Pulley removal help needed please!

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Alpine Complex Milling & Drilling Machine DM25 renovation

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Advice needed please. I am renovating a 1980 Alpine Complex Milling & Drilling Machine DM25 and have hit a stop. I cannot remove the spindle pulley. I have removed the locking ring, but the pulley is still firmly secured to the shaft. I am reluctant to use a blow torch to see if that helps. Am I missing something? Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks. Martin

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

looks very similar to the old Warco Major/Complex /Economymilling m/c. Ie: remove the big nut at the top of the quill and pull the pulley off. I did this on my WARCO ECONOMY mill , had to use a 3 legged pulley puller with care and some light tapping on the bolt in the pulley puller.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I wouldnt be afraid of using a propane torch on it, provided all flammable materials are out the way. Keep the flame moving. It doesnt take much heat to expand aluminium and its alloys. Even a heat gun could do the trick. Oxy acetylene is a different story though.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Speedy Builder5 on 03/07/2020 11:19:36:

looks very similar to the old Warco Major/Complex /Economymilling m/c. Ie: remove the big nut at the top of the quill and pull the pulley off. I did this on my WARCO ECONOMY mill , had to use a 3 legged pulley puller with care and some light tapping on the bolt in the pulley puller.

I have the Warco machine and should be interested to know what necessitated the removal of the pulley.

[john halfpennyParticipant @johnhalfpenny52803]

I think this mill is the same as the Naerok RDM 350M, which I have. Search 'naerok' on here to find a manual, which has a very good exploded diagram and annotated parts list.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

The thing to remember is that the nut retaining the pulley to the spindle is a Left Hand thread!

On the RF25 (Warco Economy ) the pulley is Aluminium, so some gentle heat ought to help removal.

Howard

[john halfpennyParticipant @johnhalfpenny52803]

On the Naerok, the pulley is steel, and the thread right-hand, but if I am right (and lathes.co.uk seems to confirm) the OP also knows that by now. I find a heat gun is safe and remarkably effective.

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 03/07/2020 14:36:29:

The thing to remember is that the nut retaining the pulley to the spindle is a Left Hand thread!

On the RF25 (Warco Economy ) the pulley is Aluminium, so some gentle heat ought to help removal.

Howard

No it's not a left hand thread. At least I removed mine yesterday and it was a right hand thread.

Jon

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 03/07/2020 14:36:29:

The thing to remember is that the nut retaining the pulley to the spindle is a Left Hand thread!

On the RF25 (Warco Economy ) the pulley is Aluminium, so some gentle heat ought to help removal.

Howard

Yes, left hand in my case IIRC, but the pulley is CI.

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Thanks everybody for the advice. I am renovating the mill and would like to take this off to paint. I would also like to be able to remove this, so I can get a sling around the body to move it. I don't want to risk crushing the belt casing when lifting with my engine hoist.

Cheers Martin

Edited By Martin Ashton on 03/07/2020 16:17:13

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Here are some pictures of the pulley

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

If it is the common type of mill drill, the top front pulley has a large nut on the top. This nut has a left hand thread and the pulley is set on a taper. I took the pulley off the museum's drill mill and it was difficult. We put a puller on it and then applied heat to the pulley, and some time later there was a bang and the taper broke. It was a waste of time removing the pulley, as the bearings it ran in were perfectly sound. Leaving the pulley in place did not prevent the quill from being removed together with the spindle.

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Thanks Old Mart, the bearings feel fine on this mill too. Any thoughts on the best way of moving the drill mill? I have removed the beds, but it is still too heavy to lift unassisted.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

The pictures show that the Alpine is different from the RF 25, having more speeds, and a different nut (C spanner type as opposed to hexagon ) so not a clone of each other.

If the pulley is steel, you can be more confident in using a pulley,possibly aided by a tap if it fails mto come off with the puller alone. Very often, the shock breaks mth taper more readily than a steady pull.

Howard

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Martin, the only danger there is with a pulley puller is if you just use the legs of a puller that hook over the edge of the pulley, you could break the V belt groove or if it's steel distort the shape, if it's really stubbornly stuck on, believe me I seen people who have done it. If it doesn't come off with a little bit of heat, your best bet is to use a puller that is connected to a pair of bars bolted together that straddle the shaft, so as to pull on the centre portion of the pulley underneath, or at least as close as possible.

Regards Nick.

[egaParticipant @ega]

When it comes to lifting, aren't there tapped holes in the top of the main casting that could be used as an attachment point?

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Posted by ega on 04/07/2020 15:40:37:

When it comes to lifting, aren't there tapped holes in the top of the main casting that could be used as an attachment point?

Unfortunately nothing that I can see. I did think that I could drill a couple of 1/2" holes at the top of the column, and pass some threaded bar through. But decided that the few times I need the move the drill-press, it would be a shame to alter its appearance.

[Martin AshtonParticipant @martinashton58894]

Update on pulley removal

Firstly a big thanks to everybody for the advice. I ordered the pullers off eBay, "cheap and cheerful" but they did the job. The pulleys are made of cast iron and relatively heavy duty for a small drill press. The main pulley was on a taper, luckily after tightening the puller and giving it a tap with a hammer I heard a small crack and the pulley was free. I now expected that the base part of the cover to lift off… wrong! The pulley attached to the motor was slightly larger than the hole in the casing and was held with a grub screw. The eBay pullers cost £11.50 and were a set of 3, a 3", 4" and 6". To get the pulley off the motor I used the 4" puller, with a bit of 2" x 1/2" bar, needed to go down the center of the pulley to give the puller ram something to press against the motors shaft. This was particularly tight, so I heated the pulley, which then released. I have added some pictures just for interest.

Thanks again.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Martin, thanks for letting us know how you got on, successful job without tears by the looks of things.

Regards Nick.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Yes, Thanks for telling us that your methods were successful.

It's always nice to know when, and how, a problem is solved.

Howard

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Good job well done. Its the whack on the end of the puller bolt with a hammer that often makes the difference.

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