Posted a pic in ABPW of my recent find, an older Rockwell Delta wood lathe..... (not a bad upgrade form my Craftsman) for only $200. Haven't actually got it home yet so I didn't get the model number,etc.
Anyone have this model ? Anything I should know about it or maybe you have a link to a good site for parts or other info. Thanks, Lenny
====>Errh, where's the pichur, Lenny?
Leif
Oops. Sorry! Had some brain flatulence and thought I was on ABPW! Lathe looks great and should get you r-n-r-ing in no time!
Darn, I just went to look it over again and discovered it has a 3 phase motor. Looks like I'll be shopping for a new single phase 1725 RPM motor. I know it's a 56 frame but not sure what I should get for HP ? 1 HP ? 3/4 ? Any suggestions.
Lenny p.s..... a ring ? what, not issuing any ..."you %$#@" these days =0 )
=====> Why not see if you can find a reasonably priced VFC for the motor? You'll love variable speed and reversing. I did it with my Craftsman tube lathe, along with a new, heavier motor and far prefer it to pulley changing, plus couldn't get it to go slow enough in the original configuration.
Leif
Hi Lenny
You got yourself a good quality small lathe, as for the motor you can use the one you have and make it a variable speed drive, rather than change motors, a lot of people like the VFD and as Leif says a VFD is the way to go, I have a link here for you if you want to pursue this, rather than buy an other motor.
Leif Thorvalds>
With the Reeves drive, a single-speed motor will do just fine. Your low is around 250, which is low enough. I turned on the step-pulley version of that lathe for twenty years, and it had a minimum of around 650-700. Was where I learned that smart money trued the piece on the saw first. Our school lathe - 1 PH version of yours - was more comfortable in its minimum speed, but I don't think I ever started more than a few pieces for later bring home on it. I learned to live with Blue's parameters. Oh yes, 1/2 was fine until I upgraded the bandsaw to 1 HP, then I took the old 3/4 and moved it over.
With the narrow footprint, you will find it to your advantage to bolt down or bolt on some broader understanding.
George, What are you refering to when you say "With the Reeves drive"? Is that the speed changing mechanism on this lathe? Or did I miss something /
Thanks, Lenny
I have this lathe as well. When George refers to the reeves drive he means the lever on the front of the cabinet below the head stock. Moving this lever will vary the speed mechanically without having to move belts manually onto different size pulleys which you would do on a standard lathe without the drive.
A variable frequency drive (vfd) is nice if you can find one cheap but I agree with George, since you have the reeves drive, all you need is a single speed / single phase motor.
If the reeves drive is worn out and needs major repairs, then the vfd would be the way to go. As long as my reeves drive keeps on working I'm going to keep using the lathe as is.
The advantage of the vfd is you have finger tip control rather than the little bit of muscle effort it takes to operate the reeves drive. It's called a vfd because on a 3 phase induction motor the only way to vary the motor speed is to vary the frequency of the supply voltage.
Take a gander at
Advantage to a mechanical speed selection is the motor is operating at full torque and cooling at full capacity all the time.
Many thanks George and norite.
I think I may already have found a motor that would work (My Boss thinks he has one) Probably will go that route for cost purposes, although the vfd option is certainly interesting.
Hope to go have another look at it tomorrow. I actually went there to look at a Tablesaw they were interested in at work. Took pictures to show them at work and noticed the lathe in the background. Started me wondering what it would take to get it. Supposedly it has the manual, tools, faceplate, etc. Will find out tomorrow, I hope. Until then, Hope you all have a good Thanksgiving ! There is much to BE thankfull for today! (and I don't mean my tools) =0) Lenny
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