Lorch.Schmidt lathe

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

Hello,

I am still in the process of dealing with my father's collections of this and that. I am now in the process of preparing a Lorch.Schmidt watch maker's lathe for sale. I am trying to get it in "full working order" but the electric motor is defying my efforts. Pictures of the lathe are at: **LINK**

The motor is DC but fails to respond to 6 or 12 volts. The brushes etc seem to be in good contact with the commutator but it doesn't respond… Judging by a sharp tool in the holder and a quantity of brass swarf below it has been working and used by my father.

Any thoughts?

Geoffrey

Edited By Geoffrey HYDE FYNN on 22/10/2013 20:53:54

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Geoffrey,

That's a very nice little lathe … You should get a good price, with or without the motor.

With the exposed terminals, etc. It certainly looks like a low voltage motor … but at that age, one can never be sure!

May I just confirm … are those leads what your father had on it, or just some test leads you are using ?

MichaelG.

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

Thanks for the reply Michael.

The leads are those used by my father. I can't say that they give me a clue. The end of one has a flattened small spade and the other has a hand formed/twisted ring as if it went over a terminal. I can't recall a power supply in his workshop when I cleared it that these ends would have connected to. But there again there were many and varied very old power supplies and they mostly got "skipped" without too much examination!!.

You may be right and that I should simply put it up for sale "as is" and then move onto the next thing to sort out and sell!!

Geoffrey

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Hi Geoff
There should be a small plate on the motor stateing voltage etc; think you skipped the baby with the bathwater (the power supplies) but suspect 24v DC. unusual for a lorch but may have come originally with 120v AC.
Let us all know when you are selling and where
Bob

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

Thanks Bob

There's no little plate and no signs of one having been removed. You mention 120v AC. As shown in one of the pictures the motor has a commutator. My school physics suggests DC or do I have that wrong?

I will of course let the forum know where and when it's being sold which may be sooner rather than later if I've "skipped" the wrong power supplies.

Geeoffrey

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Geoffrey HYDE FYNN on 23/10/2013 08:12:03:

As shown in one of the pictures the motor has a commutator. My school physics suggests DC or do I have that wrong?

.

Here is some physics revision for you, Geoffrey

MichaelG.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

If it's a DC motor, even a 200V+ motor will motor over slowly on 12 volts, although you might have to slip the belt off to let it run free. Ian S C

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

Thanks to Bob for the revision and thanks to Ian for the suggestion. The motor is off the bed at the moment having looked for voltage plates to no avail. I will try it on 24V DC and see. If it doesn't run then I'm not going to try to find a 120 VAC supply and so will just put it on the market which I suspect will be Ebay where some very debatable examples have gone recently for quite high amounts – unless anyone has a better suggestion!

Geoffrey

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

Thank you for all of your help.

I have decided to market it "as is".

The lathe and tools will be on Ebay later today or tomorrow. I have decided against a straight "classified ad." somewhere else as I've no real idea of its value. My research tells me that a rare type "WW" should get somewhere between £500 and £1000 but Ebay is a great leveler!

All the best,

Geoffrey

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Geoffrey,

A sound decision

I wish you successs.

MichaelG.

[frank brownParticipant @frankbrown22225]

From the Wiki link – "The universal motor is a type of electric motor that can operate on both AC and DC power" – brushed motor. I inherited a small 110V motor from my Dad, that looked a bit like that one. It ran on 110V AC (and DC!). I dumped it because I got electric shocks from its frame.

Frank

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Agreed, probably a universal motor. They didn't mind the occasional tingle in those days, motors were expensive. Many were run off a light socket adaptor (no earth), model making was much more of an adventure in years gone by.

Dave

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Geoffrey,

I see that it's listed on ebay now.

Best wishes.

MichaelG.

[Geoffrey HYDE FYNNParticipant @geoffreyhydefynn45631]

I have my finger's crossed!

Geoffrey

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