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Powermatic 87 High/Low Rnage issues...

Scuffy

Aluminum
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Location
Shores of Lake Erie
Powermatic 87 High/Low Range issues...

Howdy all! Much like I've been dealing with for years now- work has kept me from really accomplishing much in my shop. While on the road I have tried to read through my manuals from various years but have yet to find the info I need. So I've come to pick your brains!

I have a Powermatic 87 bandsaw, if memory serves me correctly it was from a run in 1969. I picked it up, very gently used for a song and a dance from a local University that was closing their machining program down. I didn't want to lose out on a good deal. Brought it home and it sat for quite a few years before I was able to do any work with it. The speed indicator wheel/dial was not spinning in accordance with the hand wheel so I did some looking... come to find out a fine bearing had worn out, pretty sure a bushing was missing... someone had worked on this at some point and didn't put it all back together. So the shaft from the hand wheel was pushing into the column, past the large gear that drives the indicator dial, thus the gears were not meshing. No biggie. After quite a bit of head scratching I figured out how to remove the whole assembly from the column, replace the bearings and bushings and replace the assembly. Great. So far so good. I thought. When I was connecting the linkage to the high/low range lever up I noticed that the yolk or block (I'm not quite sure what to call it) on the end of the transmission shaft is not locked down as it should be- with a set screw. The screw is there but loose. Therefore it slides on the shaft. Pictures below... Does anyone have any experience with correctly finding the location of this yolk/block on the shaft? (You can see where it has slid back and forth. The part I'm talking about I pointed to with a white hacksaw blade in a picture or two.)

And secondly- there is a hole approximately the same size as the shaft, out past the end of the shaft, in the column body. Does the shaft actually need to pass through this hole to keep alignment correct? The shaft sits an inch or so forward of it. The driveshaft feels solid enough that I don't think it will gracefully be persuaded backwards towards that hole. That's not to say that that the transmission didn't shift in it's mount though. That could change the alignment...


Thanks for reading, all! It's much appreciated!!!


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