Shopsmith Forums

Just ordered the brand new Pro Planner pulley upgrade kit to replace an old aluminum pulley that had stripped out the set screw threads and began to rotate on the shaft. The newer steel pulley feels a bit more solid, however the set screw appears to be drilled slightly askew. This is a pre-1991 with a square key which fits very tight in the slot. There is no give for rotating the pulley to center the key in the set screw hole.

Any concern with the slightly askew set screw hole? (picture attached) For scale, this is a standard set screw with a extreme closeup.

Call the mother ship and inquire if that is intentional.

With a key, what function does the set screw have? Nothing more that secure the key. Does the set screw need to be centered to accomplish that? I don't think so.

However, those pulleys that I own that have both a key and a set screw have the set screw centered on the key slot.

I take it the set screw pushes down on the key, which keeps the pulley from rotating and sliding off the shaft. I ended up replacing the key with this change over since the old key had several set screw marks and it was loose enough to fall on the floor and get lost. The new key was tight and needed a punch to gently tap it in the slot. I hope I never have to replace it again, because I have my doubts it is coming out.

I took a second look at the pix and discovered I was not identifying the key correctly. The hole is only a small amount off the center of the key(the part on the left in the pix).

That so, I would not be overly concerned.

However the key should have gone in snugly, but not require driving. I suspect the keyway was deformed by the previous pulley/setscrew. Gentle filing would remove any projections into the 'slot'. Nuf time to worry about that the next time the pulley is off.

The key keeps the pulley from rotating on the shaft, and the set screw secures the pulley to the shaft through the key. The set screw needs to be very tight!!!!

I would still question the mother ship.

BTW keys tend to have burs at their ends that when removed make installing them much easier. Also the middle can get dinged or bent.

I ended up replacing the key with this change over since the old key had several set screw marks and it was loose enough to fall on the floor and get lost.canamsteelbuilding

Just a quick follow this issue. I ended up proceeding with the upgrade and not worrying about the slightly offset screw hole. I've run the planer for about an hour and everything seems good. Especially, since I installed a new set of knives.

If I have one complaint, I'm using a DC3300 for due collection and it only picks up about half the planners having. I wish it had better chip collection.

letterk wrote:Just a quick follow this issue. I ended up proceeding with the upgrade and not worrying about the slightly offset screw hole. I've run the planer for about an hour and everything seems good. Especially, since I installed a new set of knives.

If I have one complaint, I'm using a DC3300 for due collection and it only picks up about half the planners having. I wish it had better chip collection.

Do you have this upgrade installed on your dust chute? I found that it greatly improves chip collection.