Restoring an Old Electrical Motor

[skizzo]

I saw your motor post and realized much of what you said there related back to this thread. It's what led me to come back here and bump these two again. Bearings typically are not pressed into their end bell housings, should be a snug slip fit. It's usually easier getting new bearings into a freshly cleaned up housing than it is getting the stuck old bearing out in the first place. Once you have your bearings pressed onto the motor shaft/rotor, the end bell should be able to slip onto it with some light taps. There are some instance though (just had one this weekend) where the bearing needs to be installed in the end bell and then locked in place with a screw, which means the endbell (with bearing) has to then be pressed onto the bearing. I think that was Mike's point in your OWWM discussion.

[arnman]

Thanks Bill.

Now that I know that the bearings are just snug fit in the end bells, everything makes much more sense, and I understand Mike's suggested sequence.

In truth, before opening my motor I did think about reading through your thread again - but I was anxious to get started and I reasoned that the two motors were different makes and similarities would be minimal. Well, I was wrong about that!

[skizzo]

Bumping a few old/big threads for another year.

[hankuri]

Slightly off topic but wanted to check if I should ask this here or create a new post.

We're clearing out an old pipe organ factory that the owners are going to tear down. We found some small old machines and weren't sure whether to scrap them or not. I found this post and have collected all the old motors and started taking them apart, cleaning them, and trying to get to know them--all new for me. That brought me here. We're about finished with the plant but there are 3 or 4 very large old woodworking machines that we can't identify specifically.

I took pictures of them to post somewhere to see if someone can tell us what they are (we've had a carpenter/restorer and a machinist take a look already) and if we should take the time/strength/money to pull them out or if they're not things anyone would be interested in. They look interesting to me. Do you think this is a good place to post the pictures or, if not, do you know of a site that might have people who would know about something like this?

Thanks.

[TDKPE]

Sure, post them here. And also at owwm.com.

[Kudzu]

TDKPE said:

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..... And also at owwm.com.

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That is the place to post them! Just be sure and follow the rules!!

[skizzo]

Thanks for the post and welcome to Woodnet. The folks around here are likely to be interested in seeing your photos and machine, but the crowd at Old Woodworking Machines (OWWM) are the real go-to experts. For accuracy, the posts above have the incorrect web address, which is:

www.owwm.org

You will need to register for the forum, which is not instantaneous because it's first reviewed for approval by an administrator. Then you'll be able to post photos of your machines and ask folks for help identifying them.

If you want to look through massive photo archives, there's also a sister site called Vintage Machinery, which has machine photos indexed by manufacturers, as well as by machine type. It also has a lot of publication reprints such as old user manuals, catalogs, and newspaper ads. The address for the VM site is

www.vintagemachinery.org

One question many folks here and over on owwm would be interested in is where are you? You never know if there might be someone local to you who would be willing and interested to take a look at them with you.

[hankuri]

Thanks poindexter, kudzu, and skizzo. I'll register there and post when/if I'm accepted. And I'll have a look through the vintage site--excellent.

I'll also post them here, but am wondering if I should add on to this or start a new post. Thoughts?

[hankuri]

Also wanted to thank you, skizzo, for the terrific detail and explanation. Great walk through!

[skizzo]

Glad you found this old thread useful. It's been a few years since I did that project, but we keep this thread alive because folks find it helpful once in a while.

hankuri said:

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I'll also post them here, but am wondering if I should add on to this or start a new post. Thoughts?

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Please start a new thread for your machines/motors. It'll help you get more views and input on your specific questions, and will help us try to keep up with the different topics more easily.