Question on metal lathes

I am about to pick up a pre-1900 metal lathe. (Don't tell my wife!)
It has an old 110 volt motor with no plate on it so I don't know the HP.
I want to put a modern motor on it and am wondering if a 3-4 horsepower motor is enough.

Thank you for your help
 
It all depends on what size lathe, and what you plan to do with it.

A 3 to 4 hp motor will move a lot of metal!

Being it has a 110 volt motor, it sounds like a smaller lathe. If the motor will still run, might try it like it is, see how it works. You might be happy keeping it original. Then you might find out it has other problems and decide not to invest in a new motor.

Also, is the lathe a direct drive with a need to reverse the motor? If so, and you do decide to repower it, a 3 phase motor and phase converter will give you speed control and reverse.

But if it has a clutch drive, with mechanical reverse, a simple cap start motor will work.
 
I had an old Southbend from the mid 20's. It had a 15 inch swing, and from the factory had a 1HP motor, of it wasn't being driven off a line shaft. When it got it, it has an old 3ph 4HP motor on it. When it died I swapped it for a newer 1HP 3ph motor.

I never noticed a difference in what I could machine with it. I say this because if I tried to take too much, regardless of the HP, it would slip the belt driving the spindle.

The 18" Cincinnati I've got now has a 5HP motor on it.

Unless you've got a newer machine, or a large machine, it's probably not going to be rigid enough to handle taking the cut a 5HP motor would allow. As such I'd probably go with a max of a 1HP, unless it is a large machine.
 
I'd love to send a photo, cept I don't know how. It is a Goddard lathe, fairly big, use to run off a line shaft.
 
I had a Pratt& Whitney that old and the cross screw was backwards [ or not reverse thread] I turned the handle the wrong way so many times I eventually cut the acme thread shaft off and replaced it with left hand thread. I could not train myself to think in reverse with that handle. If you can post a pic it would help. 2-3 HP is an expensive single phase motor.
 
The BIG South Bend lathe in the photo has done everything I ever wanted it to do with a 2 HP motor.

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/mini_zpsddba3450.jpg">
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top