Craftsman/Atlas 6", what have I gotten my self into?

It's together!

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I made one small pass on a chunk of steel that seems very hard with a right hand tool that looks pretty much worn out. It cut, not well but it cut. :)

A few observations. My three jaw chuck has some serious wobble in it. I chucked up a piece of drill rod and the run out was pretty terrible, I didn't even put an indicator on it, it was visually all over the place. The 4 jaw seems to be OK, although I have to admit getting things chucked in it is a challenge that I'm sure I'll get better at with practice.

Is it common for the bull pin to cone pulley to make a little noise when running with out any load? I'm going to guess it is.

My forward tumbler gear is really worn out. I knew this but running them at speed the noise difference between forward and reverse is really noticeable.

I snugged up the bearings and let it run, everything seems pretty tight but still turns freely. I'm pretty happy over all, I just need to get a tool that cuts (I'll try touching up the one I have) so I can play a little. I can see this thing becoming a bit of a money pit, there's so many things I want/need to really use it and some smaller things I still want to fix.

Sorry for the mess, I'm moving stuff around to make room for the lathe.

K
 
My forward tumbler gear is really worn out. I knew this but running them at speed the noise difference between forward and reverse is really noticeable.
Swap them and wear the other gear (and maybe actually keep it clean and lubricated)?
 
The front gear is 20T the rear is 24T. Not sure it matters though, I can try it.

They're clean now and freshly lubed with MAC open gear lube. My god that stuff is messy!

K
 
Well...Something's not right.

I made a few tiny cuts and I stalled my motor twice. Once it stopped with out any load what so ever. The motor is also running very warm. I let it run for a couple of minutes with no load it and it was very uncomfortable to put your hand on.

I suspect something isn't right in the way it's wired. I rewired it exactly the way it was when I got it. Here's the thing, this thing doesn't seem to conform to any wiring diagram I can find online and I'm just a tad confused.

Here's my motor:

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Every thing I can fine online talks about blue and orange wires, I don't have those. What it says it to swap the red and black wires to reverse directions.

The way it's wired right now is (Dayton Drum switch):

------

1 -> T1

3 -> Jumpered to 5

5 -> Red wire in motor

***

2 -> L1 & Red wire in motor

4 -> A

6 -> L2


---------------

Just running this through my head and against wiring diagrams I've found on line L1 and L2 are swapped but I'm not sure that matter. The drum switch is swapping T1 & A, I guess that's what reversing the motor BUT the red and the black wires are staying the same in forward and reverse.

The red and black wires had terminals on them at one time and were plugged in to 5 & A, the terminals were cut off and wired into the switch.

I can't find much on this motor so I'm not 100% sure what black and red are connected to, one of them has to be the start coil. I think this is a pretty decent motor, I just don't know how to wire the darn thing.

Thanks,

K
 
OK, I think I've figured it out. This is a permanent split capacitor motor which complicates things. Some posts I've read said it can't be reversed with a drum switch, some say it can but you need to do a bunch of testing to figure it out. I've also read that the motor isn't really ideal for my application. It's a high torque start motor but it's not a high torque running motor.

I think I'm going to wire it up like it came from the factory and see how it performs. I can still use the drum switch as an on/off switch, just not to reverse it.

If push comes to shove I have two classics waiting in the wings. A 1/4 HP GE and a 1/2 HP Delco. Both HPs are not ideal but it's better then no HP. ;-)

K
 
Wired it back to single direction, works fine now.

The motor runs much cooler and doesn't seem to be missing a beat. I kind of wonder how the PO used it the way it was wired? Maybe that's the reason it was for sale...

K
 
About the only thing that you usually need reverse for is for OD grinding (because the grinding wheel is usually going down at point of contact so the work needs to be going up). You do not want to risk doing any turning in reverse while using a screw-on chuck. But if you do decide later that you do need to reverse it, start a new thread and re-post the motor plate photo and add a photo looking into the junction box and one of the drum switch diagram.
 
Yeah, I'm not loosing sleep over missing the the reverse. I think what you would have to do is break L1 with poles 5 & 6 and run L2 straight though, then feed terminals 5 & A back into the switch and use poles 1-4 to swap them around. I would need to draw it out to make sure, this is just off the top of my head.

They way it was wired was 5 & A were not swapped but L1 & L2 were being swapped. That didn't make this motor happy at all.

Right now it's just wired up as an on/off switch. I'm breaking both L1 & L2 because it's what was easiest with the terminals I had installed.

K
 
Are you sure that is a permanent split cap and not a cap start motor? Do you hear the centrifugal switch clicking when it starts and stops?
Regardless, it should have plenty of torque and should be able to be wired for reverse. Let me know if you want to revisit the wiring for that. Post the pinout of the
drum switch (I've seen several variations) and I can do a sketch.
Mark S.
 
You know everything I've been able to dig up on this motor says it's PSC but it does click on start/stop so that would mean it isn't one correct? Now this motor hasn't been manufactured in years so I've had to fill in the blanks at times.

I honestly haven't played with electric motors very much but I do "get" electricity and like you I think it can be reversed. This is how I think you would have to do it:

Drum Wiring.png


I apologies for the crude diagram and poor hand writing. My biggest worry is getting all that wire stuffed though a 3/8 greenfield conduit unless the red and black wires (start windings?) can be a lighter gauge. I'm pretty sure they're 16 or 18 in the motor. Just to expand on what I've drawn the black wire goes to terminal A and the red goes to terminal 5, to reverse the motor you just swap the wires.

K
 
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