Where do you get your motors from?

[Scimonetti]

How do you price an old motor? Market values are all over the place (in terms of what people are asking/bidding)

Where do you guys find old motors? On old tool finds, or do you even buy them individually?

I appreciate any comments, just trying to figure out what others do!

 

[geologist]

Estate sales, craigslist, ebay, garage sales.

Generally speaking, if you find an older guy having a garage sale, you can end up scoring something that wasn't part of the yard sale. Picked up a few things that way.

 

[zkling]

I know this sounds evasive, but I pick them up here and there. Some come off old machinery that needed an upgrade or were converted to something different. Blowers, fans, cobbled together homemade junk that people put together, basically misc equipment that the main workings was trash, but the motor was salvageable. Over the years I've built up a nice little spares pile of 1/4-1hp 1725rpm motors. Real handy when you go to buy a machine and it has a missing or toasted motor.

 

[jakemac]

Yard Sales, Flea Markets, Estate Sales.
I look for the sales that are selling off an oldtimer's basement shop. Those guys hoarded everything. I see motors stuffed under the benches or hidden in the corners.

I guess I'm becoming one of them.
Aww, who'm I kidding, I was born one of them.

 

[Indexmill]

Motors are expensive little buggers.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Sources for motors?

Free power tools, craigslist, thrift stores,etc.

 

[gungatim]

Thanks! I had a feeling there was no real source for "on demand" motors. I currently have about 12 of them I've nought here and there, but still need a few more!

I almost bought a cheap contractor saw just for the motor! It had a nice delta somebody threw on there

there are plenty of sources, HF lists regular and compresor duty motors, I have also bought them from surplus center (get their catalog, they have great prices on that kind of stuff). Grainger is another source.

but like others said, I usually keep a shelf full of motors I find used or salvage from something. I only buy new if I have to.

 

[twertsy]

Looks like YOU are now the source!

 

[gungatim]

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

here's a link to them. you can get their free catalog from the link too.

I just bought some small 120v 60 rpm motors from them for a project, they were dirt cheap, when they arrived, they all had rubber stamped dates on them from June 1970! who the hell keeps old stock like that around for 45 years? anyway, good source there...

 

[ozyborn]

Most of mine are from the old table saws I pick up dirt cheap at auctions and craiglist. Last batch was 5 saw, all had Baldor motors on them 2HP each. $25 a saw. I do not even look anymore. Have over 50 in the upstairs storage and another 20 or so in my cabinets

 

[G_P]

Garage sales. They are almost always fractional HP though. Usually can get them very cheap especially if they are old. Many people want newer stuff and let the old motors go. A 50yr old US made 1/2hp rated motor will have 3x the power of a new Chinese 1/2hp rated motor. The Chinese must be using some funky ratings on their stuff.

 

[Zeke]

ON old machines. Often the machine is being sold for less than the value of the motor. I'm convinced that there are buyers who remove the motor from whatever they buy, list the bare machine for what they paid and then ask big money for the motor. It's a disservice but that's how things roll anymore.

 

[justanengineer]

The Chinese must be using some funky ratings on their stuff.

I came to the conclusion about a decade ago that Asian hp is actual motor hp if the motor were to be run at ~10k RPM. Sadly few are.

When I need one I head out into the sticks a few miles on any given Saturday, there's usually a farm auction with a small pile of them for $1-10. I did get the 1/4 hp motor on my Atlas shaper for $0.50 tho at a yard sale bc I asked if it was for sale and the lady running things wanted her barn empty and SWMBO wanted something that cost the other $0.50.

 

[Gotcha640]

Depends a lot on what the motor will be going on. I got an old tablesaw for free, no motor, and I was happy to pay $125 for an American made refurb on eBay. The saw and motor have worked great for 3 years now. If I was doing a temporary project I would have scrounged a used motor.

 

[ndnchf]

I have had my eye out for an old style 1/4 hp, 1725 motor for a small, antique benchtop drill press I picked up. When I'm not looking for them, they are everywhere. Now that I need one, I can't find one Grrrr.

