This is a spinoff thread from my long thread on Restoring an Old Drill Press. Since motors are much more general than just for DPs, it makes sense to give it it's own space so that it can go in whatever direction is appropriate about old motors.
The motor I'm working on is a nice 1/2hp single phase 1750 rpm Walker-Turner motor. IIRC, these were made by Kingston-Conley, who made motors for a lot of manufacturers. These are very highly regarded motors, heavy, solid, and attractive. The tags have a very nice design, and the little mounting feet that are built into the endbell castings are just way too cool. These motors are also famous for their "crinkled" paint jobs on the endbells.
In any event, I need to get the motor apart to clean out the insides and to replace the bearings. I've done a dozen or two motors over the years, a number of different sizes, styles, manufacturers, etc., but am only mediocre at best at this. There are a lot of real experts out there who know these things inside and out.
Here is the motor as I'm ready to start. If all goes well, it should take maybe an hour to get it apart at least to the point of getting the bearings off. But every motor has its idiosyncrasies, so no telling how long or what will be involved if it's not straightforward. That's probably likely.
Since I'm going to be ordering bearings, I'm hoping to pull these two others apart as well to order bearings for all... a 1/2hp Craftsman and a 1/3hp Delta. Delusions of grandeur, best laid plans, and all that...
Looking at this a little closer, the two cast iron end bells have little screws, probably set screws of some sort, for some reason, in locations where you typically see oiler holes for sleeve bearing motors. No idea what they're for on this one.
First things first, make alignment marks on the endbells and the center band for reassembly later. The components need to go back together exactly as they came apart. Most folks probably use a punch to make dimples, I prefer to use a drill to be a little more gentle. Just be sure not to drill through anything... a little mark is all that's needed. I also try to do them on the lower back area rather than out in the visible sides.
Remove the tie rods that pull the three major sections together. The design of these can take many forms. Most times, you'll find through rods with some form of hex cap or slotted head on one end and a nut on the other. These have threaded sections for nuts on both ends. Some motors don't use through rods, but use machine screws on both endbells that are threaded into the main housing.
Now, to pry the endbells loose. For the record, I'm showing using a wooden block as a tapper. Others, ahem, may use a punch, a screwdriver, a stud, whatever... but for purposes of this thread, I'll make the point that it is recommended not to use any steel device when tapping against cast iron. On this particular motor, the edge of the endbells stand slightly higher than the center band... that's a good thing. On some, most notably a lot of old Deltas (see the one above), the endbells are lower than center band so there is nothing to get a bite on to tap against. Discussion of how to approach those is left to other posts.
Anyways, you need to work your way around the edges of both endbells and gradually work them loose. Sometimes it can be productive to use the motor shaft to drive against the opposite endbell, but don't get carried away.
Success on one end, at least to the point where now I can get a screwdriver in and pry it loose a bit more easily.
A little more work in the other direction and both endbells are loosened somewhat, tho neither is yet off.
Working on the end that does not have all the electricals, one endbell comes right off, leaving the bearing on the shaft.
Now things get more complicated as we turn to the end with the electricals and the enclosed (blind) bearing well. These can be a real PITA. The leads from the motor are going to be connected to the contacts and centrifugal switch, which is going to be bolted to the endbell. That's pretty much a given. That means the endbell won't be able to pull very far from the center section because the leads will bind. Let's see what's up.
First, I notice for the first time that the design on this motor brings the start winding to and from the capacitor through a port in the endbell. That means we have to remove the capacitor if I want to completely remove the endbell. darn. I much prefer leaving the capacitor attached when it's connected through the center section, and just tape it off for painting. Can't do that here.
Look inside the cap and see that the leads are soldered on rather than spade connectors. Not a surprise, but double-darn. Get the soldering gun and disconnect them. It was possible to just cut the wire for now, but since I'll have to resolder them eventually I might as well do it right... especially since the wire leads sometimes don't have much excess length.
Now let's look at what's going on with other aspects of the wiring. First, inside the junction box. This is really funky and a mess. I have no idea what's up with all of these connectors, jumpers, etc., but need to take a couple photos because it may matter later. It is certainly not the straightforward set of leads usually seen.
Now, to the endbell with all the circuitry. The working space is only about an inch gap, maybe two. Inside, there are two small slotted head machine screws that attach the switch to the endbell.
