Official Luthiers Forum!

After looking all over for a used 1725 RPM electric motor from a clothes dryer or something without any luck, I broke down and bought the motor from Stew Mac to put together a buffing set up. I purchased a portable shaft from Grizzly and the buffing wheels form Stew Mac. In the interests of installing the motor the way I would like to, I would kinda like to reverse the rotation of the motor. I could make it work as it is, but it might be a better arrangement to position the motor the other way... Space is a at a premium in my shop. Does anyone know how to reverse the motor rotation? ...perhaps reverse a couple of wires? No instructions came with the motor...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

First step is to determine if it is indeed a reversible motor -- usually AC motors that can be electrically reversed will have a diagram on the starting capacitor or junction block cover.

Oh I realize that SM is a sponsor but here's a better place to buy mechanical hardware, we've been using them for about 15 years or so.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/Electric-Motors/AC-Motors/

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Ken is right on. I might add that in lieu of a diagram somewhere on the motor, give Stew Mac a call. They should have the info.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I have sent Stew Mac an e-mail and I'm waiting for a reply. I expected some documentation to come with the motor... I had looked around for motors and it appeared that most of them were well over $100 so I went ahead and bought the one from Stew Mac. Maybe I should have asked the OLF folks for sources before I placed the order. Ken, the surplus center looks like they have good prices...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Can you just simply flip the motor to a shaft left or a shaft right configuration to change the rotation direction? Just a thought, I don't know.

Tim

In general you have to reverse the connections on the start winding. As others have said depends on motor. At times like this it's nice to have someone who works on motors as a friend.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Sorry I misread your question the first time. Duh!!

In the event that crossing wires is not an option, you can always twist the belt (figure 8).

Having friends who are mechanical engineers can help too. BTW, why did you not buy the ShopFox arbor from Grizzly? Its much wider and I don't think it costs all that much more. I remember looking at the one you got and feeling it was a little too small. Plus, you can mount two wheels. I love my ShopFox. It is the same thing SM used to sell. My guess was they just painted it. Like the Arbor Fret Press.

Most often there's a wiring diagram and reversing schematic on inside of cover, not all
motors can be reversed however.
Ken

It would be interesting to know what brand? But looking at the SM price it seems reasonable considering its wired with an outlet and switch.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Stew-Mac returned my e-mail inquiry promptly. As it turns out, the motor is not reversible. It's not a big deal. I can adapt. It is actually a nice motor with a switch assembly. I chose the Grizzly portable shaft because it is compact. I really don't have room to have a double wheel set-up. At this point, I'm not in a production mode, so I can set up the buffer when I need it to work on a couple of guitars at a time and then stow the buffer out of the way when I'm not using it. It should work a lot better than the drill attachment I had been using. I made that work, but this should be a lot better...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Running a motor in reverse wasn't a good idea anyway. You would have run the risk of loosening the nuts holding your wheels on.
Besides that the wheel would be rotating clockwise so would would have to hold the bottom against the wheel with the wheel running upwards making it difficult at best. Easy way to have it pulled out of your hands. The short shaft is going to make it near impossible to buff on the left side of the wheel because the body will hit the shaft. Even if you only buff one guitar a year you want the operation to be safe and enjoyable and not a struggle and without the threat of destroying you guitar. Good luck

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