question for lathe motors

[curtis rosche]

i have found an old craftsman lathe not to far from me, it has a 12inch swing. the only thing it needs is a motor, does the motor have to be a certain type to fit? what about power? i think i have found a peron near me with a 7 1/2 hp motor for only $50 i know that is a lot for only a 12inch swing, but is it possible to "upgrade" a lathe with a bigger spindle and bearings and make it an outboard turner? i dont do spindle things

[Andrew Derhammer]

Make sure the shaft diameters of the motors match. You may be able to get a machinist to make up a new spindle. If you are by hellertown i could give you my uncles address or emails as he's a machinist and could take care of you in making a new spindle and pulleys if need be..

[Paul Engle]

Curtis just make sure it is not 3 phase 440v or you would have to get a converter and there goes the 50$ deal. If it is 220v do you have 220v service? and check the rpm if it is a 3250 or 1175 instead of 1750 , it may be possible to get a vfd for it also , take the motor specs to one of the online companies that have vfd's etc and see if they have one to fit maybe. other wise a jack shaft with pillow blocks and pulley/s system will be spot on for turning and allow you to get the rpm under 300 and yet get it up to the motors max speed with out loosing the hp. but then again 7.5 hp is a lot and doubt if you'd ever use over 2- 3 on a 12 inch swing. Good hunting!

[curtis rosche]

i check abotu a converter, just because, the cheapest one i found was $10 but it was the size of a lathe and old. the motor i was looking at is 1 phase, ,,,, darn i just double checked and it is three phase, its from a powermatic planer. we have a 400v service, because my stepdad wired the place and he goes crazy with switches, lights outlets, and you can never have enough.

i guess what im really trying to ask is, can you take an old lathe and put a bigger motor, and a bigger spindle on it, and make it into a bowl lathe? would a lathe hold up if you cut off the bed, and made your own outboard rest? thus making your own version of a vb36?

[Paul Engle]

As we use to say in drag racing " ya can put anything in it and make it go fast , all ya need is money.... a good idea would be to use what you have in the exsisting frame , get a motor say from ebay or hf , using stock pully/s , that is the same size that came with the lathe , wack off the end of the bed about 15 " from the head stock or close enuf to swing a 12" - 16" round off the bed , have a brace and a mount pad welded or bolted on it and away ya go , using the banjo and tool post/rest that came with the sears , make an extension using bar stock etc .Bolt the lathe to an angle iron steel frame or make a really solid wood frame , wire up a switch and have a go. If you understand the mechanics of a lathe and as you wallet gets bigger . design your own bl and start gathering pieces and parts. Just remember if you cannot get the spindle speed down to really slow say 200 rpm or a crawl , you wont be able to swing anything out of balance at all with out tearin up the house. There are variable speed pulley's out there that will do this but at best are 200$. HiLo, Maurey, Reeves etc. I refited my Jet with a DC motor and used a HiLo vs drive pulley and the jet spindle control , along with the VS motor control for the DC and I can creep at 25 rpm or sing at 3000 rpm , it was a must have for the ornamental turning attachment , I got the motor for a bowl from my work.

[Andrew Derhammer]

Did you check to make sure it's not a tube lathe? I'd stay away from those.

[Allen Neighbors]

Curtis, 7.5 hp will break your arms, send you through the roof, and otherwise be overkill to the max!
As far as re-machining the spindle is concerned: You'd be better off by building your own lathe, just by getting a spindle and using Pillow-block bearings. There are a few turners that have made their own bowl lathes using that technique. If you google some of the key words, you can probably find a couple. And a used 1 or 2 hp motor would do fine.
Just my humble opinion... :)

[Jim Becker]

Curtis, 440v service is pretty much limited to industrial parks. If you mean 400 AMP service, that's a different thing altogether--I have that here on my property, but it's still single phase, 240v. If you live on a farm or have manufacturing of some kind on site, you MAY have three phase service available, but otherwise, highly unlikely.

As to the 7.x hp motor...not appropriate for that lathe. 1-2hp max is more likely suitable.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Allen. Find you a 110 V 1/2 hp to 1 hp motor for it. Putting a 7 1/2 hp motor on that lathe in my humble opinion is like putting a 396 Chevy big block with 2 four barrel carbs in a VW bug. If you got the money you can do about anything.

[curtis rosche]

the vw bug idea sounds like fun, saw mill creek vortex drag racing team any one? we could get three phase but my step dad said that because theres no industrial stuff out here that it would be true three phase, (what ever that means?) i guess its a 400 amp service then. you should see our breaker boxes, we got 3 full size like 3-2ft boxes that are full. he went a little crazy. i beleive the lathe is a tube lathe, but it is an older one and it looks like it will work just fine for making a bowl lathe, i was kinda kidding around about 7 1/2 hp, i wouldn spen $50 when people are willing to give 1hp away. the guy over at old wood working machines forum is giving the lathe for free, with no motor, so if it doesnt work, no harm no foul. right?

[curtis rosche]

heres the link to the pictures scroll down they are towards the bottom of the page
http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=38834&sid=bd2c0a7906b9ea7dd58fd09cfe2e828c

[Gordon Seto]

Don't play Tim Allen, the "Tool Man" in the "Home Improvement" TV show. Probably you may be too young to have seen it.

