Am I asking too much?

[Joe Shinall]

Ok, so I have a mini lathe. Rockler brand "Excelsior". My father has his own electric motor repair shop and has worked on them for 30 years. He told me if the motor was a certain type, we could wire it with a reverse switch. And if it wasn't, we could swap the motor out for one we could make reverse.

He also says we can put an AC Drive on it to slow it down since my slowest speed is 760 RPM.

I know he can do these 2 things, the man took a 1/2 HP bandsaw and made it 2.5 HP. But is there anything from a lathe perspective I need to worry about? Like if it reversed, would I have to worry about the chuck unscrewing or anything?

[Scott Lux]

The chuck unscrewing is indeed one of the hazards of reversing.

I would also not go over 1/2 hp. The bearings and castings are built around that. So while you could exceed it a little (probably) putting much more on it would make the lathe itself the weak point. Instead of the motor stalling, the housing or bearing might break :eek:.

I have the VS Excelsior. It's not bad, but I had to replace the motor and board after two years. Overall I'm very pleased with it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Joe - I agree with Scott. These lathes were designed to handle a certain load and if you change the size of the motor you are still stuck with the hardware designed for a light load. If you want more power - the ability to handle larger turnings - I highly suggest you start looking at larger lathes.

[alex carey]

Joe I know very little on this type of question and im sure others will disagree so take my opinion with a grain of salt as I might be completely wrong.

I'd say go for the upgrade, and go for as big a motor as your heart desires. I dont think that the bearings and castings are built around the size of the motor at all. The bearings and castings are simply the limitations as to what size and weight of a piece of wood your lathe can handle, and also how unbalanced the wood is. I think what Scott is really hitting on is that if you had a 2 hp motor you are much more likely to think that your lathe can handle much more than the bearings and castings actually can. It's like putting a 2010 Buggati Veyron engine into a 1974 Volvo station wagon, sure the volvo can now accelerate much faster but once you hit 120 mph your wheels will start falling off, its just not made for that speed, just as well your lathe is not made to handle 50# chunks of unbalances mesquite.
So if you do decide to get a bigger motor you need to be even more mindfull of what your lathes bearings and castings can and cannot handle.

As for the reversing, yes you'll have to worry about the chuck unscrewing but I personally have never had a problem, all of the reversing I do is at low speeds for sanding and as long as its on there tight there shouldn't be a problem.

[Joe Shinall]

Sorry guys, I should have been more specific. We are not changing the motor size at all. Hopefully not changing the motor at all. I was just saying that I know he knows what he's talking about because I've seen him in action before.

Just adding reverse and maybe an AC drive to slow it down some.

I like your analogy Alex. Funny thing because my sister drives a 81 Volvo and literally just drove one of the wheels off :)

[Scott Lux]

Joe,

Sounds like you have a good start then. If you do change motors, be sure to go variable speed. Soooooooo much nicer. The Excelsior isn't convenient for moving the belt.

Lux