Harrison 12" lathe.

[Alan Reynolds]

Hi, need some advice on a Harrison lathe. The drive isn't disengaging from the clutch. It is a rather neglected lathe. When the lever is swung back to disengage the drive, the church still revolves although you can hang on to it and stop it. Before iI dive in, has anyone any experience on the clutches of these things. I'm presuming it's a cone clutch and may have worn way past it's sell by date. Thanks.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

It looks the same as the 11” clutch, if so it’s a friction plate clutch. I had the same issue and it was due to the plates being gummed up . I stripped it and degreased it and haven’t had an issue since

 

[Alan Reynolds]

It looks the same as the 11” clutch, if so it’s a friction plate clutch. I had the same issue and it was due to the plates being gummed up . I stripped it and degreased it and haven’t had an issue since

Thanks for the reply Dan. You could be right about it being gummed up as it's been out of use since lockdown and it was working fine before then. Has it got friction material and could it possibly be worn out? I presume it's just a case of dropping the end casing off agter releasing the plate with the spring under it. Someone mentioned that when the lever is pushed back it should act like a brake for the chuck. Do you happen to know if this is true?

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Thanks for the reply Dan. You could be right about it being gummed up as it's been out of use since lockdown and it was working fine before then. Has it got friction material and could it possibly be worn out? I presume it's just a case of dropping the end casing off after releasing the plate with the spring under it. Someone mentioned that when the lever is pushed back it should act like a brake for the chuck. Do you happen to know if this is true?

yes, it should have a braking action when you disengage the clutch, however well that works im unsure. can never decide whether mine slows down due to a brake or not. from what i recall they are just metallic plates, no friction material, and mine were just sticky with old oil

 

[Alan Reynolds]

yes, it should have a braking action when you disengage the clutch, however well that works im unsure. can never decide whether mine slows down due to a brake or not. from what i recall they are just metallic plates, no friction material, and mine were just sticky with old oil

Cheers Dan. I'll be going in!