It's always a pain to get to these screws, and especially so when (a) you don't have much working room, and (b) you don't want to stress old crusty wiring. Fortunately, the cloth wiring in this one is pretty solid and has some flex, so I can stretch it to its max length. First, I took a couple of 90-degree screwdrivers to see if I could reach in and work from a right angle... nope, neither quite fit/reached. So then I took a long thin flat screwdriver to see if I could get to the heads. Sort of, but the tip couldn't get a bite on the screw head. Off to the grinder to sharpen/thin the screwdriver head to get a little better grip. Finally, they both slowly can be rotated out and removed.
You can't tell it from this photo, but the entire circuitry assembly is now free from the endbell. Whew, that means the endbell is free to come off the rotor shaft, assuming either the bearing will pull out of the well or the shaft will come out of the bearing, leaving the bearing in the well. Either way, it's finally ready to come off.
Twist, tap, pry, lube, curse, nope... that sucker's stuck in there. And I still can't see much because one wire seems to be binding, which keeps me from taking the endbell WITH the rotor out in the direction of the endbell. Trace that wire back, and we find that it's one of the leads that come into the j-box. This thing is really starting to kick my butt, but fine, let's pull that lead out of the j-box wiring and let it go with the switch.
Finally, the endbell and rotor are free to pull from the main housing and armature. Ughh... that's much uglier than I was expecting to see, considering the nice condition of the motor's exterior.
And a much better view inside that endbell. All the electrical components are disconnected, and I cannot see or feel a retaining screw that you sometimes find as a bearing retainer. Does anybody know if I'm missing something in there? The bearing/shaft just does not want to come out. The rotor assembly wobbles/rocks a little bit back and forth, but won't pull out.
It's a blind well, as seen here from the outside, so there's no way to get at it from the other side to tap it out.
So that's where I'm at. As I said, this thing is kicking my butt at the moment. From another post in the main DP thread, it seems that the shaft should most likely slide out of the bearing rather than the bearing come out of the well. That also makes sense because it would account for the shaft being able to wiggle somewhat. But it ain't happened yet, so I came in to take a break and look for some more info on this. It doesn't look like I'll be ordering bearings today.
With permission from Mac and encouragement from a few fellow Woodnetters, I’m going try something a little different here. A number of folks post information, discussion, photos, etc. of machinery restoration projects, typically in “before” and “after” condition, and occasionally with some questions while in process. But we don’t often get to follow along throughout the restoration process, looking over the shoulder so to speak.
I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while, but haven’t come across a good project machine that might be of general interest to the WN crowd, would not be too difficult for folks with varying levels of background and shop infrastructure, and is likely to cover a lot of topics that come up here on occasion. A good, solid drill press that needs work seems to fit the bill pretty well, and I finally snagged one to try.
The purpose of this not to show “how to do it” or even just “how I do it.” Instead, hopefully, it will generate discussion, questions, and encourage others to chime in with input, other suggestions, alternative approaches, etc. The intent really is to show what’s involved, that it can be as much or as little work as you want to make it, you don’t need lots of equipment or knowhow, and is just a process that goes along at whatever pace you wish. I’m not going to rush on this, just take it as usual -- a couple hours at night most nights, a fair bit on weekends, and don’t work when I don’t feel like it. It is just a hobby, after all. The only difference is I’ll document it as I go, rather than waiting until it’s done.
For the record: as usual, I am bound to screw up, may do things nobody else would ever consider reasonable, and will use whatever tools, techniques, ingenuity, and other resources I have available. Throughout, I’ll include the good, the bad, and the ugly… which definitely fits the project machine (to be described in a subsequent post). Cringe if you want, and I invite scrutiny and criticism on any front. Unlike most threads, where we see the project after it’s done, I don’t know how this will turn out. I hope and expect it to be nice a few weeks down the road, but don’t know what’s going to turn up… every project is different. Hopefully, we’ll see a really nice drill press in about a month.
Finally, for now, I’m not sure whether it will be more appropriate to run this as one long thread or to break it into separate subject “chapters.” I know, going in, that the project roughly breaks down into a few key topics:
- Introduction, Acquisition and Disassembly - Stripping, Cleaning and Painting - Bearings, Pulleys, Chuck and Mechanical - Motor and Electrical - Reassembly, Tuning and Operation
As we go, I’m only going to show what I do, but will give passing mention and links to resources regarding other subjects where appropriate. If you have input, suggestions, see anything you don’t understand, have something going yourself that would contribute to the discussion, please post away. But please keep it clean, orderly, and on topic, so we don’t get poofed somewhere down the road.
