Pro-Planer pulley alignment

[rbenstead]

I picked up a Pro-Planer awhile back along with a 520. The planer is clean and appears to be almost new. I noticed that one of the blades had a nick in it and I decided to install a new set. I would say that I am very much machanically inclined and working on tools and equipment come naturally. I am home on sick leave following some surgery and going stir crazy so I thought that this would be a nice job to get out of the way. I have looked at Nick's video on setting the blades which involved removing shields. This is where it's gets interesting. As soon as I removed the belt guard I noticed that the pulleys weren't lined up.Belt was even slightly twisted. I went to the manual and it says to have the bottom motor pulley about 1/16 in from the legs "Which it is" and the top cutter pulley should be about 1/2 in from the planer frame"Which it is" By putting a straight edge on the larger pulley it is out about 5/8 in from the other pulley.And are parallel with each other.I can't move the motor pulley in because it would hit the legs. I can't move the small pulley out or it will hit the belt guard. It even looks like the previous owner stuck a washer between the belt guard and the planer frame. Everything seams to be assambled correctly. Any Ideas?

[8iowa]

I just went through this kind of alignment. I have a MKV planer mounted on a power stand. There are several variables in this equation. The motor can be adjusted forward and backward and up and down to some extent. Try to keep it level. The pulleys can be moved back and forth on the shafts, but you must be able to tighten the set screws on the square keys on the shaft. I bent in the legs to allow more clearance room for the lower pulley.

The steel pulleys that came with the power station would not stay put and often threw the keys. I replaced them with cast iron pulleys of the same size and this was a decided improvement. The CI pulleys have two set screws and will never move. I tightened the set screws with blue locktite.

[cincinnati]

I have owned my planer for 20 years and have the same problem. Always thought a shorter belt would solve the problem.

[rdonr]

I've been working on getting a planer set up recently.

I have exactly the same alignment problem with the pulleys on the Shopsmith planer. In my case I have a Mark V mount planer (circa 1983) and the stand, pulleys (5 inch and 3 inch), belt and motor from a relatively new Shopsmith Pro Planer.

I do not believe it is possible to align the motor and cutterhead pulleys as stated in the Pro Planer manual. In addition, the pulley guard cannot be made to fit properly.

The legs of the stand prevent the motor pulley from aligning with the cutterhead pulley if the cutterhead pulley is positioned at the specified 1/2 inch from the frame of the planer. Moving the motor vertically up as far as the mounting allows (this increases clearance between the motor pulley and the legs of the stand) and sliding the cutterhead pulley out to about 7/8 inch from the frame allows for the pulleys to be aligned, but then the belt is very loose as vertical movement of the motor controls the belt tension. In addition, this position leaves the cutterhead pulley extending past the end of the cutterhead drive shaft by about 1/2 inch. I'm not sure if that's a problem or not. Does anybody know if that will cause a problem with long-term use?

I solved the alignment problem, at least temporarily, by moving the cutter head pulley out to about 7/8" from the frame, raising the motor as much as possible, and using a link belt rather than the Shopsmith supplied v-belt. The link belt is about 1 link shorter than the supplied Shopsmith v-belt. (I suppose it would also be possible to run the machine without aligning the pulleys in the same vertical plane. I suspect that would cause a lot of noise, vibration, and abnormal wear on the belt and pulleys.)

Anther issue: In this position, the pulley guard just barely clears the outside edge of both pulleys. In fact, I'm not sure it does not contact the end of the motor shaft. Also, regardless of the position of the cutterhead pulley, the pulley guard contacts the top edge of the belt! Both used pulley guards that I have seen are scarred on the inside of the top where they have been rubbed by the cutter head pulley and/or the belt. And my new pulley guard now has the same scar.

Temporary solution to the pulley guard problem: Don't use it. But that's not acceptable. Long term solution: Add about 1/16" to side clearance by mounting the pulley guard with some washers and modify the top of the pulley guard (cut out the center and patch with some 1/8" hardboard? sand down the inside?) to clear the cutterhead pulley. I haven't modified the pulley guard yet, but will soon.

Has anybody communicated with Shopsmith about this issue? They are such a great company I find it difficult to believe they sell machines that cannot be set up properly and without safety guards that actually fit. It seems to me that the problem is inherent in design of the machine and stand. (Maybe I should say "current design" as I'm not sure of historical changes.)

