Busted Reeves drive on HF lathe, need advice

[Elmojo]

Hi all,

I've been away from woodworking for a while, since I got a metal lathe and a contract project to go with it.
Anyway, I decided to fire up my Harbor Freight (HF) 12"x33-3/8" (Central Machinery, item# 34706) wood lathe over the weekend, and was greeted with the unholy sound of the drive side my Reeves variable speed pulley fragging into about 100 pieces.
Once I determined that the world had, in fact, NOT come to an end inside my shop, I pulled it apart and saw that one half of the split pulley on the motor had crumbled like stale bread and exploded. I cleaned out all the pieces and confirmed that the motor and other parts are undamaged.
I've looked all over online, including Amazon, eBay, etc and can't seem to find a replacement drive pulley.
Does anyone know where I can get one?
I thought about upgrading it with a better quality version, say like a Lovejoy 145, a Hi-Lo 3-TBR, or a Speed Selector 4M/5M.
The problem with all these options is that they are quite expensive ($70-150) and I'm not certain that any of them will be an exact match.
I know that I might have to modify the pulley cover if I get something longer than the stock pulley, and that's ok.
I was planning to get back into making some bowls soon, but as of now, I'm dead in the water.
Any advice appreciated.
-Mike


Note: the odd wording of some of my sentences is to include keywords that may help someone find this thread later with a google search, should they have a similar issue.

 

[smallboat]

I've gotten the pulleys from HF directly, just call their number.
they sell them as pairs as in both halves of the drive side split pulley.
May as well replace them both while you have them off the shaft.

quick fix.
but try to determine what caused the first failure or you'll just have ot do it again.

 

[Elmojo]

Morning Steve!

I thought about calling HF, but everything I've heard is that they take forever and don't have good support for replacement parts.
I may try giving that a shot, though, thanks!
I think the original failure was due to the pulley being made out of hardened bubblegum or something similar.
It seriously turned to a pile of crumbled up bits of metallic junk. I feel like I could have broken it with my hands.

I sent you a PM in your other thread, regarding this same issue.

 

[davidbr]

I have had good service from them and prompt delivery. They were good to deal with but had limited or no knowledge of the equipment so try to have part no. ready.

 

[Elmojo]

On hold with HF now, we'll see if they can help...

 

[Elmojo]

Ok, spoke with HF customer support.
They have most of the parts for the drive system available, but only until they're gone.
Here are the part #s he gave me, in case anyone else need to try ordering.
NOTE: The "M" number in {} is the item designation as it appears on the exploded parts diagram from the user manual.
The # in [] (if listed) is the part number for ordering from HF through the customer support phone number.
The text in "" is the part description from the diagram.
The price is obvious.

--Variable Speed drive system (Motor side)--
{M26} "C ring S-16" $2.99
{M27} "Sleeve" $2.99
{M28} "Spring" $5.99
{M29} [24033] "Pulley-Motor (Right)" $12.99
{M30} [24034] "Pulley-Motor (Left)" $12.99

-- Variable Speed Drive system (Spindle Side) --
{M15} "C ring S-24" $2.99
{M14} "Pulley-Spindle (Left)" NO LONGER AVAILABLE
{M13} [23927] "V-Belt M23" $1.99
{M12} [24021] "Pulley-Spindle (Right)" $12.99

I was told that these parts qualify for the $6.99 flat rate shipping, +tax if I'm in an area that collects (NC is).

Hopefully this info will help someone doing a search for these parts in the future.
I'm not ordering the parts right now, since I'm waiting to hear back on another option.

I'll update this thread if/when I get the lathe back up and running.

UPDATE: I placed the order over the phone. The total cost for both halves of the motor pulley {M29/30} and a new drive v-belt {M13}, with tax and shipping, was $37.42.
Not bad, considering that my cheapest option for replacing the Reeves drive with a different one that may or may not have worked was $60+.

 

[Gotcha6]

Glad you had a good experience with them. I once had to order some parts from them for their 9 x 20 metal lathe. It took 8 weeks for them to get here from China, and they were the wrong part because the schematic was mis-labeled. Wound up going to Wholesale Tool and ordering what I needed for a Jet and it was a drop in fit, plus I got it in less than a week.

 

[Elmojo]

Glad you had a good experience with them. I once had to order some parts from them for their 9 x 20 metal lathe. It took 8 weeks for them to get here from China, and they were the wrong part because the schematic was mis-labeled. Wound up going to Wholesale Tool and ordering what I needed for a Jet and it was a drop in fit, plus I got it in less than a week.

Don't jinx it, we ain't done yet! lol
I'm fairly confident that I'll get the right parts, since the guy I spoke to in customer service (in the US!) gave the part #s, and the lady I placed the order with (in India) agreed on the description of those parts.
I should have them towards middle or end of next week, and will report back once I've had a chance to install and test.

I'm still considering the DC conversion, if I can find a decent treadmill motor/controller, but at least this will (hopefully) get me back up and spinning.