I needed to fire up this puppy to at least see condition of headstock / spindle. That said I really just rigged the countershaft and motor. I received this lathe with the motor shown. It’s a 1 hp Dayton motor which has a singing front bearing. It's also way too big. The capacitors hit against the table. So I have to raise it up with wood shims. It's sitting about 1-1/2 inches higher than the table base in order to allow space for the capacitors. I'll deal with a more permanent solution at some later date. I just want to get it running for now.
I disassembled it and removed the bearing, cleaned the bearing, and oiled it up. I also needed the part number of the bearing to get the replacement bearing.
In the past I’d run to American bearing supply to get the proper replacement bearing but the last few times I went there they really raped me on price.
I don’t mind paying retail for a bearing but they were charging me 20.00 for some crap bearing made in Turkey. That’s more than retail price for Timken or SKF BEARINGS !
It’s a shame because I’ve been going to this same business since 1982 when I had my Auto shop.
After the second raping, and on the attempted 3rd rape on price... I told the counter man to keep his bearings and now I just order all bearings on-line.
Anyway, since the motor had a shielded bearing , it was an easy temp repair to clean, lube and order 10 sealed permanently lubed SKF bearings from Amazon for the same price ABS would have charged me for one crap 6203 made in some third world country.