I have a 3 phase motor from a Meddings Pillar drill which is fitted with a light alloy step pulley which is keyed with an L shaped key (it looks a bit like the gib keys used to hold flywheels on stationary engines). They key is fitted with the short leg of the L over the motor shaft rather than over the attached pulley (i.e. the opposite way round from a flywheel key).
The pulley needs to be removed from said motor and I've had previous experience that it is all too easy to break these pulleys and they are expensive to replace and/or difficult to source.
Do I need to remove the key before trying to pull off the pulley? Is there a trick? Most of the methods in books on stationary engines involve placing most of the strain on the flywheel and they don't appear to translate well to the light alloy pulley.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Alan Bain