Having searched this site on various options they all came up with custom made speed attachments at a high price. Modern drive converters are digital allowing many parameter to be put in from max speed to min speed, pre set speed, forward reverse etc. On choosing a drive inverter as they are called its confusing, these drive inverters are aimed at industry and trained electricians however talking the the dealer who sold it to me they are ok for diy "intelligent" woodturners such as me. Intelligent in that read the instructions 3 times and take no shortcuts and are not all us woodturners intelligent!!. So I bought one and a 240v 3 phase motor all for less than £200, my lathe a old Turnstyler is now magic, a 1HP motor that goes from 50 rpm to max that i set at 2000rpm. My turning is now a pleasure a turn of the dial to get a good rpm. Now technical details the motor (you need a 3 phase motor) they all come in different mountings foot called b3, flange mounting, and take foot they all have different dimensions, fortunately a lot of motor manufactures list all the dimensions and most motors have a code stamped on them ie 90ls or 80M plus more numbers, this is the mounting code. Most 80 codes are 1HP 90 are 1.5 HP. Next the inverter (I am in UK) they are 240v input and 3 phase 240v output. They dont like sawdust, because they operate high voltages sawdust and moisture is not good. So you build a dustproof box with a perspex panel and a vent from outside. You can get IP55 dust protected drives but they are £100 more. I sweated on buying this gear knowing that I was in the field of trained electricians but it was very easy, my electronic drive is a "Invertec" drive, they do a economy one called E2 and easy start, you can use it out of the box without entering any data, mine cost £88, then you just get a 3 phase motor and screened cable for motor to inverter drive. This is a cheap up to date option for variable speed drive and really if you can wire a plug and take your time with the instructions its a great conversion at a good price. I am in the UK I used a dealer who was very helpfull if you want his web site I will send it to any one considering this route or web sites of motor dimensions. As for drives search on Invertec and download the manual. After 4 weeks of research and looking for the best option I thought I would post my results. My turning is on a new dimension its magic. Col
- posted
14 years ago