Which Motor is better?

[Levaughn]

Hello all. I have a Westinghouse and General Electric Motor and wanted to know which is the better of the two. I plan on giving my older Drill Press to a friend who will very rarely use it, and wanted to know which of the two motors should I give to him and which one should I keep. I want to keep the better one in case I have a future project. Thanks in advance.

 

[JZiggy]

I'd keep the Westinghouse since it's 1/3hp vs. 1/4. Both look like they are sleeve bearing -- if one is ball bearing I'd keep that one for sure.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Me 2 - plus you know the Westinghouse is reversible.

 

[Ghost11]

Tough choice. I think GE is better quality but the westinghouse is a bigger, more powerful motor. Prob keep the westinghouse

 

[jask]

....it could be tough filling those oil cups on a drill press.

 

[jd_1138]

Chrysler Slant 6. But seriously those old motors are cool looking -- built with pride in North America. Love the old logos.

 

[Carla]

The obvious question would be the type/style of drill press.

Is it one on which the motor is mounted with the shaft vertical? If so, the motor must be a ball bearing type.

GE and Westinghouse are both quality manufacturers, but there was a wide varience in the quality level of different models of motors from both of those makers. Both of them made motors of as good quality as has ever been built, and both made 'tin-can' cheap models for cheap equipment.

Sorting the 'best quality' models of motors from the 'cheapies' is pretty obvious, to a good visual inspection. Look at details such as cast iron end-bells v. die-cast aluminium or 'pot-metal', ball bearings v. bronze sleeve type, etc.

cheers

Carla