I started up my new-to-me PM 1150A drill press tonight. It ran pretty smoothly and I may not need to replace any bearings. But when I tried to change the speed via the Reeves drive I hit some issues. It seems like as the back pulley gets smaller (which actually means the hub is expanding) the belt starts to get wedged in there and creates a ton of drag. Enough drag to stall the motor!
The PM manual isn't very good about describing the maintenance for the Reeves drive and now I am trolling for tips. I could find two manuals on the web (both on OWWM). The older manual says to dress the belt with parafin wax. I could see this helping keep the belt from getting trapped. IT also says to lube the hub area of the VS pulleys. I assume they mean the interface between the actual pulley and the shaft it rides on? I don't think it means to lube the actual pulley to belt surface. Any hints here?
I was also wondering what typically provides the "return" pressure for the pulleys? Looking at the PM there is a cam that forces the driven pulley's hubs together (effectively making the pulley radius larger). But there is no spring or anything to push the pulley hubs back apart. Is the idea that the spring on the driving pulley is strong enough that if the cam is not forcing the driven pulley larger then the tension in the belt will force the pulley to expand until the lever arm hits the cam?
I ask this question because after the motor stalled I took the belt off to see what was stuck. And I manually manipulated the pulleys. After turning the dial all the way to "fast" I could not get pulley to drop back down by it self. There is no return spring. So I grabbed the pulley and tried to open it back up. Didn't move a bit. This makes me think the hub that the pulley moves on needs some lubrication?
Any hints?
Thanks!
Salem
The PM manual isn't very good about describing the maintenance for the Reeves drive and now I am trolling for tips. I could find two manuals on the web (both on OWWM). The older manual says to dress the belt with parafin wax. I could see this helping keep the belt from getting trapped. IT also says to lube the hub area of the VS pulleys. I assume they mean the interface between the actual pulley and the shaft it rides on? I don't think it means to lube the actual pulley to belt surface. Any hints here?
I was also wondering what typically provides the "return" pressure for the pulleys? Looking at the PM there is a cam that forces the driven pulley's hubs together (effectively making the pulley radius larger). But there is no spring or anything to push the pulley hubs back apart. Is the idea that the spring on the driving pulley is strong enough that if the cam is not forcing the driven pulley larger then the tension in the belt will force the pulley to expand until the lever arm hits the cam?
I ask this question because after the motor stalled I took the belt off to see what was stuck. And I manually manipulated the pulleys. After turning the dial all the way to "fast" I could not get pulley to drop back down by it self. There is no return spring. So I grabbed the pulley and tried to open it back up. Didn't move a bit. This makes me think the hub that the pulley moves on needs some lubrication?
Any hints?
Thanks!
Salem