Floating Sheave not floating

tazzleo · Post by **tazzleo** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:45 pm

Hi all,

I am a new owner of a SS 500. From what I have figured it was new in the 50s. The previous owner had it in storage for the last two plus years. The problem I am having is the Floating Sheave on the motor shaft is not floating.

I was having the same problem with the Control Sheave but with some oil and the Speed control I was able to get this working.

Because of this I have a speed range from F to O. At F it is too tight to turn and at F the Drive Belt becomes so loose that the Spindle stops turning.

I have run through the Lubrication section of the manual but have had no luck getting the Floating Sheave to float. Anyone have some idea how I can fix this.

thanks,
Kevin
I was wondering

Greenvilleguy · Post by **Greenvilleguy** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:30 pm

I don't want to offend, but even when it is working correctly, it's very hard to do with your hands.

I have a 1954 Greenie and had to call Customer service the last time I had this problem. They walked me through the process over the phone and it turned out I just didn't understand how much leverage it takes to make them "float".

Thank Goodness for the knowledgable folks at SS Customer Service.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:37 pm

Coincidentally I was looking at old posts at an ungodly hour this morning. Somewhere back in time (?), someone's stuck motor sheaves were associated with a slight (angular) offset of the 2 sheaves with respect to the key-piece. Maybe you can search for that.

By the way, I am curious whether the motor sheave spring Design, going from 1950s to modern times, has changed its spring constant? They do look different. Also I think my 1956/57 project had a stiffer speed-change behavior than my 2007 model, after replacing most of the rotating parts other than the motor/spring/motor-sheaves.

Thanks & Regards

reible · Post by **reible** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:07 pm

To see what has been said do the following search:

"motor sheaves site:www.shopsmith.net"
at google.

There looks to be about 20 such posts...

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:30 pm

Hi Ed! I looked for that site - couldn't find it!

reible · Post by **reible** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:34 pm

charlese wrote:Hi Ed! I looked for that site - couldn't find it!

You went to google and in the search box you type what I indicated in blue minus the underline and the quote marks?

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:55 pm

I cut and pasted the site - but left the quotation marks in. Took out the " " and now it works. Thanks Ed!

reible · Post by **reible** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:08 pm

charlese wrote:Yep! Did exactly that!

Mmmmm see pictures below, 1 and 2

Can you do any searches on Google?

If you can use google then you can also go to advanced and then put the site in as shown in picture 3.

I've used this for years and I know it works.... not sure why it is not working for you or are you pulling my chain???

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:48 pm

tazzleo wrote:Hi all,

"...The problem I am having is the Floating Sheave on the motor shaft is not floating.

I was having the same problem with the Control Sheave but with some oil and the Speed control I was able to get this working.

Because of this I have a speed range from F to O. At F it is too tight to turn and at F the Drive Belt becomes so loose that the Spindle stops turning.

I have run through the Lubrication section of the manual but have had no luck getting the Floating Sheave to float. Anyone have some idea how I can fix this.

thanks,
Kevin
I was wondering

Kevin sounds to me that you have to disassemble the motor sheave assembly. I have done this before, but have trouble remembering the details. (This process would work better with a helper to hold one end of the board. I managed it alone, but wished for a helper - especially putting the spring back on)

I do know I made a 5/8" hole in a 1x4 pine board in order to compress the spring back onto the shaft. This board is about 3 feet long and I braced the long side on the workbench and pushed on the side closer to the hole to compress the spring (with the washer). Removed the clip and eased the spring/washer combination off.
Use a long (about 2 feet) 5/8" dowel to allow the spring to expand on the dowel rather than flying off wildly. With the spring off you will have to loosen the sheave. After working it a while with penetrating oil it should come off. Sounds to me you have something wrong with the key or key-way. Hopefully it is only gunk and can be cleaned up. If not - parts are available from Shopsmith. What a nifty Company!

On your older model maybe you have a nut rather than a clip holding the spring on. Same type of procedure.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:54 pm

Ed - I'm not the sharpest nail in the keg when it come to computers. But anyway I was busy changing my post No. 7 while you were posting No. 8. I reviewed the 20 or so references and didn't find anything about removing the sheave - so made post No. 9. I think Kevin will have to do more than just oiling.