experimenting with new news readers (outlook express has bogged down
and takes forever to get messages, Free Agent seems fast, but I don't
like the buttons) - anyway, messed up my identity, so this messge
below really did come from me.
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm

Thanks Wayne - good input - I am currently under the impression that
there are 3 motors (spindle, traverse, and coolant), and I probably
won't use coolant. On my lathe, I used a VFD and just removed ALL the
pre-existing wiring and contactors, etc and let the VFD to the
start/stop/reverse work - that worked out nicely. I don't really
trust rotary converters because of the need to balance them
electrically, and furthermore they take up space (which is something I
don't have), so a solid state approach is much more attractive. I've
thought of driving a 3 phase transformer with a primitive VFD (well, a
solid state single to three phase converter), but I don't know what
the reflected transformer loads would be back on the device. So, if I
can convert to 220V, that will be quite helpful. It still leaves the
trick of deciding whether to rewire and exploit the new solid state
controls or not.

by the way, Rolf at Abene says that the machine was made in 1970. I'm
a bit farther away from it than you, since I'm on the left coast - I
expect it to show up any week now, as I frantically move stuff around
to try and ensure I have a place to put it.