Buffer?

[1930]

Id like to hear anything I can on this item, monster of a buffer assuming thats what it is. That looks like it is what it was used for last.

Stands about 4.5-5 foot tall, maybe 3-4 feet wide and the buckets could fit two grown mens heads.

Not sure what Im going to do with it as its a 3 phase motor and dont believe I have 3 phase at my new shop.

[rusty]

The local jewelry and junkware district had factories with basements full of those things, with cloth wheels covered with rouge ,worked by undocumented folks also covered with rogue. Mostly polishing bracelets, brass light fixtures etc etc..

Might run from a cheapo type phase converter since you don't generally run the motor with much load on it...

[Lewill2]

If all else fails save the base and mount a vice or grinder on it.

[1930]

Thanks guys, looking on-line even a cheap phase converter that would suffice appears to be more than a hundred bucks so I am prob. going to do as suggested and re-purpose the stand to work with a Dayton grinder I bought a while back.

Shame to junk whats left but cant see any alternative at this point if I want to have some use from this thing without getting further up-side down in it. Dont even know if the motor would power up at this point.

Anyone know any specific on the name, Excelsior No 1

Id like to know age and if there is any sort of a following for the machine before I re-purpose it.

[amecks]

Another business that uses polishing/buffing machines is the motorcycle industry.  There are a lot of guys who would love to polish their aluminum cases with such a machine.  The custom car business as well could use buffers.  Try calling around some shops (not dealers but repair shops).  Make up a flyer and mail it around.  Post it on Craigslist under motorcycle/auto parts.
Al

[Charles Garrett]

Platers also use such.   A cheap converter can be made and should work for you is another 3 phase motor. Don't remember the details tho, sorry.   Chuck Garrett

[oldgoaly]

well the metal web news is down http://www.metalwebnews.com/

I've built 2 rotary phase convertors, you take 3 phase motor  run your single phase to it, then add a second phase by adding run capacitors from old a/c units, the metal can type, pcb's have not been in them since the 1980's. This is your idler motor, when running it generates the 3rd leg. this motor needs to be bigger than the motor or motors you want to.  you can make a one with a pony motor that turns the idler motor it's more complicated wiring, with little to no gain. Your buffer isn't going to know the phases are not in balance, it's just spins. If you had cnc then line balance would be more critical.
I've been running them since late 1980's, also have a few VFD's running machines. 3phase machines are plentiful. I have 10 (maybe more quick count)
1 was a new 3/4 hp Sears CC grinder, had to wire the light separate, and when I make room a 1hp Powermatic grinder.
So if someone makes you a good offer on the buffer sell or make a cheap rotary phase convertor! do not buy a static one! the burn out! hp is cut way down! mine lasted a little over a year. black electrolytic capacitor and a potential relay is all they are. Come to think of it 3 hp wysong shear is 3 phase that's 11, there is more just not out there to jog the memory.   

[rusty]

>Id like to know age and if there is any sort of a following for the machine before I re-purpose ...

Leach, the distributor liquidated in 1980.

The company was fairly old, as was the company I suspect made the polishing machine, Excelsior Machine & Tool of East St Louis. Could be as early as the 1930's, but I sort of suspect 1940's. (The switch likely is not original, but the switch is old in itself, mostly the motor frame is saying 40's/50's to me...)

Oddly, vintagemachinery has no listing for this Excelsior, in spite of the fact they made a fair number of different grinding and polishing machines...

There *may* be folks on vintagemachinery interested....Many important things came out of St Louis...

[Lewill2]

High speed motor too 3600 RPM that baby will hum.

[1930]

Thanks Guys,  the switch was added, the original switch was part of the motor and the hole can be seen if you look carefully.

At this point I think I will re-furbish the stand and use it for my other grinder. Just do not have the time to turn this into another project and electrical is not my forte.

I thought it was a bit older ( 20/30s ) in which case Id almost have to keep it together. Ive been looking for a stand anyway.

[oldgoaly]

Rusty
Could that be Excelsior foundry out of Belleville, since it is just a cast iron base?
Hard to say how many grinders or buffers have been on that base?
 

[Chillylulu]

Glass workers use them also, as do lapidaries.

Chilly

[rusty]

>Could that be Excelsior foundry out of Belleville, since it is just a cast iron base?

Of coarse, until we see an ad for one complete, the possibility it was assembled from a base and a polisher is reasonable. From all I see Leach was only ever a distributor, but the name plate may well be on some third company's motor/polisher....
(It was not uncommon for distributors to act as OEM's putting their house name on things..)

It is worth noticing that the bolt holes in the base seem to match exactly the holes in the motor frame..

(I still think it would be worth putting a photo on the blog at vintagemachinery, bet someone over there has seen one)

[1930]

As it turns out there is no way I can modify this old machine, ( havent the heart ) I am on the lookout for a good inverter/converter ( whatever its called )

If anyone runs across one for a decent price ( assuming I can buy a new one for about 100 bucks ) Id most likely take it. Thanks

[1930]

Its been a while but I finally got around to deciding what I would do with this buffer and the verdict was that because of the 3 phase and my uncertainty of reliability the original motor had to be pulled. I am going to be using the Dayton grinder that I mentioned in this thread http://www.papawswrench.com/vboard/index.php?topic=7075.msg44539#msg44539

Dont know how the original pictures of the grinder were deleted, it was not in bad shape, just needed to be sanded/painted, someone had painted it the wrong color. I will put it back gray to match the base.

The base gives a really interesting and satisfying look into how things were once manufactured and the quality that went into the products. Id like to know what the black surfacer filler that was used under the original grey paint, it had held up very well and it filled casting flaws that were 1/4 deep in a couple of places.

I could just imagine an assy line worker sanding this material down and re-applying only god knows how many coats to make the fill.

I modified ( am still in process ) the table that the grinder sits on and am paying particularly close attention to the original cast surface trying my best not to fill in the casting flaws/natural occlusions as Id like to pay some sort of tribute to the original line workers that called this thing OK way back when.

More pictures will follow as I get the unit completed.