Most old lathes, especially of the Craftsman variety, were intended
primarily for spindle turning. Spindle lathes normally have a higher speed
range than lathes that are used for turning bowls and other larger diameter
work. By using a stepped pulley on the motor and another on the lathe, you
should be able to achieve a range of speeds in the 500 to 2500 range which
will be fine for spindle or other small diameter work. Most 1/3 and 1/2 HP
motors come in two varieties, 1750 RPM and 3450 RPM. The slower motor is
more suitable for lathes. Since you say your motors turns at about 1100
RPM, I think you should investigate the pulley arrangement as a way of
controlling the lathe speed. Good Luck.


wrote in message
oups.com...
I have an old craftsman lathe with a missmatched motor. The motor seems
to be turning too fast,I looked up the rpm's for the lathe and they
were between 200 and 400. The motor is spinning at 11oo rpm,s. I tried
it on all the pullys,but this didnt help. I have been resding some of
the letters here, and see that others are uesing motors that spin over
1000rpm's with no proublems. Doe's anyone have any ideas what I am
doing wrong?