Lister A Shaft/pulley Key

I'm hoping someone can help. I have removed the flat belt pulley on my Lister A. There is a steel 'key' sitting into the keyway on the shaft and into the keyway on the pulley boss. It is approx 0.25" deep, 0.425" wide and 2" long. The pulley hub bolt comes down onto the metal key and everything is held tightly in place.
Questions
1. Can you obtain these metal keys - they look like a gib key without the widening wedge shaped head section.
2. Is the key necessary. In other words if you were bolting on a pulley with no keyway cutout - and the securing hub bolt tightened down onto the shaft.

The reason I ask is that I have the possibility of a pulley with no keyway and was wondering can it make safe tight fit, with just a bolt onto the shaft, or is it preperrable to make a keyway into the hub, if so what is the best way to achieve this, a file - side edge on?

Thanks
Elliot

Hi Elliot,
its not a good idea to be fitting a pulley without the key fitted, you will be surprised how quickly it will come loose and damage the crankshaft and possibly fly off, if you running your saw bench from it it wont take long at all before damage is done, obviously the pulley you now have is the incorrect one, you will not find it easy to find and replace the crankshaft if it ends up damaged for the sake of the correct pulley,
Ian

Ian

I thought as much but needed to ask, thanks.

Where can you get these keys from, are they a standard size and what is their proper name?

Re cutting a keyway into a pulley - any ideas?

Elliot

Hi Elliot,
i would be inclined to find a friendly local engineering company and take the pulley to them and get it done properly, as for a key theres many suppliers on ebay and doing a search that will supply flat key, most bearing suppliers also stock it, a simple search will find some, i expect someone on here will be able to advise you, its up to you but im always a bit wary about pulleys not fitting correctly your long time gone if one comes of, and then theres the damage it will cause in no time at all if it moves in the slightest,
Ian

Elliot you've only had it 5 mins and already pulling it apart....
why are you taking the pulley off??..is it so you can fit a bigger one..
regards..mike...

mike d wrote:Elliot you've only had it 5 mins and already pulling it apart....
why are you taking the pulley off??..is it so you can fit a bigger one..
regards..mike...

Yip exactly. I glad I did remove the pulley and look into it further - otherwise I'd be buying the wrong type of replacement larger diameter pulley.
My policy has always been - look & and never be afraid to ask !!

Ian, the only shaft keys I can find on e-bay are square ones - do you have any link to rectangular ones?

Elliot

Elliot try somewhere like this,
http://tasmanindustries.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=32&gclid=COeVs5bAhK4CFYsntAodkidf6Q

Sorry Elliot i thought youd already bought a pulley, have you found one then without the keyway in it then ? as most pulleys have a keyway in them unless there a taper fit,
Ian

ian webb wrote:Elliot try somewhere like this,
http://tasmanindustries.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=32&gclid=COeVs5bAhK4CFYsntAodkidf6Q

Ian

Great THANKS - right the product name that seems to bring in the results is "KEYSTEEL" - I'm happy with the depth being 1/4" and the length being 2" - but the width does not seem to be 'a round number' - have you got a gib key - or other key/pulley/shaft you could confirm the width measurement.

On the present keysteel I'm getting 0.433"(11.00mm)

Elliot

Now you have taken the flat pulley off the gib key should now be protruding from the flywheel thry measuring that, you have got my gib keys lol,
Ian

Ian
I thought you might have a new gib key to measure, as the older ones tend to slightly 'bashed'. I'm getting two slightly different gib key widths, but the size on one side is the same as the removed keysteel.
The gib key measurements is 0.434" or 11mm. wide. This seems to correspond with the keysteel sizes on offer on the websites i.e. 1/4" x 7/16".
7/16" would be 0.4375" - pretty close?

Elliot