zuhnc
Plastic
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2018
- Location
- Macks Creek, MO
I am disassembling, cleaning, repairing as needed, and reassembling this lathe. Original factory paint was gray. It has been painted two or three times since being shipped to the end user in 1932. I am not completely stripping all the components, but taking it down to a reasonably smooth surface. The mechanical parts I am not too concerned about, but my question is about the wiring. It still has the original factory fabric-covered wiring, most of which is still in decent condition. Some of the insulation has cracked and bare wiring is exposed. I do not intend to restore it to "factory", but to make it functional and safe. Strictly hobby/home machine shop use, although the person from whom I bought it ran a machine shop business. He closed his shop and sold most of his equipment. Should I reuse the factory wiring, where it is in good shape, or completely replace that wiring with modern THHN wiring of the appropriate gauge? This lathe has a Westinghouse contactor, a Westinghouse 2-pole disconnect, Westinghouse Forward/Reverse switch and Westinghouse push button Start/Stop switch, all original, to the best of my knowledge. I would prefer to replace all the wiring with modern wiring. None of the wiring is exposed; it is all run in conduit/other enclosures. Thoughts and opinions, please. zuhnc