This Sears tube lathe doesn't have the integrity for you to soup up the motor. Andrew is right about the tube lathe.
The drive shaft is probably 3/4" X 16 and #1 Morse Taper. The combination of sheet metal headstock is meant to be a light duty lathe.

Any money you spend on accessories with this spindle thread will be wasted when you upgrade to any lathe.

[curtis rosche]

ok, ive seen almost all of the home improvments, speaking of wich, have you guys ever watched the "red green" show on PBS its kinda similar but funnier its on at 11pm on saturdays.

i have found a different lathe, instead of the craftsman, if this next one doesnt work out i think i will just make my own

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Curtis.....I'm a man, I can change...I guess.....if I have to ....

Nope ...I never watch Red/Green!:rolleyes:

Curtis I wouldn't consider putting a 7.5 hp motor on that lathe. If you did something that got a really bad catch instead of stalling the motor, you could potentially break the lathe and have stuff thrown all over the place. It may sound Macho but macho kills a lot of people every year and injures many more.

Check Grizzley, e-bay, HF for a motor of the proper size for the lathe.

Can you increase it in size...spindles etc...maybe but if the frame wasn't designed and spec'd for bigger...eventually you could end up with a VW bug...who's transmission wouldn't handle the 420 hp of 429 cu in engine and so you would have wasted the money and the time. As Bernie suggested, find a motor more suited for the original lathe. In the end it will be less money and probably safer.

[curtis rosche]

the lathe that i have found that is closer to me is an old iron one, at least that is what it looks like from the picture. it has a motor already so i should be set. when i get more information i will update you guys. if i find that the motor doesnt work or is to small, what would be a good size motor to turn a large outboard turning of about 3ft diameter ? im just thinking ahead of what is possible

[Paul Engle]

Curtis that sounds more reasonable, the problem with a 396 cuin stuffed in abug is having the werwithall to support such and monster and some one nuts enuf to want to drive it ...... get ma drift ? A guy once put an 2300 hp alcohol injected allison P-51 WWII fighter motor in a 57 plymouth but you'd be hard press to get anyone but Mad Man Ed Potter to drive it ... unless it was on the water and Muncie was driving( Ed's the builder, also was one of the first to mount a chevy 327 fuel injected on a harley frame sidewinder and go 170 mph ... right into the woods, they was pulling leaves outa the crank case for days after. Also a tube frame would not be enuf to support the whole mass once it was cut down. as the guys above said google it around for a while and get a picture what you want to get yourself into.There's some thats gone before...:D

[curtis rosche]

here is the model lathe: craftsman 101.06241. is this any good? i plan on getting a bigger motor becausse the one thats on it is a 1/3hp washing machine motor. i probably will flip the spindle over and do outboard since the swing is only 9inches. is this lathe worth it?

[Bob Hallowell]

Curtis, That looks like a lot nicer lathe. you might be able to put the haedstock and tail stock up on 2" blocks and get a 13" swing.

Bob

[Steve Busey]

That old Craftsman will be a good start, Curtis - just keep within it's capabilities and stay safe. And keep those brass bushings oiled. Here's another guy that restored a similar model. http://www.heiszwolf.com/knutselsmurf/Lathe/Lathe.html

[curtis rosche]

i may get better bearings, that body should be sturdy enough to upgrade the rest right?

[curtis rosche]

is there a cheap place to get a bigger more common spindle?

[Brian Weick]

In my opinion~ that would be a very bad idea, compare the size of the motor your thinking of 7 1.2hp and the lathe itself- You will find these size motors on large lathe's , pattern, CNC machining and the like. You are going to be putting yourself at risk as far as safety goes- . I would put a 3/4 ~ hp 115vlt 15 amp motor and no more than that. You are asking that lathe's design & engineering specifications to handle something that was designed for that lathe, it will destroy the lathe itself if something goes wrong and worst yet, maybe cause severe physical damage to you as well~ these high HP/high torque motors are nothing to mess around with, only if the motor you are replacing has the identical or just a bump up from the original specifications. If you go to OWWM look under lathes and there is a manufacturers list of the lathes owned by different people and scroll down to the craftsman lathes , you will find your lathe in there , 113.2385-1 I believe is the closest match to what you have. There is no listing for the motor specs , but similar machines if not most are running 3/4hp 110v motors. Hope this helps~ :)
Brian

[curtis rosche]

i guess a couple of you missed it, i said that i was kidding about the 7.5hp motor and that it was 3 phase and it was from a planner and was way to fast. i was looking at either a 1 a 2 or a 3hp motor, and then i was thinking of beefing up the frame some. oh yeah, take a look at these 2 lathes, they would be perfect, if i had 3 phase, and money...... you would need a hoist just to put on the face plate. if i could get one of these i would never have to worry about an out of balance peice or ever needing to cut down a big peice to make it fit, the only thing would be that i would run out of wood:p:D

http://www.owwm.com/photoindex/images/6926-A.JPGhttp://www.owwm.com/photoindex/images/2944-A.jpg