Need lathe electrical help... please...

[carwash]

Ok... was boring and threading some links on Sunday... got about halfway done, and all of the sudden the power in the counter clockwise direction quit working. Clockwise still worked fine, but when i throw the switch down to go the other way... I got nothing, no click, nothing....

So I pull the panel in the rear, and of course there are 2 switch banks, one for each direction. I watch as a friend throws the lever for power; When in the clockwise direction, the left switch bank connects and power is sent to the gear head. When the switch is thrown in the other direction, nothing happens, the contacts don't move, and there is no power sent, etc.

But, I can manually push the switch and make the connection, and the power is sent to the head and it spins. But it won't stay connected, as soon as let force off of it, it disengages and the power stops. So power goes through it, but it can't do it on its own.

So i'm thinking maybe that one switch is bad. Honestly, both switches look absolutely horrible. The machine is a 1979 and i'm sure they are original. It was used for quite a few years in a production shop, so it has seen some hours. So does anyone have any insight into this, or can tell me where i can find switches like these. And please tell me they are not going to cost a fortune.

Is there anything else that it can be besides the switch itself? Jeff told me it could be the "field" power, not sending the power to the switch to tell it to activate. The image below shows the switches in question. The numbers on the image show the voltage on that screw, the R is when it's running and the S is when the machine is powered up but static (chuck not spinning). The right switch is the one in question. The left one still works, as horrible and burned as it looks, ha!

So, any help is appreciated... thanks in advance!!



and the machine it is powering...