Outboard Tool Rest Finished– Now how big a motor?

[Baxter Smith]

With the sun shining in the bay where my welder was one day this week, it was warm enough to put together a tool rest from some box tubing I had left over from other projects. Had been thinking about one since cutting out some blanks that were a couple inches too big for my inboard side.
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With that done, the next decision might be, if I want to increase my motor size, how much is reasonable given the lathe I have? The blanks in waiting are about 14 or 15 inches which I am assuming my lathe could handle if they start out fairly balanced.
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It is a late 60’s delta/Rockwell model 46-525. The owners manual recommends a ½ -3/4 hp motor. It presently has a 1/3 hp. It is pretty easy to stall when turning at low rpm.
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The original owner added a reversing switch. The switch is rated for 1 hp. I could pick up a marathon 1 hp reversible motor at a nearby central tractor that I believe would work for 189.99. A Grizzly motor would be about the same by the time you add in shipping. A Baldor or Leeson might add another 100. Same size shaft and it would fit the space I have. Also could consider a 1.5 hp for 219.99 at Central Tractor. That would require a new reversing switch which would be another 75 plus or minus. It also has a larger shaft so would also need a new pulley. More hp gets into 220 which I have available but I don’t think it is necessary given the size of my lathe. (A 1 inch spindle) Going from 1/3 to 1 hp at the least should make a big difference. Any recommendations for going one way over another? Thanks as always!

[alex carey]

I think 1 1/2 hp will probably be enough unless you are a really serious turner and you do a lot of coring. Also if you plan on doing some really large stuff on the outboard it might be nice to have 2 hp. I'm guessing 1 1/2 will be enough though.

[Allen Neighbors]

Baxter, that's a nice job on the toolrest. Looks like it should work well!
I think if you put a 1 hp motor on there, you might find a few times that you wished it were 1.5, but as you said, from 1/3 to 1 is a good jump! If you think it's worth it to spend the extra cash for the 1/5, go for it. I think you could do the reversing switch for way less than $75.
I had a 1/2 hp motor with reversing capabilities, and after an online query, a gentleman sent me a schematic that I used to install a toggle switch myself. I think mine cost me about 3 bucks for the switch, and another buck for the electrical box. Wire I had on site.

[Bill Bolen]

Baxter a fine fabrication job on your outboard rest!...Bill..

[Steve Schlumpf]

Baxter - real nice work on the outboard tool stand! Looks like it came with the lathe!

Upgrading to different power levels is something you have to think through. Your lathe was designed to operate within a certain power range - over do it and you will be placing a lot of stress on components that were not designed for it.

A 1 hp motor would be a big step up from what you are used to but may still be a little underpowered. If you can find a 1.5 hp motor I think you would be happy with it.

Best of luck with your upgrade!

[charlie knighton]

i agree with Steve, 1 1/2 motor and that may be pushing it, just because of your spindle size of 1 inch, the jet with 1 1/2 motor has 1 1/4 spindle size,

mine is just an opinion, there may be some engineers out there that could do some load equations that might give you a better idea

[Bernie Weishapl]

Baxter that is a great looking tool rest. IMHO I think a 1 hp would be a good match for that lathe. I think like Charlie that 1 1/2 hp would be a bit much for that lathe. Maybe a 1 hp with a VFD.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks everyone for your input! A 1 1/2 hp would be nice, but I suppose it might give a large object more torgue into my tool than the lathe components were designed for. I searched through various lathe manufacturers and couldn't find any with a 1 inch spindle that had more than a 1 hp motor.

I watched as a good friends turnings progressed on this lathe over a 30+ year period with just this 1/3 hp motor. Would hate to mess up its next 30!:)

[Reed Gray]

I would worry as much about the bearings in the lathe as the motor. For serious production bowl turning, 2 hp, 3 phase, 220 volt minimum, and a 1 1/4 spindle. That lathe should be able to take a 1 hp motor fine, which is fine for bowls up to 12 inches or so, which is the max for that lathe. Any thing over that will be stressing the limits of the lathe, so slower speeds, and well balanced pieces of wood should be used. The lathe has the weight, not really designed for production bowl work, but fine for general use.

robo hippy

[Bob Bergstrom]

