Yates-American #12 Wood Lathe

[Greg Gill]

I need to get help on getting the right electricity set up to a #12 Yates Wood lathe.
The lathe weights 625lbs. has a 7' bed.

1. This is wood lathe has a variable speed electrical controller (Westinghouse)
This is located under the cast iron legs directly under the Electrical motor.
When you take the cover off the controller there it looks like a cam shaft installed vertically
with many electrical connections to either side of the cam shaft. This I beleives determines the spindal speed (RPM)
(There is NO - I repeat NO information visable as a plate or under layers of grey paint that
decribes the HP, voltage etc.)

2. There is an AH (brand name) on off buttons (box) on

3. The 3 wires that come from the on/off switch are all black

I am not experienced enough to make an educated guess but here goes anyways.
I think this is 3 phase.
My goal is to make it work in my barn as part of my evolving workshop.
I need advice please.

Regards,

Greg

PS I have repeatedly tried to upload pics from my computer and continue to get an error message.
(Suggestions?)

[Dan Forman]

If you don't find an answer here, there are a couple of forums you can try. Can't provide direct links, but one is Vintage Machinery dot org, and the other is OWWM dot org.

Dan

[Sid Matheny]

You might find a manual on ebay as I have seen Yates-American manuals there before.

Sid

[Dennis Ford]

Some old lathes had 3 phase motors with multiple windings, the motor would run 900 rpm, 1200 rpm or 1800 rpm depending on how the windings are connected. These had some interesting contactors involved in the speed selection. If this is what you have, you will need a manual or at least a diagram before doing much work on it.