Variable speed problem

[delbs]

Have an old Woodfast lathe that has variable speed that you engage by turning the motor on and tilting (pulling towards you) the lever then you hear a click of it engaging then turn to adjust the speed of the lathe.

I was showing someone this last night after i had moved the lathe. I dont know for sure if someone or something has moved the lever while the machine was turned off or not but now when i turn it back on and attempt to change the speed it only spins at rhe slowest speed it last spun at and when i try to speed it up the pully actually dis engages and the motor still runs but the head stock stops spinning as there is no trackion from the pully cones.

It seems that the pulley cones have been put into the wrong position while the lathe is turned off and then now its turned back on its not applying the correct pressure on the belt to increase the speed.

i found another guy online that had a similar issue but he said he fixed it by cleaning the dust out fo the head unit so the variable speed lever would move more freely. im not convinced this would be the same solution for mine but am willing to give it a shot and clean it out.

Has anyone experienced any variable speed issues on older lathes? It is mechanical variable speed based on a spring tension and cones that move in and out pinching and relaxing on the pully to increase/decrease the speed.

Any help would be much appreciated. This has only happen once before on the lathe and before i was going to ask the question on here i corrected it by moving the lever around and fiddling around with it then it come good. and has been running perfectly since then. Funny enough that occured when i purchased it and moved it so the lever could have moved while turned off back then also. Sounds like the same issue has occured again im just not 100% of what is occuring to make it happen and what i did to fix it.

Thanks
Nathan

[NCArcher]

I don't have or know much about those VSDs but I believe one pulley is adjustable while the other is spring loaded. It sounds like the spring loaded pulley is stuck, probably from a build up of sawdust, so that it will only sit on one speed and if you try to go the other way the adjustable pulley is opening up and disengaging because the spring loaded pulley is not closing to maintain tension on the belt.
Give it a good clean. Some photos would be good too. It sounds very interesting.

[fubar]

Mine operates the same way and it did the same thing stayed on lowest speed . So I took top cover off and blew out the dust with compressed air then used wd40 on it the spring released did the same to the motor spindle. working like a charm now.

[delbs]

Thanks for the responses, I will get photos up when i can but yes your correct NCArcher the top pulley that moves in the head stock is spring loaded it looks and the bottom set of pulleys must move also, it does have a bit of dust build up so ill try clean it out and clean the shaft the pulleys move on incase they are stuck.

It was a trivial fix last time with me just playing around with it then it came good. Ill give it a shot again.

[Ueee]

Hi delbs,
These drives are called Reeves drives. Whilst I can't help you at least you now know what they are called and can google armed with the right terms.

Cheers,
Ew

[Big Shed]

Here is some relevant info

Woodturning: Lathe Repair: Reeves Drive (http://aroundthewoods.com/lathelube.html)

These are on all the MC900 and MC1100 wood lathes.

[delbs]

Thanks to both Ew and Big shed for interpreting my vague description correctly. Thats what i have. Will look into this.

Cheers! :2tsup:

[delbs]

Ok so here is a video of what occurs. So when the handle is facing right down its suppose to increase in speed. Which it does but not very much. When I pull the handle up it slows down to the point the pulley is disconnected from the reeve and doesnt spin at all. Variable speed issue - YouTube (http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=dbI-3wtD_2w)

It seems that the handle has been put into the wrong gear or something and the tension has been released from the belt. I fixed it by fiddling around ages ago but cannot remember what I did. anyone that has advice on this topic would be very appreciated

I cleaned out what I could get access to just today so it is easier to change speeds

[MrFez]

I used to have an MC100 which developed the same (or similar) problem. Like Fubar, I gave top and bottom pulleys a good clean and sprayed with WD40 - it then ran like a charm.

Good luck

[delbs]

Thanks McFrez where specifically did you apply the wd-40, on the shaft that supports the reeves etc or on the reeves themselves

[smiife]

Hi delbs,
Don, t know to much about this sort of thing
But the belt looks to be loose on the video
Might be a silly question but is the belt the right size?

[delbs]

Yeah its the right size. Theres nothing been added or taken away from this. Its a matter of the reeve pulleys not putting enough pressure or something on the belt. The belt is certainly loose at the moment but its due to the pulleys

[Mobyturns]

Yeah its the right size. Theres nothing been added or taken away from this. Its a matter of the reeve pulleys not putting enough pressure or something on the belt. The belt is certainly loose at the moment but its due to the pulleys

Broken spring, or spring has lost tension on bottom reeves pulley assy or the pulleys are not closing due to binding on the shaft?

[delbs]

Is the bottom reeve pulley thingo meant to move? It doesnt seem to move at all. Ive tried to see if there were any wiggle room but nothing.

What can cause binding on the shaft? On the top shaft? Dust etc? Seems I may need to take it apart or something to give it a good clean out

[Acco]

Looks to me that the bottom drive reeve set isn't closing.

[Tiger]

Common to get the dust buildup which stops a pulley from moving, give the shafts a good clean and see how that goes.

