Thanks. Will do like you say tonight, hopefully.

plz post results

One of our godfathers of phase converters, Fitch, now accessible only through
google archive searches alas, cut off the excess shaft on his idler motor. I
always got the impression he removed the armature from the motor, mounted one
end in the lathe chuck, supported the other in the steady rest, and did a cutoff
operation. That's certainly how I'd try it. Three phase motors are much easier
than single phase motors to disassemble since there's no fiddly centrifugal switch.

Grant