Shopsmith Forums

My Speed Reducer has frozen up. How do I unfreeze it?

Welcome to the forum. My first thought is to warm it up. That is not likely the problem.

When you say it is frozen up do you mean you cannot turn it either way? With it disconnected from the spindle and a lathe faceplate mounted try rotating it both ways by hand. It may require opening it up to see if something is jammed in the gearing. Can you describe the problem in more detail? Do you have a manual for it? That could be helpful in tracking down the problem, especially if you need to open it up. Pictures can also be helpful in "seeing" a problem. Ask for more help here if you cannot fix the problem. Others here will have helpful ideas too. Someone here may have had a similar problem.

The speed reducer is a 7 to 1 reduction. The interior consists of two poly V belts and there are no gears. I would not take it apart unless you have the manual for it. The only way it can freeze up is if the bearings had water get in them and the bearings are frozen. Do what Chapman said by mounting the faceplate (preferably the 6" one) and then trying to turn it by hand. If that does not work surgery is indicated. There is no greasing or oiling on the inside that is required. Shopsmith did use shielded bearings and not sealed ones and if the unit got wet in the past the bearings are the prime suspects.
Bill V

As Bill said it is belts and pulleys. Sorry, I used "gearing" in to general of a description. Knowing the type of reduction that is in there is helpful. Again having a manual should help.

Here is page 6 from my copy of the manual, if that is any help. I have never attempted, or had a reason, to open up my speed reducer.

And here is the last page regarding maintenance, page 20.

wa2crk wrote:The speed reducer is a 7 to 1 reduction. The interior consists of two poly V belts and there are no gears. I would not take it apart unless you have the manual for it. The only way it can freeze up is if the bearings had water get in them and the bearings are frozen. Do what Chapman said by mounting the faceplate (preferably the 6" one) and then trying to turn it by hand. If that does not work surgery is indicated. There is no greasing or oiling on the inside that is required. Shopsmith did use shielded bearings and not sealed ones and if the unit got wet in the past the bearings are the prime suspects.
Bill V

Help me to understand, Bill. You have peaked my curiosity and I am tempted to explore. I have never opened my speed reducer. In fact, I hardly ever use it.

Why do you advise against opening it? Is it difficult (tricky) to close back up?

I don't have one so I know nothing about them, but if I did have one and it gave me trouble, I wouldn't hesitate to open it up to see and fix the problem. I've never had any fear of mechanical devices. They are usually so simple that once you have them open, you can see the problem and fix it.

I was using the speed reducer to turn an out of round log into a bowl blank, but it wasn't working right in that I couldn't get the log into round. It seemed as if the log was not securely attached to the face plate. I stopped six times to check it and all seemed good. The last time I tried to restart it the speed reducer refused to turn. I removed it from the shopsmith and tried it, it worked fine. The reducer gears did not get wet. I tried turning it with a face plate attached,no luck

nicehice wrote:I removed it from the shopsmith and tried it, it worked fine. The reducer gears did not get wet. I tried turning it with a face plate attached,no luck

I'm confused. When you removed "it", was this first "it" the speed reducer?

For the second and third "it", is that the Shopsmith or the speed reducer? My guess is the Shopsmith.

And for the fourth "it", are we back to the speed reducer, and is it mounted or not on the Shopsmith?

I have never tried turning my speed reducer manually with a faceplate attached, but I do know it is very hard to turn with nothing attached due to the high reduction ratio.

Have you checked your drive hubs? Are they engaged properly?