 

[Cope]

Garage sales. They are almost always fractional HP though. Usually can get them very cheap especially if they are old. Many people want newer stuff and let the old motors go. A 50yr old US made 1/2hp rated motor will have 3x the power of a new Chinese 1/2hp rated motor. The Chinese must be using some funky ratings on their stuff.

They took a page from Craftsman's book.

 

[Packard V8]

Where do you guys find old motors? On old tool finds, or do you even buy them individually?

Start twenty years before you need a motor. I've thinned out quite a bit and still have one or two of every size up to 3hp.

jack vines

 

[G_P]

I have had my eye out for an old style 1/4 hp, 1725 motor for a small, antique benchtop drill press I picked up. When I'm not looking for them, they are everywhere. Now that I need one, I can't find one Grrrr.

How old do you need the motor to be? I have a very old GE motor that has brushes. It's got to be around 60+ years old.

 

[ndnchf]

G_P - something like that would look good with it. Here's a photo of the drill press. I'd guess it's from the 40s maybe?

 

[dnschmidt]

Where do I get motors. Where everybody in the world gets motors: GRAINGER. They don't call it the "motor book" for nothing.

 

[Gotcha640]

I think that's a Rube Goldberg edition drill press. Where does the mouse trap go?

 

[ndnchf]

I think that's a Rube Goldberg edition drill press. Where does the mouse trap go?

Yes it is! But that's part of the appeal. My son, knowing I like old machinery, found it at a yard sale and gave it to me for Father's Day - much better than a tie! I have 3 other drill presses, so I don't need this. it will be mostly for fun and maybe a little light duty work. But I want to get it set up with a motor, test run and debugged it first. Then I'll make a nice new base and restore it.

If nothing else, it would make a great lamp in my man-cave!

 

[jakemac]

G_P - something like that would look good with it. Here's a photo of the drill press. I'd guess it's from the 40s maybe?

I've had a similar DP for years. I've never put a motor on mine, I stuck a Leather punch for stitching in the chuck and used it to punch holes for hand stitching thick leather. It saved me a lot of time back when I was doing production runs for sale.

 

[Packard V8]

If there's room on the drive shaft, put a 4-step pulley on there and on the motor.

jack vines

 

[Pantsfall_McFixit]

How old do you need the motor to be? I have a very old GE motor that has brushes. It's got to be around 60+ years old.

More like 90 years old. Repulsion-start induction motors were replaced by shaded pole I believe in the 30's and 40's. Capacitor-start came after that. Collectors like repulsion-start for their uniqueness.

 

[Pantsfall_McFixit]

Looks like a late model, maybe 30's-40's? It's almost 50's or 60's looking. Perhaps that logo can be dated. If you look at really old motors, they have bell-shaped ends but this slowly goes away to favor the more flat designs of today. Though I'm not an expert, there are collectors who could tell you more. Apparently repulsion-start has a large starting torque. Makes sense that they would be used well into the shaded-pole era as shaded pole motors have weak starting torque. And 3-phase motors have a rotating magnetic field and can start themselves, no need for these kind of mechanisms. Repulsion-start is a largely forgotten design. Youtube has videos of them starting and running, very interesting.

 

[Scimonetti]

With my new saw I got all these perfect catalogs, manuals and handbooks. The 1954 motor handbook answered my question.



I will be posting scans of everything too.

 

[MBfreak]

Repulsion motors are great!!

And the centrifugal switch mechanism that short circuits the collector at aroind 75 % of rated rpm is a work of art in some.

The motor type has recently resurfaced, but this time with a fully electronic start run switching. They have got some very impressive rpm/torque curves which beats the standard three phase squirrel cage motors to shame ( ABB, several new patents also)

Ola

 

[vpd66]

Go to your local junk yard. I have a local yard that puts all electric motor in a dumpster and they sell them to a rebuilder for something like $2.00 a pound. Most of the time they will sell me a motor for $5-$20 depending the size. They also don't care if I bring it back (if there is something wrong with it) and exchange it.