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Delta 46-715 Pulley

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Jan 5, 2012
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Kentucky
I have a Delta 46-715 or 1440 Ironbed Lathe. The fixed side of the Reeves Drive pulley on the motor has developed several cracks. I have contacted Delta and they informed me that have discontinued this pulley set. They show none in stock at any location.

Would anyone have any idea where I might obtain a set of these?
 
Well, that's certainly not very good news. It has not been very many years since they quit making that lathe. I had a similar experience several years ago when I needed a part for a stationary planer -- a fairly expensive machine and they no longer supported that machine either.

I have a box of Delta pulley parts, but I do not think that I have a usable fixed half of the pulley for the motor. I will check anyway. One of the problems with getting replacement pulleys is that they need to be purchased as a matched set of the two halves -- otherwise the fingers of the two halves probably won't mate together correctly. This is because the keyway slot is machined after two halves are matched together. Even the slightest mismatch caused by the variation in position of the keyway slot will lead to an interference problem. You might double check with Delta to see if they have a pulley set for the motor if you have not already asked about it.

The other option would be to check with companies that have far better customer support such as Jet or possibly Grizzly. First, determine whether any of their models with Reeves drives have similar sized motor pulleys. They do not need to be exactly the same size as long as the pulley is large enough so that the belt does not jump out of the groove and has about the same range of travel on the motor shaft. Jet had a 14 inch model that was a close competitor to the Delta except that the motor faced the other direction and the fixed half of the pulley was closest to the motor face while the moving half and spring were near the end of the motor shaft. The Jet 1236 might also have a motor pulley similar to the Delta. Grizzly also had some Reeves VS models. You might check their archives for user manuals with exploded parts diagrams. There is a slim possibility of finding an aftermarket supplier, but I would not build up my hopes too much.

A last resort would be to find a set of fixed cone pulleys that would give you a decent speed range. The one problem there is finding a pulley set where one pulley has a 5/8" bore and the other half has a 24mm (or 22mm if a rev. A model) bore.

A more difficult solution given that the headstock slides and rotates is to add a jackshaft and have a 1:1 drive between it and the spindle and then the stepped cone pulleys could be on the motor and jackshaft. The real tough nut to crack here is where and how to mount a jackshaft without loosing the ability to move the headstock.

BTW, the reason for the pulley cracking from the hub is because the setscrews have been overtightened. DAMHIKT 😀 If the setscrews are not tight enough the pulley will loosen and move around -- if they are too tight the soft die-cast zinc pulleys will crack. The difference between not tight enough and too tight is a very fine line.
 
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Thanks Bill!!!

I found a guy who is advertising a set that he calls "Delta Small Reeves Drive Pulleys". They measure the same in Diameter and look almost identical. The only differences that I can see is that he says they fit a 9/16" spindle. If I have measured correctly my spindle is 5/8". Also my movable side pulley tapers into a collar on the inside that extends beyond the splines where his has an open center that matches the non movable side.

I and assuming that this collar protects the belt to prevent it from coming in contact with the spindle. ????? The collar on mine shines like the belt has contacted it when the pulley is in the open position.

I am wondering if this guy could possibly have missed the spindle size on his pulley. And also if it would work without the collar. What do you think?
 
Thanks Bill!!!

I found a guy who is advertising a set that he calls "Delta Small Reeves Drive Pulleys". They measure the same in Diameter and look almost identical. The only differences that I can see is that he says they fit a 9/16" spindle. If I have measured correctly my spindle is 5/8". Also my movable side pulley tapers into a collar on the inside that extends beyond the splines where his has an open center that matches the non movable side.

I and assuming that this collar protects the belt to prevent it from coming in contact with the spindle. ????? The collar on mine shines like the belt has contacted it when the pulley is in the open position.

I am wondering if this guy could possibly have missed the spindle size on his pulley. And also if it would work without the collar. What do you think?

I am almost positive that the motor shaft is 5/8 inches on this machine. Maybe his replacement is for the 46-700 earlier model lathe that had a 12 inch swing and was much lighter.

The collar you are referring to is a part of the hub of the movable half of the pulley. It may also serve the purpose of keeping the belt from getting trapped. Belts do not last very long on Reeves drives so if the bottom of your belt is glazed or the hub is polished then the belt is way past being worn out as it definitely should not be running on the hub.

Ideally, Reeves drives belts are thin in height and wide from side to side and have wrapped edges. Check out the belts used on variable speed riding mowers to see what I mean. The reason is to minimize the friction when changing the speed. However, Delta, Jet, Grizzly, et. al., seem to ignore that good design guideline and just use standard "A" section belts with raw edges. Raw edge belts grip the sidewalls with a lot of friction -- and when the belt is continuously moving up and down the sidewall they wear out rather quickly. You have probably noticed a lot of black rubber dust. About one year is what to expect from a belt in this application.

I checked my shop and then remembered that I gave all of my pulley parts to another club member who has the same lathe. I looked at my Delta lathe to jog my memory and rolled the belt off the pulley to look at the pulley construction -- there was plenty of black rubber powder, but the belt was not close to running on the hub.

If it were not for the difference in motor shaft diameter, the pulley set that you located would be acceptable.
 
Reeves Pully set for Delta Lathe

I have a Delta 46-715 or 1440 Ironbed Lathe. The fixed side of the Reeves Drive pulley on the motor has developed several cracks. I have contacted Delta and they informed me that have discontinued this pulley set. They show none in stock at any location.

Would anyone have any idea where I might obtain a set of these?

You can get a complete set of 2 pullys, one spring and one hex key at Grizzly .com.
This will set you back about 31.00. Shipping is free.

Hope this helps you.
 
This seems to be a disturbing trend with Delta tools at the moment. The take over and subsequent sale by Stanley-Black and Decker has not been a good thing for consumers. The new Delta seems to be undercapitalized and unable to stock/order/manufacture replacement parts, and S-BD seems to have no interest in doing so. I have an old Super 10 tablesaw that parts are available from 3rd parties on a hit or miss basis. I have a contractor's saw that is the newest version, parts for it have nearly completely dried up as it was made for only a short period of time. No Fun.
A nice example of vulture capitalism benefiting nearly no one.
 
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