I thought some of you might get a kick out of this. I bought a used lathe a few months back and it came with and "interesting" setup.
Yes sir that's exposed 120 volts on the contacts. Up is forward and down is reverse. There's no off position either. To switch it off you have to balance the switch vertically.
I bought it from the second owner. More of a collector than any thing so I have no idea what the brain dead idiot that made this was thinking.
Probably thought electricity would grown some hair on his chest.
I didn't have much of a choice so I replaced the whole electrical system. It was tedious figuring out what the motor wanted for forward and reverse. Other than that it was easy enough to rewire it.
Here's what the new one looks like
On the left you can see the new system. The 3 position switch on the top is Forward-Off-Reverse. The estop button is the primary switch when the machine is in use. No exposed wires and a dual switch system.
Nice little lathe now that's it's safe to use. For any one interested it's an Atlas 6-18 lathe.
Whats the most dangerous piece of shit that you've stumbled upon?