Temorary Motor Installation
 

    As previously mentioned the motor that came with the lathe was not in good condition and did not even fit the motor mounting.  To run the lathe in its' normal direction a motor with a clockwise rotation is needed, if it is to be mounted on the provided mount.  This position is to the right of the countershaft pulley when looking at it from the front of the lathe.  I do not know if the original motor died and was replaced, or if the lathe was originally purchased without one (the "standard" configuration at least with Sears brand Atlas lathes in the 1960s).  In any case the motor that was with the lathe rotated counterclockwise.  This motor was of a type that can not be reversed (at least not without extremely major surgery on the motor case).  This necessitated positioning it on the opposite (left side) of the countershaft to get proper workpiece rotation.  To accomplish this a previous owner had use a large aluminum plate to cantilever the motor over to the left side.  This plate was bolted to the original mounting location and ran over to support the motor on the other side.  Over time this had put enough stress on the original mount to bust out most of the metal that comprised the far right hand bolt pads.
    As the motor wiring insulation was decayed and I really did not want to continue with this kludge I replaced the motor with a smaller (temporary) reversible induction motor.  This is too low in horsepower to do more than light turning, at least it is electrically sound and gets the lathe operational for now.  This motor is from an old dryer and was originally mounted by pads at either end by the motor shaft.  To attach it to the lathe's mounting pads I fabricated an adapter.  I used a 3/8 X 6 inch plate for the base of the adapter and 1 X 4 wood for the vertical pieces that the motor's end mounted pads slip into.  The wooden end pieces are split horizontally like a car crankshaft's bearing caps.
    When I replace this assembly with a new correctly configured motor I will use the steel base plate as a reinforcement to the damaged mounting pad.  It will remain in the present position and the new motor will blot on top of it.  I will fabricate two clips that will hook over the vertical web by the broken bolt pads.  these in turn with be bolted to the plate.  This will serve as an anchor for that end of the motor, relieving the broken pads of further stress.

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