Help me with my lathe

[B3Tyler]

I just got a eagle mod lathe. Is it bad if I want to cut stock motors on it? Could you explain in detail the steps of cutting a comm and makin it nice. Because I tried, and it looks hack!

[mikedude]

The short version: Place the armature on the lathe, attach the drive belt, attach the drive motor, secure all of them somehow so they don't move or jump, attach a 4 cell battery running in reverse polarity to the drive motor. Move your cutting blade to the far right end, not past the end, near the end. Attach the battery to get the arm spinning, crank in your blade very slowly till you see a shimmer of copper, stop, crank it in no further, some people use a marker so the difference is obvious, crank the other knob so the blade travels down the arm from right to left, stop before reaching the end, disconnect the battery, inspect armature. Looking for a nice shiny smooth finish. I hope this helps, I sure typed a lot if it didn't. Doh!

[LosiXXXNT'er]

The even shorter version: Read the directions! :rolleyes: :mad:

[HowieStern]

mod lathes are used for mod motors and rebuildable stockers..

was your lathe new?? if not, your bit my be worn out...

but if you had a new bit->

want a good finish??

do not take very deep cuts... and go across the comm very slowly... also, use a bit of lubrication on the comm when you are turning it...

always cover the comm with black marker so you can tell where you have cut, and where the low spots are...

those are just some of the basics...

peace out... :)

[B3Tyler]

THe intrusttions werent very good. Should my arm be spinning towards me or away from me? I use blue sharpie? is that ok? Im gonna ask slim if he can help me tommorow

[FilthyPierre]

"The instructions weren't very good?" LOL - my Eagle Mod Lathe's instructions were written in Japanese/Chinese/Taiwanese/Insert Asian Language Here, on a single sheet of paper about 3 inches square. Buggered if I know what they were written in. Not very good. LOL. It probably really says something like "Can't food and drink".

Tyler, is your lathe the purple one with the intermediate driveshaft (motor drives anbother shaft, which drives the armature you're cutting), or is it the older version with direct drive (motor drives the armature directly)?

Either way, you need to practice with old arms first - I know, I had the same problem, no old arms to play around with, so I had to use one of my good ones.
I agree, once you've cut it looks pretty awful. But when you remove the arm from the lathe, clean off the copper shavings that are bound to be clining on, run a ballpoint pen down the grooves in the comm to get rid of the sharpness left by the cutting bit, it should look a lot better.
This will probably bring howls of protest, but I generally give my comms a buff with Brasso after cutting. You have to be thorough and remove all the residue, but it works for me....

[combones]

Spinning up towards you. Blue is fine.

[B3Tyler]

Thank you, I am practicing on a old, blown up P2k arm. Its the new one, with the motor shaft thing. It costs 76 dollars at speedtech new. Thank you for lal the help

[combones]

Do not cut yet!! I am not sure how the eagle lathe works. The cobra lathe has the arm spinning clockise, with the bit facing down. The arm spins up and into the bit. I am not sure how yours works. Probably the same. http://www.plauder-smilies.com/kopfpatsch.gif

[B3Tyler]

Oh, it has a motor, then a shaft, that conencts to the big o ring, and the arm spins towards me.

[combones]

Is the cutting edge of your bit facing DOWN?

[B3Tyler]

yea, is that bad? or good? and, what can I use to clean out those lines in my motor? YOu know those 3 of em?

[combones]

Let's see. The lines seperating the three "pieces" of your comm? If so, an exacto knife would probably work.
That is the way your bit should be. The arm will come up towards you and into the cutting edge of the bit. For my lathe, it says to make sure the bit is just an itty bitty smidge above dead center in regards to the comm/arm.

[william2001]

As far as cutting goes, take your time and only remove a small amount of material each time. Use that marker on every pass so that you can see exactly how your progress is going. The final pass will remove ALL of the marker, at this point the commutator is perfectly round. Remember to take it slow, "skimming" the comm each time.

I also use an exacto to clean the 3 slots when finished, sharp side TRAILING, by that I mean drag it through backwards. Be careful not to scratch your now perfect comm! Then I usually use a ballpoint pen to smooth those sharp edges at the slots, don't need to push hard. Blast it well with motor spray and you're done. Be sure to use new brushes and break it in properly. I'm sure everyone has their own techniques and may not agree, but this works well for me.

[old phart]

Hey, I just figured out I can cuss on this board in Aussie!! :D