C&P Pulley Clutch Issue

Hi there - I have a C&P 10x15 NS with the right side, variable-speed, belt-driven pulley. The belt is driven by a .5 hp / 1725 rpm motor. The issue is that the press doesn’t seem to maintain a constant speed. The same position on the “clutch lever” will produce lightning fast (unsafe) speed and then minutes later the press might just stop all together. Every now and then I can find a sweet spot and have a short run of steady speed, but it ultimately loses timing. My question: Is there a way to adjust the clutch to a “proper” setting? I have removed the outer wheel and seen the springs with set screws attached to them but am unclear on how best to adjust the unit. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You!

image: CandPpulleyclutch.jpg

CandPpulleyclutch.jpg

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I think these pulleys were mostly intended for situations where the press was run by overhead belt fixtures from a central motor. That lurching sounds rather dangerous- a constant speed is critical on a hand fed platen press.

You might want to simplify and get a standard pulley if you are running the press from a motor on the floor. In your situation the added complication seems to weigh out any advantage that comes to mind.

DGM

image: 300px-AHW_Kammgarnspinnerei_Pfaffendorf_Leipzig_um_1925.jpg

@thearmnyc I agree with you about the safety concern. I have been looking into outfitting it with a motor similar to my other press—but wanted to ensure that I had exhausted all options of repair or adjustment first. Thank you for your input and the photo!

have the same clutch on my press, it has wooden shoes, and oil will cause the problem you are having, I had the same problem, after oiling it, I have wiped nearly all the oil from the inside of the wheel and the press seems to run a lot better,

Thanks to a helpful guy named Rob who has a few of these presses and who recently went through the adjustment process, I was able to adjust the clutch pulley to a comfortable and steady operating speed. Contrary to what I thought—it is not a variable speed pulley situation—it is either on or off and you simply need to adjust the height of the wooden clutch shoes (by raising or lowering the nut-locked set screws) until the ON speed is to your liking. I also ensured that the inside of the pulley was well-greased (used spray white lithium grease). Thank you to Rob who kindly called to explain it to me over the phone. Took about 1/2 hour of back and forth adjusting, but I think I’ve got it.

lizabam, I am going to send you my contact information .

I just spent a week adjusting one of these, i would be happy to walk you through it over the phone.

Rob

dickg-
Pardon my ignorance, but is this intended to regulate the speed of the press or simply engage and disengage it from the drive system? I had understood it to be the latter. If that is the case, is this actually working as intended?

DGM

@theArmNYC - you are correct—it is merely an Engage/Disengage lever. As mentioned above in my previous comment, I was able to adjust it to my ideal operating speed. Since it is in fact simply ON, the speed I have chosen holds steady. I was misunderstanding the pulley as a variable speed lever. Works like a charm now—a steady-paced charm.

Great! I’m glad to hear you’ve got it all figured out.

Dan, I thought it was a variable speed, mine I still have a little trouble with but I can set it to a speed that I’m comfortable with, every once in a while it will take off and run too fast but I can lower it with the lever.

dickg-
Thanks, a little research shows that you are correct. This image comes from circuitousroot.
http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/letters/press/presses/cp-gordon/c...

Dan

image: link-p092-horton-pulley-sf0.jpg

When I first got my 10x15 c&p oldstyle a friend came by and asked to see it run, I turned it on and he was amazed, how fast is it going, I told him a little over 2500 an hour, he told me he didn’t know anyone that could feed that fast, told him he still don’t know any one because I can only feed 1000 to 1200 an hour I just can’t figure out how to slow the darn thing down. Someone told me to clean the oil off the wooden shoes, it seemed to help but its still not right, it will run for a while then either start speeding up or slow to a crawl.

I haven’t seen inside one of these, but does this look about right? It looks like Charles P. Strite was the inventor and the patent was registered to the Horton Mfg. Co.
https://www.google.com/patents/US1171554?dq=horton+pulley&hl=en&sa=X&ved...

It looks like Mr. Strite was the inventor of many things, including the first pop-up toaster.

DGM

DMG,

That is exactly what they look like.

Rob

Another interesting find in my search-schematics for the Horton Device:
https://www.google.com/patents/US1658279

Good Morning, all,
I am setting up a 10x15 OS with the clutch mechanism discussed in this thread. Would anyone be willing to please share a few photos (or description/tips) of how you’ve adjusted your clutch. The motor and belt are mounted but I would love a baseline for how tight/where to adjust the set screws and wooden shoes. Thanks in advance!

Nevermind - figured it out! Thx anyway, and thanks for the patent links, those are really cool :)