Thanks for the recent help on cleaning clutch plates. I have now
cleaned out all the old oil, gunge from the sump, etc, and refilled
with new oil. I have adjusted the selector so it clicks into foward,
reverse, and neutral. reverse is fine, it engages and disengages
correctly, but forward engages, but when it is moved to the disengage
position, the lathe doesn't stop turning. I have checked that the
selector is in the neutral position. If I turn off the motor and
then back on again, it will usually not start turning. (as it should)

The lathe is a Gornati Leopard, and has 2 clutches on the shaft driven
by the motor. These look like about 10 or so disks that get
compressed when the selector is pushed towards them. There seems to
be an adjusting ring on the side closest to the selector that could be
adjusted with a pin wrench. I haven't seen if there is a locking
ring or screw to stop movement after adjustment.

It would seem that I should be loosening off this ring a touch. Is
this something I can safely do, or am I likely to be opening up a can
of worms?

Any help would be appreciated.

Nick
I'm going to speak in some general terms here as I'm not familiar with your
specific clutch, but multi plate clutches have some common features. When
cleaning this lathe up did you disassemble the clutch and clean it? I
suspect not and there may be some resistance to motion there. The plates of
the clutch are splined to the output shaft and must slide linearly so that
disengagement can happen. If this lathe has been setting then you may also
have just some stickiness to the plates. With out power applied and the
machine in neutral can you feel much drag in the clutch? Is it sticky?
Clean if necessary.

As far as adjusting the clutch the I suspect that your clutch should have an
overcamming arms that lock in the clutch and the adjusting ring determines
the pressure exerted on the stack when engaged. You should not have
problems trying to loosen this up or tighten it. If to tight then the
engagement lever will not 'click' into position. If to loose then it will
not 'click' in.

I'm thinking that this clutch will have pivot pins on the engagement arms
that if removed will allow everything to slip off of the shaft and be
inspected. Check the shaft and see if it has worn ridges in the splines
that do not allow the clutch plates to slide easily on the shaft. Repair
and clean as necessary.
lg
no neat sig line

"Nick Alexander" wrote in message
om...
Thanks for the recent help on cleaning clutch plates. I have now
cleaned out all the old oil, gunge from the sump, etc, and refilled
with new oil. I have adjusted the selector so it clicks into foward,
reverse, and neutral. reverse is fine, it engages and disengages
correctly, but forward engages, but when it is moved to the disengage
position, the lathe doesn't stop turning. I have checked that the
selector is in the neutral position. If I turn off the motor and
then back on again, it will usually not start turning. (as it should)

The lathe is a Gornati Leopard, and has 2 clutches on the shaft driven
by the motor. These look like about 10 or so disks that get
compressed when the selector is pushed towards them. There seems to
be an adjusting ring on the side closest to the selector that could be
adjusted with a pin wrench. I haven't seen if there is a locking
ring or screw to stop movement after adjustment.

It would seem that I should be loosening off this ring a touch. Is
this something I can safely do, or am I likely to be opening up a can
of worms?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for the info Larry. I have removed the clutch shaft, and
there is certainly more friction on the forward than the reverse
clutch, so it may be as simple as cleaning it thoroughly. I will
give that a try next.

"larry g" wrote in message ...
Nick
I'm going to speak in some general terms here as I'm not familiar with your
specific clutch, but multi plate clutches have some common features. When
cleaning this lathe up did you disassemble the clutch and clean it? I
suspect not and there may be some resistance to motion there. The plates of
the clutch are splined to the output shaft and must slide linearly so that
disengagement can happen. If this lathe has been setting then you may also
have just some stickiness to the plates. With out power applied and the
machine in neutral can you feel much drag in the clutch? Is it sticky?
Clean if necessary.