New lathe, new motor...now what?

So, I went to look at a large mid-60s Rockwell/Delta lathe that had been used in a school years ago, and was purchased locally at auction. This guy who purchased it stripped it down, repainted, replaced the headstock bearings (took the old ones out and gave them to the local bearing place, they matched and sent him home), and generally cleaned it up. For $500, it seemed a pretty sweet deal. Then, on top of that, the guy delivered the 1/4 - 1/3 ton beast 30 miles and up a grassy hill to my shop.

After wrestling it off the trailer, I got to playing with it, and it seems to run fine. It's a little noisy, but that might be the nature of the adjustable drive. The bearings seem tight by hand, but they may be making a little noise. No problem.

The issue I had is with the motor. The standard (3 HP?) 3-phase motor was pulled and replaced with an old Dayton 1/2 HP 120v motor. It's a tiny little bugger, and runs pretty well, but from my limited tool knowledge, I thought that it was way underpowered. Since the throw on the lathe is only 12" or so - I won't be turning anything monstrous, and I really can't tell if I can do outboard turning or not. It would require some serious screwing around. Again, not in the works for right now, anyhow.

I spied what I thought was (and probably is) a good deal...again on CL. A local auto-shop had purchased a replacement A.O. Electric 5HP motor to repair their compressor, and then found out that the compressor itself was bad. So they ran the motor for less than an hour, but couldn't return it. I offered him $150 for it, and a week later, he took it. As I staggered to the shop with this 125 lb monster, I began to wonder how smart a choice this was. My assumption was, "Big lathe + big motor = the good life".

So, I get it down there, and...of course, it's ENTIRELY too big. The motor is 15" long from tip of shaft to end of case, and about 12" in diameter. Compared to the motor on my Ingersoll compressor (theoretically 5HP, 11.5 HP max), it's nearly twice the size. Someone's fibbing on HP, here, methinks.

The motor is an A.O Smith "Century", 27 amp, reversible, 230V, 5HP CD motor. Probably quite expensive. He claims to have paid well north of $450 for it.

My first thought was, "Table saw!" - I checked under my Craftsman 3/4 cab saw, and...hmmm...it MAY fit with some mounting brackets. Then, I could have the best Craftsman ever assembled. And move the smaller 1.5HP motor over to the lathe, which will fit. Of course, with the strange adjustment system, a motor this heavy may screw the table saw up, and, of course, there's the problem of possibly not having the room to ever make a 45 cut again. (*grrr*)

So, now what? Do I really NEED a 5HP motor on the lathe? Of course not. It may make the pain quicker when my arms get tangled up in it - it'd probably just snap them off quietly and continue running. Instead of the 1/2 HP motor, which may stall a bit while slowly breaking all my bones. Should I try to retrofit it? Have something fabricated (a door or something) and added to the left lathe cabinet so that it will fit and function?

On the one hand, I like the originality and style of the lathe, and intended this to be my last ever. I'd hate to muck up an original looking lathe. On the other, this motor isn't original. Of course, it works fine for turning small things - I haven't put anything big on it, yet. My last lathe was a Jet Mini, so this is worlds different already.

So, should I find a smaller motor to trade for this one that will bolt right on? Do I want to even mess with this right now? It does function alright for the pens, tops, small vases I'm making at the moment. I'm no expert turner, yet.

Any ideas would be appreciated. And any advice about maybe measuring things in the future, and not making fast purchases without thinking a bit...that you can hold on to. SWMBO is making all that very clear. Every few hours. Some photos attached. One thing to note - I think the install job on this Dayton isn't very decent - the belt from the var speed drive to the motor isn't vertical - it runs at about 5 degrees off - that may be the cause of some of the sound, and should probably be repaired if nothing else?

That lathe was originally supplied with a 3/4 HP 3 phase motor. If it had a 3 hp in it it must have been a retrofit. I know this because I had one just like this. I put a 3/4 HP 115v motor in mine and it did great. Motor was about $100. A good solid lathe but I don't see needing more that a 1-1/2 hp tops.

First lathe that I had was a 4 speed Atlas. It came with a 1/2 hp motor which I replaced with a 1hp motor. That was plenty for anything I could have done with that lathe. 3 phase, 3hp is overkill, but if you want to have variable speed drive, and lots of torque at low speed, it will work. If you want to use the 5hp motor, build yourself a custom bowl lathe.
robo hippy

sell the 5 hp, and buy you a 1-2 hp 115 volt.. It'll have a 5/8ths shaft and mounting will be easy.. 1hp is enough, 1.5 even better.

Couldn't agree more with the other replies. Had the same lathe 1- 1 1/2 hp is plenty. Don't try to retrofit the cabinet it creates the stability of the base and it just doesn't work right.

Have fun.

Nathan,
One thing to keep in mind is that table saws are supplied with 3500 rpm motors while lathes are supplied with 1700 rpm motors as a rule. So if your 5 hp motor is a 1700 rpm unit suitable for a lathe, it won't do well on your table saw without a pulley exchange to get the final blade speed up near 5000 rpms.

FYI-I have a delta 14" lathe with 3/4 hp motor that works great. More than 1.5 hp would be overkill at this diameter.

Good luck,
Dick

The Delta gap bed 12" lathe works real good with 1hp or so.
I put a 1.5hp 240 volt 3 phase ac motor with a 1375rpm base speed with a 2 hp VFD to get great torque with variable speed on it. Also with 2 step pulley to really get low and pull strong. The ebay motor & new controller ran about $250 and worked very good.
What I didn't like was that noisy metal stand. Replaced it with a wooden one and hung the motor below. The combination was pretty darn good.
Rich s.