VS for old machine?

[Kimball Dhillon]

Hi guys, newbie here. I've been turning for abouit 6 months and recently bought an old Yates American lathe w/ 1HP and Reeves drive. The low speed is 500rpm and I was wondering what anyone knew about putting a reostat on this to get lower speed for bowl roughing/turning. All of the threads I've seen recommend buying a newer lathe with VS, but I got a great deal on this monster and it's already in my shop and I would like to put it to good use.
ANy help or opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Kimball Dhillon

[Bernie Weishapl]

No the speed controlers like for a router speed control will not work on a lathe motor. You might want to look for a variable frequency drive.

[Bob Vallaster]

Unless your motor is integral to the machine, as on some Olivers, you could outfit it with a DC motor and control it with a DC drive (various configurations for converting 110vac to 90vdc or 220vac to 180vdc). Control it with a rheostat, just like a model train.
I've done the same with 3 lathes over time and been well satisfied.

BobV

[Michael Arruda]

Your best, least expensive option is to get a used 3 phase motor and a VFD.

-Michael

[David Walser]

As has been suggested, you could re-equip your lathe with a new motor and variable speed controller. Going new is NOT an inexpensive option (see the prices at the link, bellow)! Even the prices I've seen for used controllers and motors are anything but cheap.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Lathes___Band_Saws___Attachments___Variable_Speed_ Drive___vs_drive?Args=

Assuming you do this, will you still want to run everything through the Reeves drive? The variable speed drive will reduce the need to use changes in pulleys to get the lathe in the right gear, so you might want to replace the inherently unreliable Reeves drive with a stepped pulley like the Powermatic 3520b uses.

At the end of the day, wouldn't you rather put your money to a different use?

[Jeff Nicol]

Kimball, I agree on using a 3 phase motor and a VFD (Variable frequency drive) I bought a 1hp 3 phase motor from surplus center for $40 and a VFD for a motor up 1.5hp for around $130. I put it on a cheap chinese lathe that had a 6 speed variable pulley system that would not go to zero RPM'S. So now I have infinite variable speed and reversing. Depending on the motor you can find for your machine and getting a VFD to handle the motor size that should do it. Some times electrical contractors or electric motor rebuilders have motors that the end up with from changeouts and repairs that they want to get rid of. So try that and the Surplus center and look on line for a VFD and that should do it for you.

Good luck, if you have any more questions I will gladly help out. Send me a PM if you do.

Jeff

[Bob Hallowell]

Depending on how much you like you lathe and what you are willing to spend. You can get a new 1.5 motor and vfd from www.factorymation (http://www.factorymation) for around $320. I have the vfd on my lathe and love it.

Bob

[Dick Strauss]

Kimball,
As others have said the rheostat idea won't work unless you want to burn up the motor in a hurry.

There is a chance that you can achieve slower speeds with a 5 minute modification to your reeves drive system. My mod for slower speeds would force you to sacrifice the higher speed but will cost you nothing. It is also reversible if you change your mind. If you are interested, see if you can find a parts diagram of your reeves drive system and I may be able to help.

FYI-I did this for my Delta 1440 (46-715) and have the slowest speed down to about 200 rpms (from 500) but it no longer goes to 2500 rpms.

Take care,
Dick

[Kim Ford]

Kimball;

Been there done that; a few things I learned.


Not all motors; especially older motors are able to handle VFD's. It depends upon the insulation class on the wires in the internal winding. Call up your local electric motor place and ask them, you may need to take the motor down, if possible, and have them look at it. My 1960's Oliver motor was right on the edge. The good news is that most electric motor shops can rewind these older motors with the correct wire should it fail, and not that expensive.
Not all VFD's are the same. You want one that keeps full torque at the lower speeds. Talk to someone who really knows what they are talking about before you buy anything. I spoke with the engineer at one of the dot com places, and also spoke with the electricial engineer at our local electric motor re-winding shop and learned alot. I spend an extra $100 on my VFD and am very glad I did.
Good luck and have fun.

[Jeff Nicol]

Kimball, I did some looking and surplus center has 1.5hp motors from $50 to a couple hundred. I found Vfds from $133 to $250 that would control them. You could go more on each but you would have a great system. The control and motor that was linked to above is a DC motor and drive, and they are more money than an AC 3ph motor. It all comes down to how comfortable you are at changing it out and if you have only 120v or 220v supply voltage. The Vfds will change the current from either 120v / 220v single phase to 220/240 3 phase. The one I got had great instructions and was very easy to hook up. As was mentioned above some of the Vfd's have less torque at low speeds so that would be the only issue. I use mine for miniatures and small bowls and vases and the honey dippers I just made, and it works just fine.

This all I know!
Good luck

Jeff

[Jim Koepke]

Unless your motor is integral to the machine, as on some Olivers, you could outfit it with a DC motor and control it with a DC drive (various configurations for converting 110vac to 90vdc or 220vac to 180vdc). Control it with a rheostat, just like a model train.
I've done the same with 3 lathes over time and been well satisfied.

BobV

I was talking to one person who got an Oliver with a bad motor real cheap.
He removed the motor armature and replaced it with a shaft and some new bearings. He then mounted a motor and pulleys on one end and the original setup on the other end to replace the motor on the cheap.

Where there is a will, it only takes a little thinking outside the box to find a way.

jim

[Steve Campbell]

Kimball;
You have one other opinion that no one seems to have mentioned and that is to better balance your blanks and start turning at 500 RPMs. You didn't say how big of a bowl you can turn on you lathe. If you are limited to 12 inches like most old lathes 500 RPM may be slow enough.

Just a different point of view.


Steve

[Kimball Dhillon]

I wish I had found this site before I made the purchase. You guys gave me a lot of good information. It is a big, old machine and I think it has a lot of life left. I just bolted it back together last nite and fired it up. It seems to run smoothly. I think I will play with it for a while before I decide what changes to make. It has a 12" swing over the bed and a 4" gap that can turn 16". If I cut my blanks fairly round on the bandsaw, can I safely rough out a 10-12" bowl blank?

Thanks again for all the help.
Kimball

[Bernie Weishapl]

I would say with a 12" swing I would cut the bowl blanks any larger than 11 1/2". My 16" swing I cut my blanks at 15".

[Dick Strauss]

Kimball,
Steve makes a very good suggestion...Rounding your blanks on the BS will definitely help. You should be able to rough 10" (but probably not 12") rounds pretty well this way. In most situations, you need to allow for a little room for the banjo (or the base of the part that holds the toolrest) to clear under the blank.

You will get the off piece that has a mind of its own. The weird pieces will fight you because of different densities often due to heartwood/sapwood distribution. The slower speed can still make a difference even with round blanks. Maybe this is something of an upgrade you can put off for a while until you get the feel of turning.

Good luck,
Dick