American Pacemaker lathe 1950 25x216, electric brake info

4GSR · Aug 7, 2022

Since you mentioned there is only two wires coming out from where the clutch or brake is located, my guess would be that it's a brake and not a clutch. Lathe manufactures were being forced to equip machines with more safety in them back then by installing some type of braking that would stop a lathe quickly in stead of the old hydraulic wet brakes inside the headstocks that would slow the spindle down gradually. Chances are it would be one of these Warner electric brakes installed on your lathe. These are common on the LeBlond line of lathes at one time. I've seen them on a few of the other lathe brands of years past, too.

Brakes Products | Warner Electric

A wide range of economic, customer assembled brake designs for applications with HP ranges to 40 HP. Used in a wide array of applications including packaging, material handling systems and process equipment.

www.warnerelectric.com

Also, the control module would be one of these:
https://www.warnerelectric.com/products/clutch-brake-control-products
Probably one with a adjustable voltage to allow soft stops or hard stops.
Ken

Kenneth B · Aug 8, 2022

4GSR
Thanks for the comments.

Kenneth B · Sep 3, 2022

I wanted to follow up with a photo of the electrical panel I built for this lathe. I have not had time to tackle the brake circuit yet( the original purpose of this thread), but hopefully not to long from now.
Hope all have a good labor day holiday.

john.k · Sep 3, 2022

You will need some sort of interlock between brake and clutch /or motor ....the interlock can be electric or mechanical.

Degoodenough · Dec 14, 2022

Kenneth B said:
I'm looking for any info on what kind of electrical power the spindle motor brake requires on a 1950 American Pacemaker lathe 25x216. If anybody has info on the DC power supply for one of these? Thanks

I just pulled one of these apart today. The brake is rated at 90 volts. Mine is AC powered. At least thats what is coming to the brake. I removed our brake because the brake disk that the magnet grabs is busted and i dont think it has worked in many years. If anyone wants a spare magnet for the brake, let me know. i can post some pictures later.

Kenneth B · Dec 15, 2022

Degoodenough,
Well thats interesting that yours is AC powered. Do you know a brand of the brake? Do you know how it was supplied with the 90V ac? Was there a step down transformer?

Degoodenough · Dec 15, 2022

Kenneth B said:
Degoodenough,
Well thats interesting that yours is AC powered. Do you know a brand of the brake? Do you know how it was supplied with the 90V ac? Was there a step down transformer?

There was no transformer when we finally got the panel open behind the lathe. They were just running the 110v control voltage through it. Our machine is a 220v. The disc attached to the pulley was shot, so we pulled everything out while I’m changing the bearings. By the way. Bearings for the input shaft will cost you around $1300

Degoodenough · Dec 15, 2022

Pics of the brake

Garwood · Dec 15, 2022

Degoodenough said:
There was no transformer when we finally got the panel open behind the lathe. They were just running the 110v control voltage through it. Our machine is a 220v. The disc attached to the pulley was shot, so we pulled everything out while I’m changing the bearings. By the way. Bearings for the input shaft will cost you around $1300

That sure doesn't sound right. 120VAC rectifies to 90VDC. Makes zero sense whatsoever the brake would be rated for 90VAC. That's not a standard. Maybe there was a rectifier in there and you missed it or someone removed it and bypassed it thinking they knew better?

If the coil ran on 120AC it would have a rectifier built into it. It would say 120VAC on the label. AC doesn't make an electromagnet. Anyone who's used a bigger surface grinder knows that for a fact.

IMO, look at the gauge of the wires feeding the magnet coil. How much current can those wires handle @ 90VDC? Size your rectifier for that much current, add a fuse and your good. I would switch the DC side. Just use a contactor that will not allow the brake to be on with the motor. Good to go.

Degoodenough · Dec 15, 2022

Garwood said:
That sure doesn't sound right. 120VAC rectifies to 90VDC. Makes zero sense whatsoever the brake would be rated for 90VAC. That's not a standard. Maybe there was a rectifier in there and you missed it or someone removed it and bypassed it thinking they knew better?

If the coil ran on 120AC it would have a rectifier built into it. It would say 120VAC on the label. AC doesn't make an electromagnet. Anyone who's used a bigger surface grinder knows that for a fact.

IMO, look at the gauge of the wires feeding the magnet coil. How much current can those wires handle @ 90VDC? Size your rectifier for that much current, add a fuse and your good. I would switch the DC side. Just use a contactor that will not allow the brake to be on with the motor. Good to go.

Not using it anymore. It was working but stopped the chuck too quick. We aren’t using it as a lathe anymore. Just use it to turn shafts when we metal spray them with tungsten carbide.

4GSR · Dec 15, 2022

That's a Warner Electric Brake. They make a controller that provides 90v DC current to the brake when energized. They also have a controller with a pot that gives you variable DC voltage to the brake so you can vary the time to bring the spindle to a stop. LeBlond uses this on their later built lathes, too. Warner is still in business and still provides products and replacement parts if you have deep pockets IMO.

Dan from Oakland · Dec 25, 2022

If you scroll up to the brake schematic posted earlier you will notice a rheostat in series with the brake and the rectifier output. Pretty sure that rheostat is for adjusting the voltage that is applied to the brake coil to control how hard the brake turns on. Just my wild guess, but it makes sense that you would want some control over how hard that brake is applied. Garwood is correct- the brake needs DC current- not AC.

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