My Rivett watchmaker's lathe

[cazclocker]

Sorry to dig up a 11 year thread, but these are rare machines as far as I can tell! I have a Rivette 1e and I am having trouble getting the spindle off. I have the brass nose piece off, and removed the back screw and collar, and loosened the locknut and inner collar next to the pulley. I can rotate the inner collar a mm or two left and right before it either hits the pulley or the casing. I just dont want to force anything.. do I just keep turning that collar towards the rear of the headstock and it pulls the spindle off towards the tail stock?!

I know I can use a fusable belt, but I happen to have a perfect rubber oring (from a pool filter) and want to try it. Mainly, I dont like the color of the fusable stuff.

Hello Subw00er, I still have the same Rivett watchmaker's lathe referenced in the first post above - has it been 11 years? Wow!
I've never seen a 1e - can you take some pictures and post them here in a reply? I'd love to see your lathe.
Anyway, I'm attaching a document that should help you (or anyone with a Rivett watchmaker's lathe of similar generation) disassemble or reassemble the headstock. It's geared to the 2b version, but hopefully it's similar enough to your lathe to be useful. Hopefully you'll be able to make sense of it.
Let us know!
...Doug (cazclocker)

 

[Subw00er]

ok thanks, it appears to be what I assumed, but I was worried that maybe the pulley was threaded like the collar and didnt want to mess up the threads.. The 1e looks literally identical to yours - right down to the brass collars and oilers. I think one of the only differences is that mine has Steel stamped on one end. My memory sucks though, so I could be wrong on that.

[EDIT: I got it off! I lubed it up with some Remoil and just worked the pulley back and forth and it slowly gave way. There was a tiny bit of surface rust that was bonding the two. Now onto finding a black belt (any idea what diameter should be used? My 1/4" is a bit too large) and new wicks for the motor (1/8").

Thank you SO MUCH for the help!!

 

[cazclocker]

ok thanks, it appears to be what I assumed, but I was worried that maybe the pulley was threaded like the collar and didnt want to mess up the threads.. The 1e looks literally identical to yours - right down to the brass collars and oilers. I think one of the only differences is that mine has Steel stamped on one end. My memory sucks though, so I could be wrong on that.

[EDIT: I got it off! I lubed it up with some Remoil and just worked the pulley back and forth and it slowly gave way. There was a tiny bit of surface rust that was bonding the two. Now onto finding a black belt (any idea what diameter should be used? My 1/4" is a bit too large) and new wicks for the motor (1/8").

Thank you SO MUCH for the help!!

You're very welcome; I'm glad you got your Rivett disassembled (and reassembled, I hope!). Good job finding & addressing the small patch of surface rust!
A couple of other pointers:
1. Your idea of using an O-ring for a lathe belt is a great one; it's what I use almost exclusively. I get my O-rings from here: The O-Ring /Store LLC , and I've used 1/8" diameter belts (the O-Ring Store calls this dimension "cross section"... it's the same idea as "diameter") for years - but I doubt the diameter is critical. They also sell 3/16" diameter. In any case, you want "Buna-N Nitrile" O-rings - you want the 70 durometer - they're made with the right compound to resist any of the stuff we encounter with a watchmaker's lathe - like oil, kerosene, maybe some acetone; chemicals like that. Anyway, they have a dizzying selection of sizes (the measurement you want to select from is "inside diameter") so you'll have to figure that out. It might be handy to determine the inside diameter you're pretty sure might work for you, and order it - but also order one of the next size down and the next size up. Then you'll be almost certain to have the size you need.
2. Another good choice for a drive belt is Gates Polyflex belts - they look like tiny V-belts from your car engine, but they're 1/8" wide on the flat side. I get them here: Royal Supply . They work beautifully, but for some reason I prefer a plain O-ring.
3. Your oilers - I got tired of dropping and almost losing the caps that come with the oilers on top of the Rivett watchmaker's lathe. So about 10 years ago I hit on the idea of doing away with the caps and just stuffing the oil cups with type F-1 felt. It's made for oil wicking, and it's the same stuff that covers the surface of billiard tables (except it's white instead of green). Get it at McMaster-Carr here....F-1 hard felt cord, 3/16" diameter
If you try it, you'll have to cut a 1/4" piece from the cord and squeeze the heck out of it (across the diameter) to make it fit into the oil cup. It's $3.07 per foot, and the minimum order is 5 feet. Oh well, you'll have enough for all your watchmaker friends.
4. Your choice of lubricating oil... I use Mobil-1 synthetic car motor oil, 5-20 weight. It's about as close to a perfect oil as there's ever been. Rem Oil is marketed to firearms, I think? It's probably not a big deal what you use, just so you use something to oil!

Hope some of this is helpful...
Doug

 

[Subw00er]

You're a wealth of info! I ordered up some belts from McMaster.. Humorously, I actually already had the felt in my cart for the oilers on my motor - there are two small cups below each bearing and a wick is used to pickup the oil, but they were degraded.

The remoil is an excellent penetrant and safe on pretty much every surface. As it meant for guns, its designed to get into all of the various levers and actions and not harm metals or plastics or wood, and clean and protect in the process..It does a great job of loosing dirt and helping unseize rusty bits in interference fits. Its my absolute go to when working on old stuff and freeing stuff - its also an excellent water disperser. I spray my tools with it in the garage and have zero rust after 10 years. Its essentially wd40 on steroids..with no smell.. its wd41.

For lubricating slides and bearings, I use Vactra 2 as I have a bunch for my myford super 7. The myford uses wicking for its headstock as well and the Vactra seems to do a good job seeping around. It doesn't leave a heavy or sticky residue like conventional oil might, give it a try!

 

[cazclocker]

You're a wealth of info! I ordered up some belts from McMaster.. Humorously, I actually already had the felt in my cart for the oilers on my motor - there are two small cups below each bearing and a wick is used to pickup the oil, but they were degraded.

The remoil is an excellent penetrant and safe on pretty much every surface. As it meant for guns, its designed to get into all of the various levers and actions and not harm metals or plastics or wood, and clean and protect in the process..It does a great job of loosing dirt and helping unseize rusty bits in interference fits. Its my absolute go to when working on old stuff and freeing stuff - its also an excellent water disperser. I spray my tools with it in the garage and have zero rust after 10 years. Its essentially wd40 on steroids..with no smell.. its wd41.

For lubricating slides and bearings, I use Vactra 2 as I have a bunch for my myford super 7. The myford uses wicking for its headstock as well and the Vactra seems to do a good job seeping around. It doesn't leave a heavy or sticky residue like conventional oil might, give it a try!

Wow! You've got the lathe I've always wanted - a Myford Super 7. It's a fabulous lathe. And your comment about Vactra 2 way oil is fascinating. I remember trying it about 8 years ago or so when I had a Rivett 503 bench lathe. I remember how heavy it was/is! It really stayed where I put it.
But your other comments about Remoil are even more fascinating! I live in Kansas, where it often gets very humid - so surface rust is a problem for sure. Seems to me I probably should get some for my *tiny* workshop! Thanks for reminding me about it.