Grizzly 1495 Reeves Drive Stuck

[Charles Cannon]

I haven't had my lathe on in a while until yesterday. I needed to repair the pole for my son's patio umbrella. I could never get the reeves drive lever to move off the slowest speed. I managed to get the repair made and this morning started trying to fix it. I've never been into one of these before so I want some advise on how to proceed. I have removed the belt, locking collar, outer pulley half and set screw from the shaft that moves the arm on the inside wheel. Am I correct that the pulley half that is still on the spindle is supposed to move back and forth to adjust the speed. If it's not attached to the control arm it should come off but I can't get it to move. I have a 3 jaw puller but I have destroyed a few pulleys on lawn equipment with them and they were steel not pot metal. After removing the set screw on the arm the handle move freely until the control shaft hits the remaining pulley half.Grizzy lathe 001.jpg Cannon

[Mike Cruz]

I have two suggestions: First, use a heat gun to heat them up, then see if it will slide off. Worked for me when I was doing this on my PM90. Second, call Grizzly tech support. They can at least tell you if there is a trick... Good luck.

[David C. Roseman]

Charles, probably all that's happened is that the inner half of the spindle pulley has seized on the spindle due to lack of lubrication. While it's possible that this has led to galling of the spindle, I really doubt it.

I would not try to remove that half of the pulley right now. You are wise to worry about damaging it with a 3-jaw puller, even though those castings can take a fair amount of punishment. Use penetrating oil and let it sit for awhile. WD-40 may even be enough. Use the red applicator straw, if you have one, to get behind the pulley, between it and the spring.

When you removed the set screw from the speed control handle, you detached the handle from the cam shaft that rotates to actuates the Reeves drive. You need to reattach it (pay attention to the location of the flat on the cam shaft) in order to move the spring behind the spindle pulley. The cam shaft compresses and releases the spring that moves the inner half of the pulley back and forth. This, in turn, allows the v-belt to ride up and down in the spindle pulley, while another spring-loaded split pulley on the motor shaft moves reciprocally. The reciprocal movement changes the gear ratio, while at the same time allowing the belt diameter to stay constant.

If you can't free up the spindle pulley with penetrating oil, and maybe some light taps on the casting near the spindle and some gentle pressure with your pullers, let us know.

Once you've freed up the pulley and got things back together again, periodically squirt some very light lubricant on the spindle and the motor shaft on the inboard side of the split pulleys to keep things working smoothly. You can also squirt a very small amount into the vee of the pulleys themselves. Small so that you don't contaminate the v-belt. Our oldest lathe is a G1495 that we've had since the mid-1980s. TIP: Do not use bearing grease or lithium grease. It is too heavy, and can actually lead to the pulleys sticking if the lathe is not used for a long time. WD-40 works well for us. Also, every so often, run the lathe through the entire speed range. If you rarely run it up to 3000 rpm, the pulleys may get sticky towards the upper end.

David

[Charles Cannon]

What I thought was some Gentle tapping with a block of wood and a hammer broke a piece of the pulley off. Luckily the pulley set is listed as still available for $18. I don't have it off yet, hopefully I won't break anything else. I bought this lathe used in 2005 and have never had the cover off the drive so I can't complain to much about it being stuck. I hope the bearing is free. Cannon

[David C. Roseman]

Grizzly has been selling that lathe virtually unchanged for over 25 years. It's a serviceable lathe, but it's curious to me how Grizzly is still able to move them for $1000 alongside the beefier G0632 and G0733, which have greater capacity and modern VFD technology for a few hundred dollars more.

When you reassemble your lathe, suggest you check your pulley alignment, which is adjusted by shifting the position of the motor on its mounting bracket. The motor bracket base is sheet metal, and although a heavy gauge, may have bent upwards due to belt tension. That can cause the motor to tip upward at the pulley end, shifting the pulleys out of alignment and causing a rattle. On ours, I re-flattened the mounting base, then welded on a strip of reinforcing steel to stiffen it.

David

[Bill White]

I blow out and lube my 1067Z regularly. Keeping the Reeves drive clean and lubed is an absolute must.
Bill

[Charles Cannon]

I got it apart. What I didn't understand was that the bearing was pressed on to the pulley. With most of the pulley broke away I used the puller hooked on the control bracket (right in picture) to remove it all then separated the parts. I don't think I damaged anything else and will get the pulley set ordered today. CannonGrizzy lathe 001.jpg

[Ray Koberstine]

If my memory serves correct, you can easily press the head shaft assembly out now. I'd check the bearings as they probably need replacing and it's not hard or expensive at this point.

[Charles Cannon]

I received the pulley set from Grizzly today. I worked a good while getting the inner pulley half to slide on the shaft by hand. Then when I pressed the bearing on it got tight again, more fitting with fine sandpaper. I got it to where it would go by hand and assembled it. I was determined not to hit the pulley with anything harder than my hand. I was wrong about the $18, that was the motor pulley. This one was $43 with shipping. I'll be a little more faithful to keep this thing lubed from now on. I was telling my BIL about tearing this one up and he wanted to give me his old Craftsman lathe that has a single tube for the bed. I went and got it, turned down a small piece of firewood but I don't like it much. Thanks Cannon

[Mike Cruz]

Charles, I've never turned on a pipe lathe, but can't imagine it would be any fun... Glad you got your Green back to snuff.

[Paul Engle]

That is a good lesson on keeping the maint up on our lathes. On my Jet 1236 bench mount , I took off the AC motor and installed a custom plate and hung a 3/4 hp DC with speed controller and after market VD pulley to the motor and use the spindle side of the Reves drive so I can go to 30 rpm to 3000 but I also tear it all down once a year and replace the hs bearing and go thru reves every month if I am doing alot of turning . I wish I still had my web site so you could see the fotos of how I set this up ... but key here is doing the preventive maint on schedule !
Paul