour! I run a much newer 32 horse John Deere of my brother's, it burns more diesel than my old dinosaur did.

My dad bought new back tires for his tractor; a monster, the second biggest John Deere made. Got into some black locust thorns with one tire before the molding marks were worn off of those tires. He spent days busting that tire by hand, finding all the thorns he could, hot patching the tube, and putting things back together again. Problem was the thorns didn't show and couldn't be felt inside or outside but when pressure was put on them as the tire rolled they would puncture the tube. After days of working on that one tire can to can't he finally had to give up and buy another. Those tires were $200 or more each, quite a sum in the fifties! Oh yeah, that monster tractor was 36HP and did two rows at a time.

Hu

Mine were for a Massey-Harris 44D, the tires were almost $400.00 each about six years ago.
 
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