Lathe Stalled Won’t Turn Back On

[Tim321]

Hello, I’m new to turning and bought an old 1/2 HP Axminster Lathe (KWL37). I stalled the motor after getting a catch in a knot with a roughing gouge and now it won’t turn back on. I’ve changed the fuse in the plug. Are there any other simple things I can try or should I just go and buy a new lathe?! Thanks, Tim.

 

[HappyHacker]

Not sure I can help with an answer as I am not familiar with that lathe but I can ask some more questions to narrow down the cause:
With the lathe unplugged
Does the chuck and motor turn by hand
If not without any belt drive connected does the motor and/or the chuck turn

If the motor turns by hand try leaving the belt disconnected and being if the motor turns, if not does it make any effort to turn or make a noise?

You will probably now say it does not have a belt

 

[Tim321]

Hi, thanks for your reply. The chuck and motor both turn by hand with and without the belt connected. Could it be that the starting capacitor has failed? I have no electrical knowledge or testing equipment unfortunately! When I turn it on it makes no noises and doesn’t appear to be attempting to start.

 

[Ttrees]

It could be a issue with the Reeves clutch drive, so take the cover off and lubricate the shaft with some dry lubricant like PTFE spray.
After which, it might be worth chucking up another piece of wood and giving it a manual turn to get going, while messing around with the speed while your at it.
Chas, or CHJ has wrote about this here before.
Edit: it looks like this machine has a manual belt change for speed adjustment

Failing that, capacitors are a the price of a pint, so if buying another look for the uF "like" symbol
which is the micro farad rating.
You can buy any one which has the same value, but make sure its the same dimensions if it needs to fit into a terminal shroud.


Good luck
Tom

 

[fenhayman]

Plug in something else where the supply comes from.

 

[CHJ]

.... Could it be that the starting capacitor has failed? I have no electrical knowledge or testing equipment unfortunately! When I turn it on it makes no noises and doesn’t appear to be attempting to start.

If it was just a failed capacitor the motor would attempt to start, even may start in the wrong direction.
It would emit a humming noise and would spin up to speed if it was encouraged to rotate by hand.

(Do not leave motor in this 'humming' state if it does ever happen as excessive current will be flowing in its windings.)

Can you post an image of the lathe/motor. the symptoms you describe are what you might expect if there is a current overload trip or fuse somewhere on the machine.

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Are the 2 ‘on’ switches? For example an emergency stop as a 2nd switch that you might need to reset before the main switch will operate?

 

[sunnybob]

I'm not familiar with lathe motors, but I used to work on a lot of pump motors, and they often had a red button reset switch at one end. if the motor strained too much the temperature tripped the switch and you had to wait for it to cool down before pressing the button to reset. Is there such a thing on lathe motors?

 

[Tim321]

Thanks all for your informative replies - you have helped me to use my eyes a bit better and solve the problem.

There is a tiny 3 amp trip switch located under the main switch panel. I pushed it back in and voilà!

Tim.

 

[sunnybob]

When all else fails... press the RED button