Hello:  Robbie, you are also correct that some "antique" motors used
a felt wick to hold and contain lube oil in motors.  In fact, felt wicks
are still very much in use today in smaller fractional horsepower
motors to retain lube oil.

Many types and shapes of felt wicks were used.  A 3/4-inch-long
round oil wick with a small spring behind it was used to push the wick
against the back of the sleeve bearing on old motors that have a 1" x
3/8" barrel or cylinder shaped screw-on assembly on top of the bearing
housing.  Some others used a 1/4" thick flat rectangular piece of felt
wrapped around the outside diameter of the sleeve bearing.  Still
others used a block shaped felt wick on top of the bearing in the lube
oil well.

In repairing or rebuilding these motors today many people just clean
out the old clotted goo and gunk in the motor end bell, while taking
away the sawdust mixture or felt wick (if it used one) thinking it is
just old congealed oil.  You must always use some sort of media to
contain the oil: sawdust or felt.  If you do not replace this media
the oil will soon just run or sling out, making a mess and leaving the
bearings to soon run dry!

Also -- if you have an old motor that has a centrifugal starting
winding switch that is broken beyond repair, in many cases you can
still save this "antique" motor by replacing the start switch assembly
with a new solid state starter switch.  These solid state switches are
a small block shaped assembly that can usually be tucked into the rear
motor end bell.  The start winding lead wires are connected to this
solid state switch.

Some operate using a timed start function; the better and more
costly units actually sense motor high inrush starting current.  The
brand I use is micro-start.  A motor rebuilder-supplier such as Ward
Brownell-Electro sells these switches along with magnetic motor
rewinding wire, sleeve bearings, carbon brushes, insulating varnish
(Glyptal), and other motor repair parts.

We have repaired and restored many old "antique" motors over the years.
Most, if not all piano motors can be repaired and saved.

Musically,
Brad & Art Hunter
silverghost1926@msn.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]