Which direction should a Cincinnati Hyrdashift motor turn?

Elwood1968 said:

The motor on your Hydrashift should be reversible, i.e. you change the motor direction in order to change the direction of rotation of the spindle. There are no reversing gears inside the headstock.

The control plate on the front of the headstock should be similar to this:

View attachment 311432

The middle left button is for forward rotation of the spindle (looking along the lathe bed axis towards the chuck, the spindle will spin counterclockwise). The middle right button is for reverse rotation of the spindle.

Once you've made the connections in the electrical cabinet, you can check the rotation at start up. If the forward button causes the spindle to rotate backwards, reverse any two of the three-phase leads. HOWEVER, if you're using a rotary phase converter to supply three-phase power (and this may be true of VFDs, too, but I have no experience with those devices), note that L1 and L2 are simply pass-throughs from your utility-supplied single-phase power, and that L3 is the generated leg. The generated leg should not be used to power the control circuit, i.e. connect the utility L1 and L2 to the L1 and L2 terminals on the disconnect switch inside the electrical cabinet. If you need to correct the motor rotation, switch L1 and L2. Do not switch the generated leg onto the L1 or L2 terminal.

Is your motor set up for the 240v three-phase you're using? Many machines sold out of an industrial setting are wired for 440v, and you'll need to change both the motor lead connections and the heaters in the electrical cabinet.

As for that steady rest, it's from another lathe manufacturer. You might be able to adapt it, or keep watching here and ebay, FB marketplace, etc. Cincinnati Hydrashift steady rests show up from time to time. Cincinnati TrayTop lathes use similar but not directly interchangeable steady rests, so be careful what you are buying.

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