Old wood working lathe - evaluating for a refurb... Advice needed re motor dismantling.

Hi folks,

My inlaws have dug out an old lathe from their garage. It hasn't been run in about 20 years and has been battered around a bit through two house moves and long term storage in a garage. The whole kit looks like it was assembled from some kind of kit, and the motor was clearly salvaged from some other device and is much older. It used to belong to my wife's grandfather so has some sentimental value.

The lathe itself looks fairly salvageable - the axle is binding a bit but I think I can see how to strip it apart, degrease and clean up the rust before reassembling.

The motor on the other hand has taken a beating - the lead cables are frayed, the body is rusty and the whole thing seems full of sawdust. I've stripped it down to the point of removing the end bells, but the bells themselves seem stuck. I need to get inside to clean out the 20 year old sawdust and inspect for damage.

Can I just take a big hammer to it and bust it apart?

Mike

Photos

More photos...

I should probably add that I have no experience working with motors, so may be missing the obvious somewhere.

The wheels for the belt drive are still in place - they seem to be screwed in place with a huge bolt, way bigger than any spanner size I have here.

I was half expecting it to just drop apart when I removed the long bolts holding the body together, but it is as firmly wedged as ever.

What does it do when you energize it? Does it run?

If so, I wouldn't want to be pounding it with a hammer. Some compressed air blown in the ventilation openings will do a lot to get rid of the accumulated sawdust. If the external wires are a little worn and frayed, they can usually be replaced without having to pull the housing. And in the event that you do have to open it up, say to change the brushes, a little WD-40 on the all the screws, bolts, and moving parts will do wonders.

Can you read the nameplate for the motor? What make and model and rating is it?

I haven't tried to energise it yet - I need to replace the external cables at the very least. There doesn't appear to be a name plate or any kind of makers mark, although I do have some info for the capacitor. The unit probably weights around 4kg.

Also, no shop tools here, so no compressed air to clean up with. I've got a tool box with a random assortment of hand tools from a similar era to the motor.

I would suggest trading it in at an electrical shop that works with small motors. They will be able to recycle it to good use and at the same time supply you with a new (or rebuilt) motor that will have the right amount of power for your lathe. Going off on a tangent of refurbishing the motor yourself is likely to take you on a very timely detour, although you will learn quite a lot.

John Elliott wrote:I would suggest trading it in at an electrical shop that works with small motors. They will be able to recycle it to good use and at the same time supply you with a new (or rebuilt) motor that will have the right amount of power for your lathe. Going off on a tangent of refurbishing the motor yourself is likely to take you on a very timely detour, although you will learn quite a lot.

Learning = my idea of fun
I have to say I've never heard of a shop dealing with motors, but I guess they must exist here in the uk. I found a decent looking website just now, but they do sales not refurbs.

Does the shaft spin easily? Looks like it has ball bearings which is a good sign of a quality, heavy-duty motor. If so, I would focus first on powering it up. Replace the wiring, turn it on and hopefully a bunch of dust will just blow out from the motor's spinning. Most good motors have a cooling fan inside the housing.
Then, if it runs OK for a while (say, 15 minutes) without getting too hot to the touch on the outside casing, there is no need to dismantle and clean it. I personally would be eager to hook the motor up to the lathe and see how the lathe runs (I'm a woodturner). I am interested in seeing pics of the lathe if you would be able to do that

Thanks ken, I think I'm leaning towards what you say (external wiring then powering up). I've got no reason to think the well protected internals have suffered. The shaft turns really freely, I was quite surprised actually. I'll rewire it up tomorrow and see how it goes.

The lathe is quite small and not particularly sturdy, I'll try and take some photos tomorrow. The lathe has a lot of friction at the moment, so don't expect to get it running without a strip down.