What did I buy, 500 or 510?

[Cornell]

Is "Q" fast enough to cut pine? And will it hurt the SS to start and stop it at "Q"?

Perhaps more information than you need... my current projects are cleaning/rebuilding my SPTs (bandsaw, jointer and planer); and building drawers for my workbench and a rolling unit upon which to place the SPTs (1/2 inch pine plywood, 2*4 and 1*6 pine and masonite for the drawer bottoms). Technically, I could do them all with just the table saw. I can turn on the SS at "Q" without blowing the circuit breaker.

[reible]

I'm going from memory here but I believe the setscrew has a few places where it become out of reach. One is when it is covered by the spring and other is when the nut is in the way. Short of turning or breaking things while attempting to move the dial I would look very carefully inside the head stock to see if you can find a reason for things to be stuck. Check the gears and give them a cleaning if you see any sawdust on them. Perhaps a little light oil on the shaft and gears at this point would not hurt, it collects dust so it will need to be cleaned off at some point but for now..... An old tooth brush works well for this.

I've only had one time that something like this happen to me. I was given some advice to use bee's wax on the gears. It work fine that summer but then came winter. It locked things up and there was no way I could turn the dial by hand. When I went inside to look around I could see the bee's wax was hard and I had to scrap it off with dental tools. Now I doubt that is your problem but this is why I'm saying about looking at the gears for something being wrong there.

Attempting to force things with the aid of other tools is most likely going to brake something and should only be a last resort.

Saw speed of Q should work for the cutting process but other things come in to play with starting at speed. My machines all have no problem starting up at speed but I know of others who have to go to slow to get their machines to start cleanly. If you are plugged in to the wall and have nothing else on the circuit I would say it is likely that it will work. If you are sharing the circuit with other things or are on the end of a long extension cord it might not. You will have to try and see.

Anyway that is my 2 cents worth.

Ed

[JPG]

Unfortunate the set screw be hiding behind the spring!

So consider what might be the cause.

Since the worm gear does not move, the shaft is not.

So what would cause the shaft to jam? The worm gear jamming in the quadrant gear is possible. A common occurrence although complete jamming is unusual.

The 'ring' not moving is a possible concern. Since the knob moves(slightly) without the ring moving, can the ring move(slightly) without the knob moving. The slop(backlash)(knob/idler/ring gears) should be the same.

I think it likely the quadrant gear pivot 'leg' has become bent and created a misalignment of the worm gear to the quadrant gear. Especially since you have been experiencing difficulty adjusting towards slow and it has been getting 'easier'.

If you want to 'force' the knob, I would only do so towards fast. You might try to help it by pushing the quadrant gear from the access port. Going towards fast eliminates the need to rotate the shafts at the same time. Forcing it towards slow will likely make it jam worse due to squeezing the motor belt in the control sheave.

[Cornell]

Ok, I figured I was pretty much screwed.

The knob wouldn't move.

The dial wouldn't move. Finger pressure wouldn't move it.

Thinking maybe the set screw was loose enough, I pried at the knob... It came off. Not intact :-(

Knob showing broken pieces

brokenKnobInPieces_scaled.jpg (165.95 KiB) Viewed 2256 times

Knob, with pieces set in place

brokenKnobSetTogether_scaled.jpg (189.97 KiB) Viewed 2256 times

And I think I found the problem... the gear (under the knob, meshes with knob and ring) had "goop" on the back of it.

The attachment goopOnGear_scaled.jpg is no longer available

One thing I noticed, the gear is not... symmetric. The teeth seem to be toward one side. That is, placed one way, the gear will be touching, resting on the back and teeth sticking out. Placed another way, the teeth only would ride on the base.

Anyway, I had it so the teeth stuck out and the "back" (the up side in the photo) against the base, and there was goop on it. I'm guessing that bound it up.

I'm guessing that what I lubed it with was not a good choice. I wish I could remember what it was.

So I'll get the knob from the other headstock (which has a broken tooth, as I remember) and see if that works.

What's a good lube for inside the speed dial?

And, I've got the speed dial and pork chop out, and it had been on "Q". I'd like to move the spindles, sheaves, belts to fully fast before I put the speed dial back in. I think that would make it easier to get the pork chop clip on. How can I move that without the speed dial/pork chop in place?

(and I had some trouble with the attachments ;-) If you see "The attachment brokenKnobSetTogether_scaled.jpg is no longer available" please ignore)

[JPG]

I prefer powdered graphite.

If the 'goop' was truly the only cause, the shaft and worm gear should rotate fairly easily.

Tighten the drill chuck onto the shaft and rotate it clockwise. There should be a definite stop. I may have used a smaller chuck when I did that.

[Cornell]

I prefer powdered graphite.

If the 'goop' was truly the only cause, the shaft and worm gear should rotate fairly easily.

Tighten the drill chuck onto the shaft and rotate it clockwise. There should be a definite stop. I may have used a smaller chuck when I did that.

Well, I'd removed the speed control, including pork chop, so that's not an option at this time. I did have concern that maybe the shafts or sheaves were a problem. This afternoon, I spun the sanding disc, and the lower sheave easily moved towards the quill, easy peasy. I stuck my finger on the end of the upper shaft where the pork chop would be and pressed while spinning the disk and the shaft moved easily. Not far, but easily.

As far as powdered graphite goes... In the past I've only used it in locks. Now I'm trying to put it on exposed surfaces. I was expecting to see a fine powder spray out, leaving a light coating. Instead, a few "chunks" came out. Is that normal? How much should be used? I'm guessing it shouldn't be black with the graphite. But I'm thinking it should be a light gray, fine coating.

[Cornell]

I checked SS for a new knob. Then I checked eBay. And I found an entire speed control from knob to pork chop, $60. Not refurbished, but used. I didn't see any wear marks on the pork chop teeth. So I sprung for it. $15.50 for priority mail (only option) shipping. Ordered this morning, should be here Thursday.

So, where am I at? The spring on the lower sheave is extended, so those sheaves are close together. The upper sheaves are a bit part. The belt is loose, no tension. The end of the shaft that goes against the pork chop is out towards the quill. Is that the "fast" position? I think the "fast" position is easiest for installing the pork chop.

Once the pork chop is in place (without the dial or knob), I can put the chuck on the shaft, rotate that while turning the sanding disk. Turn it as far as it goes. Then put the dial on indicating "slow" and then the knob.

Does that sound right?

[Cornell]

Oh, and lubing the inside under the knob with graphite. And what to lube the worm gear/pork chop?

[JPG]

Same 'slick powder'.

IIU what you were saying(manually adjust towards fast until it stops), the position of the ring should be to "Fast", not slow.

We can talk about setting that high speed stop another time.

Lets get this beast up and running first.

Extended floating sheave spring(closed pulley) = fast.

Control sheave towards quill(open pulley) = fast.

Slipping the control sheave 'loop' over the quadrant arm spring is nigh impossible at any setting other than near fast.

P.S. Powdered graphite is my preference. Other stuff can be used(IMHO they tend to absorb dust).

[Cornell]

Thanks JPG.

Perhaps I wasn't clear.

-Put the pork chop in at "fast".

-Put the chuck on and turn it down towards the "slow" position until it stops.

-Then put the dial on indicating "slow".

I had a thought about the graphite... what about spraying it onto a paper towel and wiping it on that way?