Hello from South Africa

Hello from a sunny South Africa.

I am a cattle farmer and try collecting and restoring old farm implements and machines. I have always wanted a small lathe to make bushes and parts and finally last week I found one: a very old Keighley Lifts Lathe with serial number DF494. It is still running, but I want to restore it. Unfortunately I know nothing about lathes and my research led me to this very interesting forum. I hope I can learn more here and maybe also find a manual for my lathe.

The first problem I have is that the motor kicks my solar power system off. So, I will have to replace the motor with something that will work on my off-grid system.

Welcome Frans. Hope you get it sorted out & running.

Steve.

Welcome Frans. Congrats on getting a lathe. Don't depower the lathe it is the wrong way to go IMHO. If it is knocking off the power on a solar system you need check the motor rating plate and them make sure your inverter is at least 2 x the rating of the motor. ie 2000w motor 4000W inverter. I had a lathe on my boat and had to upgrade the solar system to run the lathe. It may be that you need a pure sine wave inverter.

The motor starting amps will be high. The starting amps may be on the rating plate. Try disconnecting the motor from the drive train and see if it starts then.

regards

Welcome Frans, this site should be of some interest.

**LINK**

Please let us all know how you get on with the restoration.

Brian

Hello Frans, welcome to the forum. Sorry I can't help much with the motor question, but there are plenty of more knowledgeable folk on here who are sure to be able to assist you.

Rob