[stuffy]

Check the grub screw on the bottom pulley.
I had one like that and the grub screw didn't hold very well, due to pressure from the spring.
I'm not sure but I may have drilled or ground a small recess on the shaft for the grub screw to seat into.

Hope that helps.

Steve
:)

[Evanism]

I remember when I was over and we looked at it. We did as you were doing in the video.

The next day you said to me that you "pulled" the handle to the right, something popped and it magically started working.

I'd wager from the video that the bottom spring isn't pulling the lower pulleys together. Clean it out. Compressed air and Wd for sure.

[Colin62]

Looks to me that the bottom drive reeve set isn't closing.

I agree.

[delbs]

Thanks all for the replies, From what i see there is no method for the lower pulley attached directly to the motor to be moved, theres no mechanism for it to move or be moved by a lever, its set statically on the shaft.

The top pulley doesnt seem to be particularly hard to move, i will check the spring to check if the tension is correct. Also i cleaned the shaft and all around inside the head stock wherever i could get into yesterday but that didnt change anything. I may need to spray more WD-40 in there to see if it frees up more movement or somethign.

Thats right Ev i did, Something occured one night where it just popped back into position and started applying the correct tension on the belt and started spinning a the correct speed. The lathe isnt at my house anymore so its a bit harder to get to it all the time. The lathe was working perfectly at my place, we move it from my house and once i sat it down in the new place i started it up and it was running at full speed but as soon as i changed the speed to a slower one it wound off and stopped spinning.

ill investigate the grub screw also, is that near the pulley on the shaft or elsewhere?

[delbs]

this is exactly what happens with mine

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/<wbr>55600 (http://lumberjocks.com/topics/55600)

i just need to clean it right out and re-lube. if i cant i may have to
take the spring off the top pulley. It seems other people have issues
with the spring flying off due to circlip but mine is a end cap that
is threaded on. hmmm

[Treecycle]

The Reeves drive should look something like the one below. The spring is the only thing that pushes the moving half of the pulley. The moving half should slide on a boss that is attached to the other half. This should slide freely back and forward, but under spring pressure. There should also be a key between the boss and the moving half of the pulley, which makes both halves share the load and rotate together. The only grubscrew that should be there is one that would hold the whole assembly on to the motor shaft.

319211

[delbs]

Sorted! The new owner cleaned out as much dust as she could see and gave it a good oiling with wd40 now it moves like it should. Thanks all that replied.

[lovetoride]

Sorted! The new owner cleaned out as much dust as she could see and gave it a good oiling with wd40 now it moves like it should.

That would be me :roll:. Not bad for an old girl.

Jane

[delbs]

Great work Jane :D top notch effort!

[Treecycle]

That would be me :roll:. Not bad for an old girl.

Jane

Good to see you got it sorted, and welcome to the forum. I assume we are going to see some of your future works.:)

[lovetoride]

Thank you, sir. Very "future".

It was team work that got the job done.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[arose62]

Glad you got it sorted - saved me posting links to all the threads on here which I found by searching for
"MC900 pulley" and/or "MC1100 pulley"

eg:
http://www.woodworkforums.com/180883-replacing-belts-reeves-pulley-type/
and
http://www.woodworkforums.com/14400-mc1100-speed-change-effort-required/

Two things: keep the Reeves pulleys clean and lubricated, and be aware that they aren't the strongest pulleys in the world, so be careful about levering on them if you are removing or replacing them. There have been a few painful stories about them shattering under seemingly not very much effort :(

Cheers,
Andrew

[Paul39]

That would be me :roll:. Not bad for an old girl.

Jane

Keep in mind that WD-40 is not a lubricant, it is mostly stoddards solvent, otherwise known as paint thinner. A spray silicone lube would serve best, but light oil - sewing machine, 3 in 1, 5 - 20 synthetic motor oil, auto transmission fluid, will lubricate. The silicone lube will not hold as much wood dust as oil.

Welcome to the happy insanity of wood turning.

[delbs]

Im pretty sure I saw a can of silicone lube sitting there l. We just tried wd40 to begin with. :) thanks for the heads up though Paul

[MrFez]

Thanks McFrez where specifically did you apply the wd-40, on the shaft that supports the reeves etc or on the reeves themselves

On the shaft.

[lovetoride]

Yep. Have silicon spray. Will try that today as it is still not 100%. Thanks everyone

[lovetoride]

Ah, great learning exercise. Used the silicon spray. I now know that the motor pulley is meant to widen too! Now it runs very smoothly and with a much wider range of speeds than it did before.

Many thanks to everyone for assisting us with this ole sturdy lady - she is now purring!

Jane

[Evanism]

It's a good quality lathe. I was envious when Delbs acquired it. Very solid. You will be happy with it.

[delbs]

I am sad to se it go, but happy to see it go a good home. Im sure i will still see it again, the rate Jane is acquiring her workshop and machines is amazing. I bet ill be over there to do some pen turning in no time :) :D