Craftsman Verriable Speed Model 351.217150

John Ledrich

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1
Having a very confusing problem with this lathe. I was turning a 2 inch spindle, starting on the finishing pass. It just slowed down, and started making a sound like it was binding up. It was running about 1200 rpm, then just slowed down. I took the piece off, turned the chuck by hand. There doesn't seem to be anything restricting it from turning. I turn it back on, it runs, but starts to catch someplace. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I have never turned anything large, or heavy on it. In operation about 5 years. :huh:
 
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John, I'm not at a computer right now to look up the model number, but I suspect that lathe has a Reeves drive. I used to own one myself.

From your description, it sounds like the movable pulley sheave is not sliding freely. Thus is a common problem with these lathes. A but of cleaning and lubrication of the shaft the sheave slides on should take care of things. When I get back to a computer I'll see if I can find some old threads here that describe how to take things apart for servicing. In the meantime, try a few searches here for "Reeves drive" and chances are you'll find some info you can use.


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I had the same lathe and it hit the scrap yard about a 1 1/2 yrs after I bought it. Sears sent a repairman out 3 times and rebuilt it. Then getting parts for it was impossible. So I just bit the bullet and bought a Nova lathe. I am guessing like Vaughn said it is the reeves drive causing problems. I had mine apart more times than I cared to. When you lube it use a good graphite. Oil just collect dust.
 
I'll second probably a Reeves drive issue. There are actually three belts on this machine though. A primary drive belt, a variable drive(Reeves drive) belt, and one in the front that drives what appears to be a mechanical governor. I have had issues with all three! The single screw on the top of your lathe in the red cover allows you to drop the red cover on it's hinges and see what is happening with your Reeves drive and Reeves drive belt. Probably the issue. I see no significant danger running with this cover open to view operation. A small tip, I recommend replacing that screw with a couple pieces of Velcro to give easy access to the spindle lock/indexer.

No documentation on pulling the plastic front cover that hides the little belt and that is what I would check next if the Reeves drive appears OK. There is an O-ring where the spindle housing comes through the black plastic. Push in gently on the plastic and remove that O-ring to remove the front cover and check that little belt. Mine hopped off once for reasons unknown. I put it back on and life has been good so far. Check all set screws for pulleys as you go through things, one was loose letting a pulley walk on me, maybe one for this little belt, I forget now.

One more thing, if you have to take the Reeves drive apart, build and buy the tools recommended. It is also remotely possible to do with a helper but a hazardous undertaking. That innocent looking spring on the Reeves drive is about fourteen times longer than I expected it to be!

As you may guess, I still own and use this fabled lathe. I am learning to turn wood on it and haven't had a problem once I took the Reeves drive apart, sanded all the parts that should slide with a very fine grit and then cleaned them. I lubricated everything with LockEase, available at most hardware and NAPA stores. It is colloidal graphite, which is just to say graphite in a solvent that helps it get in places and then evaporates. It is excellent to use on guns and in gun bores, anywhere you want a dry lube, and surprisingly considering the name, it even works on locks! I get the squeeze bottle, lasts until I lose it.

'nuther edit: Take a quick look at that little belt up front before disassembly even if you think it is the Reeves drive. Might save you a lot of work and it is a five minute job.

Good Luck,
Hu

Vaughn,

That lathe and the Reeves drives may do more to create new members than anything else. We come seeking help and get sucked into the maw!
 
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...There are actually three belts on this machine though. A primary drive belt, a variable drive(Reeves drive) belt, and one in the front that drives what appears to be a mechanical governor...

...Vaughn,

That lathe and the Reeves drives may do more to create new members than anything else. We come seeking help and get sucked into the maw!

The third belt is a fan belt, according to the manual for that lathe. I had forgotten about it being there.

