Reeves drive question

Roger Tulk

Member
Messages
3,018
Location
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
I was turning a candle holder yesterday, at about 800 rpm. These things are about 3.75" in diameter once I get them rounded off, and I was at this point, when I found that the roughing gouge was stopping the piece, without a lot of pressure put on the gouge. I suspected the belt may be loose, so I took the cover off, blew away the dust, and found that the drive is looking even better than it did the last time I looked at it. Previously, it had started to become loose at about half speed, so I didn't use it above 1200 rpm (faster speed scare me :eek: ) Yesterday, it was tight at all speeds, with about 1/4" deflection if I pressed down on the belt. The belt appears to be in good shape with no cracks. The pulleys operate smoothly, and the whole thing looks good from 500 to 2500 rpm.

So, I'm a bit stymied as to why the work grabs and stops like that. I could just take less aggressive cuts, I guess, but cutting through a 4" blank to reduce it to about half that size in the middle takes a while, and tries my patience. I've just got started on this project again, and I am anxious to get it going smoothly.

Any thoughts?
 
Your belt may simply be loose. Another possibility is that it is old and glazed. There are products you can put on it to improve friction. Worth a try or a new belt. There have been many rosy reports about link belts. I put one on my table saw and now it runs more smoothly and, I believe, powerful than I could ever have imagined.
 
Thanks, Frank. I went to Canadian Tire and bought some belt dressing that I will try. I don't think the belt is particularly loose, it seemed to be as tight as I would have expected. If I can see how to get it a little tighter, I'll try that, too.:thumb:
 
I have found that even though the belt seems to be in good shape while not running, it might be glazed like Frank said. I don't know if you do a large amount of turning but if you do, like I do, the belts will also stretch some from the heat and friction. Any time you have a catch, the belt takes the brunt of the action instead of the motor or other parts of the lathe. The same thing on the belt wear applies to heavier blanks. The more weight of your blank, the more stress you are putting on the belt. I like this actually because it saves wear and tear on other and more costly parts of the lathe. So, I always have a stock of belts hanging in the shop. I also find it worthwhile to take the belt off, disassemble the pulleys and clean them real good with some sort of solvent that will clean residue from the belt off. Another thing is make sure that your pulleys are sliding open and closed properly. If not the shafts might need cleaning and oiling. I do all this regularly on my Grizzly.
 
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