New Motor?

Hi Jesse

I wouldn't know why you could not use a 3/4 or 1 HP motor on your lathe, though going much larger might make the V belt want to start slipping.

And yes you could make the lathe a variable speed lathe, depends how much money you want to throw at it, keep in mind that after all that, it is still a monotube lathe with all it's shortcomings, though it could serve you to your liking.

You could get a 3 phase motor and a variable frequency drive, I do have a link here to a surplus place, that do have them, but do not have any in stock right now.

Keep in mind that you will lose some power, like a 1HP motor will have something like a 3/4HP motor output.

Neither HP nor continuously variable speed will make a Powermatic out of your Craftsman lathe, nor an accomplished turner out of you.

Half horse is probably enough power. Served me at 12" swing for years, but I wasn't trying to dominate the wood, rather to coax it off the shape I wanted. Ended up with a 3/4 when the bandsaw was upgraded to a full horse, and can't say I ever really noticed a difference. Of course, the belt was tensioned by motor weight, which might have had some effect.

Speed control, especially low-end speed, _is_ important. It makes it easier to true up a larger piece by making a safer job of it. I believe you can easily make a 2:1 countershaft arrangement for that lathe. Would be a great thing to start the 12" pieces at 250 rather than 500.

Hi Jesse, I don't see much reason to change. Many turners have turned out good work on that lathe without any modification. You aren't changing facework swing by adding hp and you don't need to for spindle work. You might want to control start up speed with a clutch for adjusting belt tension by hingeing the motor or adding an idler pulley and a longer belt.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

robo hippy

Hi Robo,

To each his own and to thine own self be true and all that. :)

I was thinking of Ruth Niles and Darrell Feltmate as two good turners that used that lathe. I don't recall that they changed motors, but I'm not sure. I imagine your atlas was built heavier and had a larger spindle and better bearings than Sears.

I started out with an early 4 speed Sears Dunlap lathe with a 1/4 hp split phase motor and never changed hp, belt, sleeve bearings or dead tail center. Of course, that might explain my strange turnings. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

My intention wasn't to really to make it a powerhouse lathe but to enable me to dial down the lathe speed to under the minimum of 875. Its a four step pulley system .And i read in previous post that by adding variable speed the HP would be reduced a bit so i wanted to compensate for that .

Arch wrote:

Actually, Arch, I still have mine. I use it a lot for spindle work becuase it turn up to 3500. Great for small stuff. Low speed on mine is about 600 though. I have used it for a lot of bowls and hollow forms over the years without problem.

"Jesse" wrote: clip)And i read in previous post that by adding variable speed the HP would be reduced a bit so i wanted to compensate for that . ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The HP would be reduced in direct proportion to the speed reduction--IOW, more than "a bit." However, if you leave the step pulleys in place, you will be able to reduce speed while increasing torque; no HP reduction. A combination of the two will give you the best of both worlds: major speed reduction without a reduction in HP, and the ability to fine tune the speed between steps without stopping the lathe.

That ability is just what I am looking for .So how would i go about doing it ?

Leo Lichtman wrote:

"Jesse" wrote: That ability is just what I am looking for .So how would i go about doing it ? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Replace the motor you have now with a variable speed having the same shaft diameter. Align the pulleys, slip on the belt and you're good to go.

Much overrated capability. The purchase of the motor and drive will involve twice the price of the lathe. If you put that amount of cash into accessories, you'd get more fun for the bucks.