Thanks all… hopefully at least a few folks will follow along, and maybe even a few play along with the home version yourselves.
There was a young man with a dream. Not just any dream, but a dream that looked alot like this ( CT workbench ). It was March of 2008, a basement had been gutted, new insulation had been blown in the garage walls, a insulated floor had been layed down, and new doors had been installed. So by the light of a single 60 watt light bulb some maple was cut. The Ridgid table saw was not happy with the young man and blew the breaker 6 times but finally the ripping was done.
The bench was to be a glorious 3 inches thick, all hard maple, and the man was pleased. Then began the flattening, how hard could it be? I just took a one week course, we learned all about 4 squaring a poplar 2'x6"x1-1/2" board, these are just a little bigger. So to the basement he went, where a wonderful router table awaited as his work platform. But the top just wouldn't do so he appropriated a door from the partially gutted basement.
The anticipation made him giddy, a full long weekend without the wife and child. I'll have this bench built by the time they get back he thought and then he began. Being the clever individual he was he decided to brace his door and base against the now cold concrete wall (outer walls were the first to go in the basement reno), but being super clever he decided that to keep warm he'd also set up by the furnace, and then he was glad. The door handle was still attached and a little in the way and he had to crawl to get to the back but who cared, he had a bench to build and no time to worry about such trivial concerns.
He threw his entire fleet into the endeavour and they laboured on and on for the next two days creating bags and bags of glorious shavings
While working on a prototype for walnut mantel...BAM.. a 5 horsepower kickback. Ripped the Grip-tite off the table and through it across the shop through the window. The bucket in the yard shows the range of the debris field. The board, as you can see, has a nice 22* bevel arch cut through it. I expected to be working with wood today, but it looks like glass will be the material of choise. Scarred the h*** out of the dog outside.
I mentioned in one of the other reindeer threads that the LOML needed a few more for late Christmas gifts for her Church small group. I decided to take a different approach this time.
I've really never made anything out of the fire wood pile before, but I might do it again sometime.
Heres where I got the wood from. It's warm today, don't need a fire anyway.
Here's the "chosen few".
Jointing first, to get a couple of flat edges. The tape is for a straight line when I get to resawing. I didn't joint that top edge, so I couldn't get a straight line with a pencil that would show up enough.
A little minor resawing.
Tracing the pattern. The white marker showed up much better than a pencil.
A little scroll saw work for the tight turns. I drilled the first ones I made with a forstner bit, but this just seems a little faster to me.
A little band saw work comes next.
Next I move to the spindle sander. I used the belt on the Ridgid Spindle Sander for the outside curves and the spindle for the holes. Those vertical lines you see on the side are grain lines, not bandsaw marks. It's smooth as a babys bottom.
After a coat or two of spray poly...here's a couple in all their spalted glory.
I wouldn't have bored y'all with yet another post about the things, except for the fact that I took them from firewood to finished product. I have no idea whether or not they'll hold up in the long run and not crack apart. I didn't take any time for acclimation, or sticker drying. However the firewood has been cut for a year or so, and the tree was standing dead when it was taken down. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll stay together, if not...I'll make some more out of kiln dried stuff.
I am in receipt of two used Unisaws. Being of a giving and caring nature (please refer to my post history for confirmation), I propose to donate one of these to Charles Jackson III, known by you as beginningwoodworker.
My intent is simple: I will, along with two anonymous benefactors (one on the west coast--she wishes to remain unknown, but is a frequent poster, one member of the Tribe in NY), absorb the initial cost of the base unit. I will also try to arrange to have the unit delivered to Charles. Perhaps someone going from Florida to Kentucky or thereabouts.
I already have offers of aid and support from some of you. Charles has indicated a willingness to put in the sweat equity on the saw. This is the 34-802.
The motor and arbor mechanism work, as it was in use last week. A cursory assessment indicates the following:
Needs left wing and right extension table (or he can build one). Has Bies, needs tube and rail. Has guard. Needs motor cover. Needs dust port. Needs new switch. Needs grip on one handle (I think).
Other than that, Charles can supply the muscle, cleaning agents and grease to put it in top-notch order.
I know that there is at least a small percentage of you folf who would be willing to help--$$, parts, guidance, advice, suggestions.
Especially you Unisaw mavens, and you know who you are.
Let's here from you via this thread or PM, and get this show on the road
The board, as you can see, has a nice 22* bevel arch cut through it. I expected to be working with wood today, but it looks like glass will be the material of choise. Scarred the h*** out of the dog outside.