Does anybody have a Pro-Planer or a stand mounted Mark V planer without these problems? I’d love to know.

don

P.S. 8iowa: I would love to know where you found cast iron pulleys to replace the Shopsmith steel pulleys. I had a damaged 5 inch pulley and was never able to find a source other than Shopsmith for a matching size pulley. thanks.

[dusty]

I will take a look at mine tomorrow. I very vaguely remember that I had trouble with either the belt or the pulley rubbing on the leg of the stand. I don't remember for sure and I don't know what I did to resolve the problem but it has been working for twenty years now.

I did not modify the cover.

[SDSSmith]

I've been working on getting a planer set up recently.

I have exactly the same alignment problem with the pulleys on the Shopsmith planer. In my case I have a Mark V mount planer (circa 1983) and the stand, pulleys (5 inch and 3 inch), belt and motor from a relatively new Shopsmith Pro Planer.

I do not believe it is possible to align the motor and cutterhead pulleys as stated in the Pro Planer manual. In addition, the pulley guard cannot be made to fit properly.

The legs of the stand prevent the motor pulley from aligning with the cutterhead pulley if the cutterhead pulley is positioned at the specified 1/2 inch from the frame of the planer. Moving the motor vertically up as far as the mounting allows (this increases clearance between the motor pulley and the legs of the stand) and sliding the cutterhead pulley out to about 7/8 inch from the frame allows for the pulleys to be aligned, but then the belt is very loose as vertical movement of the motor controls the belt tension. In addition, this position leaves the cutterhead pulley extending past the end of the cutterhead drive shaft by about 1/2 inch. I'm not sure if that's a problem or not. Does anybody know if that will cause a problem with long-term use?

I solved the alignment problem, at least temporarily, by moving the cutter head pulley out to about 7/8" from the frame, raising the motor as much as possible, and using a link belt rather than the Shopsmith supplied v-belt. The link belt is about 1 link shorter than the supplied Shopsmith v-belt. (I suppose it would also be possible to run the machine without aligning the pulleys in the same vertical plane. I suspect that would cause a lot of noise, vibration, and abnormal wear on the belt and pulleys.)

Anther issue: In this position, the pulley guard just barely clears the outside edge of both pulleys. In fact, I'm not sure it does not contact the end of the motor shaft. Also, regardless of the position of the cutterhead pulley, the pulley guard contacts the top edge of the belt! Both used pulley guards that I have seen are scarred on the inside of the top where they have been rubbed by the cutter head pulley and/or the belt. And my new pulley guard now has the same scar.

Temporary solution to the pulley guard problem: Don't use it. But that's not acceptable. Long term solution: Add about 1/16" to side clearance by mounting the pulley guard with some washers and modify the top of the pulley guard (cut out the center and patch with some 1/8" hardboard? sand down the inside?) to clear the cutterhead pulley. I haven't modified the pulley guard yet, but will soon.

Has anybody communicated with Shopsmith about this issue? They are such a great company I find it difficult to believe they sell machines that cannot be set up properly and without safety guards that actually fit. It seems to me that the problem is inherent in design of the machine and stand. (Maybe I should say "current design" as I'm not sure of historical changes.)

Does anybody have a Pro-Planer or a stand mounted Mark V planer without these problems? I’d love to know.

don

P.S. 8iowa: I would love to know where you found cast iron pulleys to replace the Shopsmith steel pulleys. I had a damaged 5 inch pulley and was never able to find a source other than Shopsmith for a matching size pulley. thanks.Sorry if this is a stupid question, but have you pulled the motor back as far as the alignment slots in the stand allow?

[rdonr]

SDSSmith, no such thing as a stupid question.

I thought of that at first too, but, the horizontal position of the motor does not matter. The body of the motor is always inside the legs of the stand. The motor pulley is always outside the legs of the stand. So moving the motor itself horizontally does not change the clearance between the motor pulley and the legs. The problem is that the legs of the stand prevent the motor pulley from being moved inward as much as it "wants to".

The vertical position of the motor matters because as you raise the motor upwards, the legs slant inwards, thus allowing the motor pulley to be moved further inward.

