Lubrication for Reaves Drive

Jan 10, 2007 4 Replies
B

I have a Shopsmith which has a variety of Reaves drive. The manual stresses the need to lubricate the sheaves regularly and since I do it, the speed control always operates very easily.



I just purchased a Jet 1442 lathe which also has the Reaves drive but there is nothing in the manual about lubricating the sheaves or shafts on which they slide. Looking for advice to prevent future problems as much as possible. If they should be lubricated, what type of lubricant is preferable? (Graphite, LPS-1, a spray greasless lubricant, or a medium weight machine machine oil).



Thanks for any suggestions.


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S

I have not tried a dry graphite based lubricant on the reeves drive on my craftman but I would think that it would probably work better than an oil based lubricant with all of the dust that a lathe can produce. Oil and dust do not mix at least not in a manner that would keep a reeves drive function ing properly.

Steven Raphael

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D

Bob If you ahve it apart sometime, coat everything with Rustcheck and wipe it down well. Other wise I find a good graphite lubricant to be best around these machines. We work in a very dusty environment and wood dust really soaks the oil into grundge. There is an article on my site about disassembling the Reeves Drive on my Craftsman which may help if you ever have to do the same on the min. Hope not :-)

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L

Whatever method you use, so it before it really gets bad. It's ten times harder after the parts are stuck. Think mallets, and pullers and springs that want to leap into hiding.

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