Question for Nova 3000 Owners

Still waiting and drooling until March for mine, but the complaints about motor shafts keep gnawing on me. I notice from the manual that the cam tensioner is nearest the motor, while the most-used pulleys - for me anyway, are at the other end. Anyone reverse the pulley cones? Seems it might be easier on the motor shaft than giving all that leverage, and the 1 1/4" shaft can certainly take a greater load than a 5/8".

So - anyone do it? Are the pulleys even configured such that they can be reversed? Seems ambiguous from the parts diagram.

Reply to
George
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You might want to check over on the Nova users group:

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Stuart

Reply to
Stuart Johnson

George,

I put them on the regular way and have had no problem. You don't really need to (nor should you) crank the cam tightener down as hard as you can. You just snug it up enough so that there is no belt vibration. There really isnt that much lateral pressure. The motor shaft problems that you may have heard about were on the Leisen (spelling) variable speed motors. For some unknown reason those had a groove in the shaft just outside the motor housing. That caused a weak point and thus possibility of failure (at least that seemed to be the consensus).

Larry

Reply to
ebd

Thanks. Never really caught that, and Google's about worthless now.

Sounds like the shaft was made for a circlip, eh?

Reply to
George

Yes, I've read them, but you've gotta sell your soul to Bill gates to ask a question there. My previous series of experiences with MSN finally demanded about two hours of registry work, so I shy away.

Reply to
George

This is a quote from James Barley:

Sorry I can't offer any help with your problem, but the one point I'd like to mention is that, I had a Nova with a "Baldor" 1hpDC motor, and it broke it's shaft. I've heard since that this lathe, which is no longer with me, has suffered the same fate, again, with a "Baldor" 1hpDC mototr. So the broken shaft problem isn't isolated to Leeson motors.

End Quote!

It would seem that you are incorrect about the type of motors only being Leesons Larry.

Now for additional points might I suggest to those interested......Do a google search for broken motor shafts from ANY other lathe manufacturer. Hmmmmmm ........

Reply to
M.J. Orr

Reply to
Lyn J. Mangiameli

The purchase is made, so no backing out. The pulleys will, if possible, be reversed. I do fear it may prove impossible, though. Doesn't take a mechanical engineer to see that the motor mounting/tensioning doesn't favor the low end. If it were possible, clever people would have done it already. Of course, there's a chance Teknatool may help out, too.

I'm able to swing 1/2" wide shavings when roughing off stuff on a 3/4 HP Delta with a V belt tensioned by motor weight only, so I should be able to do fairly well with a flat belt, I should think. Since I rough from the center outward, rather than the edge, the "percussive" effect on me and the lathe is minimal. Even 360 will give me less radial speed on a 16" piece than I'm presently capable of with Ol' Blue and a 12" piece.

With his more robust construction, I suspect Blue'll still get more of a workout than the new (used) lathe, but the price was right, and my 2035 , which I was to get when the last kid graduated, has faded into the future due to a thing called graduate school....

Reply to
George

"George" wrote: (clip) Sounds like the shaft was made for a circlip, eh? ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The one and only failed motor shaft I actually saw had a keyway ending just next to the motor bearing. The shaft broke just where the keyway ended. The plausible explanation is this: 1.) the bending is maximum there, 2.) The corner of the keyway acts as a stress raiser, 3.) A rotating shaft in bending goes through cyclical stress, resulting in possible fatigue failure.

The idea of reversing the pulleys makes a lot of sense (if it is possible.)

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Imagine the shafts are only case-hardened to help keep grub screws from digging in excessively. Otherwise, cold-rolled soft stuff? It's that d*mn mechanical advantage stuff again. Seems all the antiques I've seen - and the one I own - have the small end nearest the motor.

Oh well, we shall see.

Reply to
George

I snapped the shaft on a "Wek" brand 3 phase motor I bought new 1 year and

2 weeks before. Guess when the warranty ran out...

No groove on this shaft.

Reply to
Ron Williams

Reply to
rick pixley

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