I don't know about that lathe creating new members, but I'll bet a lot of Jet, Nova, and Powermatic lathes have been sold because of it. :D Still a decent machine for the price (especially if purchased used), but it's also great motivation to purchase a better lathe. ;)
 
Vaughn,

Oddly enough my manual parts schematic gives no indication of a fan although it is mentioned in the parts list and there is a squirrel cage type blower mechanically driven in mine from the looks of things. There is also a centrifugal switch as I mentioned under the front dust cover that the same little belt drives. I couldn't see if it drove anything else on the other side too or not, looks like maybe. Taking the front cover off was a mistake. That led me to inspect with the back cover down since the top cover has to come off to get the front cover off and the back cover was already hanging down. Top pulley half sheave hung part way. Nothing to these Reeves drives Hu says three hours later with an aching back, a springed stomach, and sore hands. Quite a mess to clean up too! Oh yeah, one more thing. The bowl tweaking tool makes a fine Reeves drive gentle tweaking tool too. May have to turn a bigger one though.

Hu

lathe innards 003.jpglathe innards 008.jpg
 
The third belt is a fan belt, according to the manual for that lathe. I had forgotten about it being there.

I don't know about that lathe creating new members, but I'll bet a lot of Jet, Nova, and Powermatic lathes have been sold because of it. :D Still a decent machine for the price (especially if purchased used), but it's also great motivation to purchase a better lathe. ;)

YUP! It was this Craftsman lathe that resulted in me getting my PM 3520B.

FWIW, the lathe was built by Palmgren except to Sears specs. I've been told that the Palmgren is better. It was also almost $200 cheaper new.
 
When I got my Grisly lathe, the Reeves drive pulleys weren't moving their whole distance. Not being much of a machinist, I WD40'd the, uh, whatever out of it, waited a day and haven't had a problem since. This is one of the reasons I call WD40 my toolkit in a can.
 
When I got my Grisly lathe, the Reeves drive pulleys weren't moving their whole distance. Not being much of a machinist, I WD40'd the, uh, whatever out of it, waited a day and haven't had a problem since. This is one of the reasons I call WD40 my toolkit in a can.

Whew!!! I was beginning to feel like a loner here. I had a Grizzly reeves drive lathe for years and loved it. As Roger said any problems could usually be fixed with a squirt of WD-40. I paid $300.00 for it. Used the dickens out of it and sold six years later for $300.00 to a professional turner who wrote me two handwritten personal letters of thanks for selling it to him. My expensive EVS Griz is really nice but it won't do much more than that very basic Reeves drive jobby would do. BTW, agree, removing that heavy duty spring can be a killer. But, there is a way to maintain without ever removing that spring. It has been a while and I forget the details or would share. Bit, it ain't hard.
 
I don't have a Grizzly, my lathe is a Jet with a Reeves unit... I've gotten pretty good at taking it a part and putting it back together... first couple of times I got the worm gear that drives the moveable spindle pulley off a little bit so my speed indicator was off... I was turning on the 450 range at about 600, 600 at 800 etc....

taking the spring off the motor spindle is relatively easy... if you can depress the spring manually enough to fit a pair of channel locks over the spindle (I use a pair of needle nose channel locks, so I don't need as much space to grasp the spindle), they will hold the spring depressed enough to take the keep c-ring off and then catch the spring as it comes off.... if you pend the c-ring any, put a new one on as it may give way and let the spring and keeper washer fly off... I run my lathe without the cover a lot because of some of the problems I have with the Reeves system... fortunately when the c-ring, keeper washer and spring fly off they hit a cabinet that's opposite the end of the lathe and I only have to crawl around on the floor a little till I find all the parts.... biggest problem I have with those two pulleys is they get out of alignment and when I go down to the lowest speed and then I have to jiggle the front pulley till it drops back into alignment... the slots for the keyway will wallow out and get sloppy.

On the spindle pulleys, I have to pull the spindle out to change the belt or the spindle pulleys... a job in itself.
 
I just bought a Craftsman 351.217150 for $100. It runs and the speed changes but made a noise near the end of the speed adjustment. When I removed the covers I saw that the speed adjusting nut was rubbing against the drive belt and had pretty much destroyed the belt. Has anyone else run into this problem ? I think I read all the posts I could find for this lathe but found nothing like this. I already removed the old belt and have a new belt on order. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
Like a rabid dog, I took my Sears Lathe out and shot it with a few deer slugs then personally delivered it to the scrap yard so no one would be frustrated with it again. I can't help you with any of your problems with this lathe, but do have a brand new unused duplicator for a sears lathe. Let me know if you get it running and are interested.
 
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