Hendey Lathe Refurbish

I've been playing with the electrical system that came off this Hendey.

The motor is an old Wagner 220v, 3 phase, 2 speed, 2hp...

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The main power cutoff...

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The small box attached to the top is a switch that is connected to a 110v outlet piggybacked off the main switch. I went ahead and removed it to keep everything a little more simple.

The motor control...

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The drum switch at the top controls the direction the motor turns. The bottom switch is the high/ low speed control. The start/ stop buttons are in the middle.

I went ahead and connected it to my 3 phase system with a quick, temporary, hack wiring job just to determine whether everything worked properly... turned it on, and... it didn't work. Nothing worked, the RPC would just buzz loudly when I pressed the start button. I got out the multi-tester.

I quickly determined that I had no power getting through the main cutoff on one leg. It didn't take long to realize the handle on that switch was hitting the conduit at the top before it fully engaged the lugs on the switch...

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That should be an easy fix. I fully engaged the lugs and everything worked as it should.

This motor runs extremely smooth and silent... I was surprised, given the crusty condition of the outside...

The entire system is very crusty, and all of the wiring is in bad condition. It will all have to be rewired. I'm probably going to replace the main cutoff, and maybe some of the other components, depending on how they look when I get into them.

First thing is to try and draw up an understandable schematic that I can follow to put it all back together later.

-Bear
 
That's a fantastic looking vintage motor. Definitely a keeper! And wouldn't it be nice if you could re-use the same electrical boxes (maybe with new innards, assuming they fit). I got a kick out of seeing the old 110 volt outlet!
 
That's a fantastic looking vintage motor. Definitely a keeper! And wouldn't it be nice if you could re-use the same electrical boxes (maybe with new innards, assuming they fit). I got a kick out of seeing the old 110 volt outlet!

It is a cool looking motor... but when I removed the cover from the wiring box, there were a couple of the wires had some bad cracking of the insulation where they had been bent to fit them inside the box. I'll have to figure out what to do about that.

In the past, I have patched up cracked insulation on motor wires by sliding a piece of heat shrink tubing over the wires and shrinking it tight. I don't know if that is an acceptable way to fix it, but it worked. I'd like to put a somewhat bigger box on the motor so I don't have to bend the wires as tight... it is pretty full with 6 connections...

The high/ low speed switch is in pretty good condition inside... it needs cleaning and lubricating, but should be very useable.

The forward/ reverse switch is thoroughly worn out... the contacts are just about used up.

The start/ stop switch looks to be in good condition, but I didn't have a chance to really inspect it much, so we'll see about it later.

That 110v outlet is unusual... I don't remember ever seeing one like it before.

-Bear
 
In the past, I have patched up cracked insulation on motor wires by sliding a piece of heat shrink tubing over the wires and shrinking it tight. I don't know if that is an acceptable way to fix it, but it worked.
I'm not an EE but I have engineers in the family and this is what I was taught. Wires I've insulated this way have been failure free for decades. When in doubt I've doubled up: even without going to larger diameter tubing, it's usually possible to add a second and sometimes third layer—for abrasion and bend protection—after previous layers are shrunk down.
 
I've removed the connection box from the motor and put the heat shrink tubing on all 6 of the wires on the motor... I'm planning to put a bigger box back on the motor so I don't have to bend the wires so sharply to get them in the box. The box that was on the motor was completely crammed full with 6 splices stuffed in it.

I traced all of the wiring out and drew a diagram of where they all go so maybe I can get it all wired back up.

The forward/ reverse switch was in the worst condition of all of the components...

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The contacts are worn out... I may use it, anyway. It still works, and I won't be switching it into reverse very often, if ever, anyway.

The motor and controls were removed from the lathe before I bought it... so I didn't know how or where the control bracket was mounted until yesterday, when I got everything disassembled, I was able to figure out where it was designed to mount... and I don't like it.

It mounts to the front of the transmission bracket and hangs down in front of the cone pulley. It is not only very ugly there, but also blocks the flat belt tensioning bolt... I will have to redesign that.

-Bear
 
It is a cool looking motor... but when I removed the cover from the wiring box, there were a couple of the wires had some bad cracking of the insulation where they had been bent to fit them inside the box. I'll have to figure out what to do about that.

In the past, I have patched up cracked insulation on motor wires by sliding a piece of heat shrink tubing over the wires and shrinking it tight. I don't know if that is an acceptable way to fix it, but it worked. I'd like to put a somewhat bigger box on the motor so I don't have to bend the wires as tight... it is pretty full with 6 connections...

The high/ low speed switch is in pretty good condition inside... it needs cleaning and lubricating, but should be very useable.

The forward/ reverse switch is thoroughly worn out... the contacts are just about used up.

The start/ stop switch looks to be in good condition, but I didn't have a chance to really inspect it much, so we'll see about it later.

That 110v outlet is unusual... I don't remember ever seeing one like it before.

-Bear
That is Vintage stuff right there !!!!!
 
The contacts are worn out... I may use it, anyway. It still works, and I won't be switching it into reverse very often, if ever, anyway.
I wonder if a TIG welder could rebuild that missing metal? That'd be cool, to put another 50 years of life into such a solidly built component.

This has also gotten me thinking about how a reversing switch is used. My Hendey is the first (and only) machine I've owned with a reversing motor and I've been waiting for the motor to stop before restarting it in reverse rotation... that seemed prudent.

If your reversing switch is so worn out, though, I wonder if previous owners reversed the motor while it was still spinning, generating high current arcs in that switch. Is that a thing? Can a 2HP motor tolerate some measure of reversing under load?
 
I wonder if a TIG welder could rebuild that missing metal? That'd be cool, to put another 50 years of life into such a solidly built component.

This has also gotten me thinking about how a reversing switch is used. My Hendey is the first (and only) machine I've owned with a reversing motor and I've been waiting for the motor to stop before restarting it in reverse rotation... that seemed prudent.

If your reversing switch is so worn out, though, I wonder if previous owners reversed the motor while it was still spinning, generating high current arcs in that switch. Is that a thing? Can a 2HP motor tolerate some measure of reversing under load?

I doubt the threaded on chuck would stay happy if that was happening...

I've tried in the past to repair switch contacts by TIG welding them... it didn't go so well. I'm sure it can be done, but I haven't discovered the right recipe...

-Bear
 
I doubt the threaded on chuck would stay happy if that was happening...
By "under load" I mean with motor running, not with spindle turning.

I keep forgetting the cone heads had threaded spindle noses; the spindle nose on my gear head is a long taper, keyed to work well in reverse.

I wonder if/how lathes with threaded chuck mounts can work with the spindle turning backward at all? I've been finding the ability to turn backward useful but I can see how people live without it.
 
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