Nick wrote:
a headstock from the late 70s, was the most cantankerous of them all. My conclusion is that this is one feature that Mark Vs and woodworkers have in common.
With all good wishes,
There is a lot of truth in humor and vice versa.
Just to prove Nick's point about cantankerousity and to muddy the waters a little bit further, it seems to me that clockwise and counter-clockwise are not fixed directions like North and South, but are relative to the observer, like Left and Right. So, if you stand at the right (hinged) end of the MkV and look ahead to the main spindle when it is in motion, it will appear to move counter clockwise and although you won't be able to see the auxiliary hub, it will also be moving in the same direction,
from that point of view. If you then walk to the left end of the MkV and stare at the auxiliary hub, it will be seen to move clockwise, and ditto the main hub. From a third location, the operator's position, both hubs move toward the operator and from the access port side the hubs move away from the operator. Does any of this matter? Who knows. If you want to think about what the machine is doing when you change speeds, it might be helpful to think about what is happening to the belt as it climbs up and down the floating sheave, but the direction of the hubs never changes from the motor's point of view.
In practice, I have never had to worry about any of this, other than, as has been discussed before, moving a chuck-mounted piece to the "off side" of the spindle, which permits sanding the grain "in reverse" as it were. I have found that mounting a sanding disk on the auxiliary hub is a great way to easily move the shaft and seems to work fine in either direction.
Cantakerous Ed
Idaho Panhandle
MkV 500 +/-
To me it turns counter-clockwise. I am wondering this because I noticed that in the "new" Mark V Alignment and Maintenance book, #845180 Rev B 8/01, page 35, it says "To oil the Lower Floating Sheaves, rotate the Main Spindle by hand (clockwise)........", and then again, on the same page, it says "When you've lubricated both sheaves,.....Attach the Sanding Disc to the Main Spindle and while rotating the Disc (clockwise) turn the Speed Control Dial to 'slow' speed.......". To me that is rotating it backwards. Interestingly, in my original 1995 owners manual, it does not specify the direction of rotation in either case. I would like to know what difference it makes.