I turned outboard on a Delta 450 (big brother of your lathe for 5years. I turned 20" bowls with 1hp. There are three problems you will face. (1) Vibration and flexing of the outboard fixture(yes it only takes a very little flexing to mess up the cutting process). (2) the outboard bearing is single row and will fail sooner than expected. (3) Belt slippage will negate whatever horsepower you choose. I would spray the belts with belt dressing to make them tacky and grip better. There isn't a good way to get the belts tight enough on a sheve drive. For these reasons I bought a 3520 and never looked back. Of coarse, it took 6 lathes to get addicted that much to bite the bullet and cough up the money.:D

[curtis rosche]

i have a 3/4 horse motor on my 9 inch lathe right now.. i am always wishing it was bigger. i do turn alot of the harder woods, like locust and hardmaple, and burls. but it bogs down even with the soft stuff if i try to use the whole cutting width of my easyrougher. or my oland style tool. or when i change the pulleys to a higher speed for finishing cuts in hard woods,.

if i were you, i would go with as big of a motor as you can manage, 3hp would be alot, and maybe to much. but you will wish you had a bigger motor if you only have 1 hp. but remember, if you have a big motor now, you can use it if you ever decide to build a lathe, or you find a bigger lathe that doesnt have a motor in it.

[Baxter Smith]

I would worry as much about the bearings in the lathe as the motor. For serious production bowl turning, 2 hp, 3 phase, 220 volt minimum, and a 1 1/4 spindle. That lathe should be able to take a 1 hp motor fine, which is fine for bowls up to 12 inches or so, which is the max for that lathe. Any thing over that will be stressing the limits of the lathe, so slower speeds, and well balanced pieces of wood should be used. The lathe has the weight, not really designed for production bowl work, but fine for general use.

robo hippy

Thanks for your input. The bearings were the part I was concerned with although I could replace those if needed. I don't plan on being a production turner. Just having fun and will be doing mostly inboard stuff I assume. After turning just one item outboard yesterday I can see some of the challenges of not having the tailstock. - or a chuck that matches the lefthand threads.

I turned outboard on a Delta 450 (big brother of your lathe for 5years. I turned 20" bowls with 1hp. There are three problems you will face. (1) Vibration and flexing of the outboard fixture(yes it only takes a very little flexing to mess up the cutting process). (2) the outboard bearing is single row and will fail sooner than expected. (3) Belt slippage will negate whatever horsepower you choose. I would spray the belts with belt dressing to make them tacky and grip better. There isn't a good way to get the belts tight enough on a sheve drive. For these reasons I bought a 3520 and never looked back. Of coarse, it took 6 lathes to get addicted that much to bite the bullet and cough up the money.:D

Thanks for the firsthand advice Bob. Just plan on a couple 14 inch ones for now! I will keep the belt dressing tip in mind. Just a few months ago, my lathe wasn't even on my powertool upgrade list! :D


i have a 3/4 horse motor on my 9 inch lathe right now.. i am always wishing it was bigger. i do turn alot of the harder woods, like locust and hardmaple, and burls. but it bogs down even with the soft stuff if i try to use the whole cutting width of my easyrougher. or my oland style tool. or when i change the pulleys to a higher speed for finishing cuts in hard woods,.

if i were you, i would go with as big of a motor as you can manage, 3hp would be alot, and maybe to much. but you will wish you had a bigger motor if you only have 1 hp. but remember, if you have a big motor now, you can use it if you ever decide to build a lathe, or you find a bigger lathe that doesnt have a motor in it.

Thanks Curtis. I went out and got a 1 hp motor this morning and with some helpful advice from another Creeker on how to wire it, got it up and running just a little while ago. I am looking forward to trying it out. My rough turning will probably be the free green stuff most of the time. I may wish it was bigger before long, but 3 times the hp of what I was used to should keep me content for awhile! (and my lathe happy too) I hope!!

Thanks to everyone for your time and advice! It is appreciated.:)

[Bob Bergstrom]

Here are some pics of the outboard on my old Delta 450. I put in a jack shaft behind the motor that slowed it down to 150 rpms. I used duct tape and a jam chuck to hold bowls to turn the bottoms. Then used the picture fixture to use my tail stock on the outboard table. A vacuum chuck would be better and easier. If you own a Oneway Stronghold Chuck, the 1 x 8 insert is already threaded for both right and left handed threads.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn274/bbergst/IMG_0302.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn274/bbergst/IMG_0524.jpg

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for the pictures and ideas Bob. At present all I have with a lefthand thread is a 6 inch faceplate. All the questions on what I would need to do or try to be able to turn outboard were on hold until I turned a little more that way, thought a little more, and researched a little more. Thanks for answering some of them already!:)