To reiterate, it looks to me like the design of the planer and the stand would make this problem occur on every machine. I don't understand why everyone with a planer on a stand does not have this problem. Hopefully, I am missing something that will seem real simple as soon as somebody points it out to me.

Also, I rechecked the pulley guard clearance. It looks like the pulleys do clear the guard, just barely, maybe about 1/32 to 1/16 inch, in the horizontal direction. And I guess it is possible the Shopsmith v- belt rides enough lower in the cutterhead pulley than the link belt to clear the cutterhead pulley at the top. It would also be just barely, probably 1/32 inch or less, but I haven't checked that possibility.

Another thought: The Shopsmith catalog entry for the Planer Pulley Retro-Kit refers to older planers with "equal size pulleys". I don't know what size the older pulley was. If the motor pulley was small enough on the older planers then it might fit between the legs of the stand and the problem would go away. But of course, we want the higher cutterhead speed made possible by the 5 inch motor pulley.

Third Thought: Let's see. To get the 5750 rpm advertised with the Planer Pulley Retro-Kit we need a motor pulley that has a circumference 1.67 times that of the cutterhead pulley. A 4 inch motor pulley and a 2.5 inch cutterhead pulley would be very close. I haven't measured, but I think a 4 inch motor pulley would probably fit between the legs of the planer. We'd probably need to use a link belt to get the right belt length for that pulley combination.

8iowa! Where'd you find those replacement pulleys and do they have other sizes? For that matter, does Shopsmith sell 4 inch and 2.5 inch pulleys? This might be worth trying.

don

[SDSSmith]

SDSSmith, no such thing as a stupid question.

I thought of that at first too, but, the horizontal position of the motor does not matter. The body of the motor is always inside the legs of the stand. The motor pulley is always outside the legs of the stand. So moving the motor itself horizontally does not change the clearance between the motor pulley and the legs. The problem is that the legs of the stand prevent the motor pulley from being moved inward as much as it "wants to".

The vertical position of the motor matters because as you raise the motor upwards, the legs slant inwards, thus allowing the motor pulley to be moved further inward.

To reiterate, it looks to me like the design of the planer and the stand would make this problem occur on every machine. I don't understand why everyone with a planer on a stand does not have this problem. Hopefully, I am missing something that will seem real simple as soon as somebody points it out to me.

Also, I rechecked the pulley guard clearance. It looks like the pulleys do clear the guard, just barely, maybe about 1/32 to 1/16 inch, in the horizontal direction. And I guess it is possible the Shopsmith v- belt rides enough lower in the cutterhead pulley than the link belt to clear the cutterhead pulley at the top. It would also be just barely, probably 1/32 inch or less, but I haven't checked that possibility.

Another thought: The Shopsmith catalog entry for the Planer Pulley Retro-Kit refers to older planers with "equal size pulleys". I don't know what size the older pulley was. If the motor pulley was small enough on the older planers then it might fit between the legs of the stand and the problem would go away. But of course, we want the higher cutterhead speed made possible by the 5 inch motor pulley.

Third Thought: Let's see. To get the 5750 rpm advertised with the Planer Pulley Retro-Kit we need a motor pulley that has a circumference 1.67 times that of the cutterhead pulley. A 4 inch motor pulley and a 2.5 inch cutterhead pulley would be very close. I haven't measured, but I think a 4 inch motor pulley would probably fit between the legs of the planer. We'd probably need to use a link belt to get the right belt length for that pulley combination.

8iowa! Where'd you find those replacement pulleys and do they have other sizes? For that matter, does Shopsmith sell 4 inch and 2.5 inch pulleys? This might be worth trying.

donI am not sure what configuration your planer has. Here are a couple of pictures of my planer.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/sdssmith51/panerpulleys.jpg http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/sdssmith51/motorpulley.jpg

This unit has the updated pulley sizes, though the pulleys are not steel. Shopsmith sells and upgrade, 555114, that includes these pulley sizes made from steel along with a belt and belt cover. On my unit there is no sign of pulley or belt wear on the cover. According to the manual, the motor pulley inside face is supposed to clear the stand by 1/16" and the planer pulley inside face is supposed to be 1/2" out from the planer frame.