09-02-2014, 09:23 AM
Hi,
Many thanks everyone for your interesting information. I'm not into lots of motor theory and have extremely little knowledge of DC motors so as I've said previously this is a very strange motor for me to come across in my home workshop and most unexpected. Although I worked at Brook Motors for 24 years my knowledge of the electrical side of motors has been learnt on a need to know basis; I actually worked in packing/distribution and the timber departments during my time at Brooks. When I used to ask the motor testers about technical details they always seemed vague on the subject; possibly not wanting me to electrocute myself or more likely because their knowledge of the subject equaled mine after all they spent their full day doing nothing more than hooking motors up to their test panel; this must have been a soul destroying job. Occasionally there would be an explosion as a motor was hooked up incorrectly which used to bring a cheer from the surrounding workers.
When I saw the crude steel strip linkage disappearing into the motor I hadn't a clue what it's function was and as such I had no intention of pushing or pulling the linkage whilst the motor was powered up; it's so easy to cause a lot of damage through ignorance so I played safe and waited until I removed the motor to investigate?
The motor paint colour was black Refugee and I would like to show the quality of the castings off as you suggest but the motor is out of sight to the rear of the lathe so I'll paint it to match the lathe.
Very good question Gary as to it's age. All I can say at this moment is that it is old; there is nothing visible on the motor to date it accurately and even worse I can't find any Lorch lathe of this model so far on the web. Whilst at Brooks I could easily identify any Brook motor from the motor serial number on the name plate giving full details of date and who purchased the motor.
When I saw this motor I knew it would be of interest to forum members hence I added the few details I have of it. As Alan D states these motors must have been expensive to make and for an 1/2hp motor this one is heavy and I bet it will be very sweet running once the new bearings are installed. When I disconnected the motor it was only on two supply leads without an earth but the leads were in conduit so perhaps this is earthed; I'll be looking into this in due course for safety reasons. At the moment I've got my hands full in removing the rust and original paint which is proving very time consuming and a very dirty job.
Both the motor and lathe are worth restoring to full working order; the quality is there for everyone to see and I feel extremely fortunate to have bought this lathe with my sincere thanks to Big Al for tipping me off about it being for sale through eBay. The timing was perfect because I had been saying for a while I wanted a decent sized lathe expecting to pay around £1,200 for a Boxford or similar so when this Lorch suddenly appeared I already had cash on hand and the deal was quickly done. Next time you and Joe visit us Alan you'll be able to have a look at this Lorch in detail and I'm sure you both will be impressed by its high quality.
It's pouring with rain and windy so today is a garage free day whilst I sort out other jobs indoors. Once the new bearings arrive I'll reassemble the motor just to prevent parts becoming damaged and to get it off the bench.
Kind regards, Col.
Many thanks everyone for your interesting information. I'm not into lots of motor theory and have extremely little knowledge of DC motors so as I've said previously this is a very strange motor for me to come across in my home workshop and most unexpected. Although I worked at Brook Motors for 24 years my knowledge of the electrical side of motors has been learnt on a need to know basis; I actually worked in packing/distribution and the timber departments during my time at Brooks. When I used to ask the motor testers about technical details they always seemed vague on the subject; possibly not wanting me to electrocute myself or more likely because their knowledge of the subject equaled mine after all they spent their full day doing nothing more than hooking motors up to their test panel; this must have been a soul destroying job. Occasionally there would be an explosion as a motor was hooked up incorrectly which used to bring a cheer from the surrounding workers.
When I saw the crude steel strip linkage disappearing into the motor I hadn't a clue what it's function was and as such I had no intention of pushing or pulling the linkage whilst the motor was powered up; it's so easy to cause a lot of damage through ignorance so I played safe and waited until I removed the motor to investigate?
The motor paint colour was black Refugee and I would like to show the quality of the castings off as you suggest but the motor is out of sight to the rear of the lathe so I'll paint it to match the lathe.
Very good question Gary as to it's age. All I can say at this moment is that it is old; there is nothing visible on the motor to date it accurately and even worse I can't find any Lorch lathe of this model so far on the web. Whilst at Brooks I could easily identify any Brook motor from the motor serial number on the name plate giving full details of date and who purchased the motor.
When I saw this motor I knew it would be of interest to forum members hence I added the few details I have of it. As Alan D states these motors must have been expensive to make and for an 1/2hp motor this one is heavy and I bet it will be very sweet running once the new bearings are installed. When I disconnected the motor it was only on two supply leads without an earth but the leads were in conduit so perhaps this is earthed; I'll be looking into this in due course for safety reasons. At the moment I've got my hands full in removing the rust and original paint which is proving very time consuming and a very dirty job.
Both the motor and lathe are worth restoring to full working order; the quality is there for everyone to see and I feel extremely fortunate to have bought this lathe with my sincere thanks to Big Al for tipping me off about it being for sale through eBay. The timing was perfect because I had been saying for a while I wanted a decent sized lathe expecting to pay around £1,200 for a Boxford or similar so when this Lorch suddenly appeared I already had cash on hand and the deal was quickly done. Next time you and Joe visit us Alan you'll be able to have a look at this Lorch in detail and I'm sure you both will be impressed by its high quality.
It's pouring with rain and windy so today is a garage free day whilst I sort out other jobs indoors. Once the new bearings arrive I'll reassemble the motor just to prevent parts becoming damaged and to get it off the bench.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
