Jet 1442VS Speed Selector Assembly

[Kim Metzger]

I disassembled the speed selector recently to address a problem I was having with it slipping from a low speed to a higher speed while turning.
After reassembling it, it is clear the speed is very wrong. When set to 600, the actual speed is more like 1,000 rpm. It seemed to me there was only one way to reinsert the mechanism. All suggestions welcome.

 

[Dean Center]

Having worked on the 1440s at our high school, it seems to me that the disc with the numbers on it can go back on in various positions. If having an accurate number to look at is important to you, you could bring the speed handle all the way to the slowest end, turn the lathe off, loosen things up again, turn the disc until the number is at the 600 hole, match the 600 hole in the disc with the pointy part of the lever that's supposed to engage the hole, and then lock everything down again.

 

[Richard Coers]

Did you measure the rpm with a tachometer, or just a feeling that it's 400 rpm off? Any reeves drive lathe can have an issue with speed control if the spring loaded adjustable pulley hangs up on the shaft from lack of lubrication. How old is the machine and have you done any maintenance on the reeves drive?

 

[Kim Metzger]

Thanks for your replies. The lathe is in the school for kids where I teach here in Mexico. I'm going to say it's about 7 years old, but has not seen a lot of use. I'll go to the school tomorrow and try out some things. We also have a Nova Comet mini lathe with a speed readout. I set the speed on both lathes to 600 and watched the threads on the spindles. The Jet was clearly running much faster than the Comet. Any suggestions for a tachometer? I found one here

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Q0Ggj2HWE
but don't know if I can attach the reflective tape to the spindle or if it has to be on the Reeves drive.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Thanks for your replies. The lathe is in the school for kids where I teach here in Mexico. I'm going to say it's about 7 years old, but has not seen a lot of use. I'll go to the school tomorrow and try out some things. We also have a Nova Comet mini lathe with a speed readout. I set the speed on both lathes to 600 and watched the threads on the spindles. The Jet was clearly running much faster than the Comet. Any suggestions for a tachometer? I found one here

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Q0Ggj2HWE
but don't know if I can attach the reflective tape to the spindle or if it has to be on the Reeves drive.

You will attach the tape to the component you want to check the RPM of.. so I assume if your concern is spindle speed (which is the RPM reading on most any lathe) then you'd place it on the spindle or chuck.. (I put mine on my jaw chuck on a black anodized part of it for best contrast and less glare from chrome.. you could also mount a dark colored waste block of wood in the lathe or between centers and put tape on that... )

 

[Kim Metzger]

Thank you. I guess I could wrap the chuck with black duct tape.

 

[Kim Metzger]

Trial and error. Well, I had never thought of a tachometer to measure the rpms. I got one and discovered that when set to 450 I was getting 1700 rpms. The speed selector handle is held to the shaft with a set screw screwed onto the flat area on the shaft. Every time I pull the handle off after running it for a while, the flat area is in some other position. I can't manually rotate the shaft. Anyway, I reattached the handle a few times and measured the rpms. This way, I guess by dumb luck, I got the following readings: when set to 250, I get 550. When set to 450, I get 800. When set to 600, it's 1,100 and set to 850, it's 1,400. I now have three safe ranges for the school lathe. It's hard to believe that Jet hasn't addressed how to reinstall a speed selector handle.