As a number of people have commented, you can't vary the speed of that
motor. A speed control of the type used on a sewing machine or a fan speed
control will only work with Brush type motors like a DC motor or a
universal AC motor of the type used in electric tools like drills, routers
etc.

There is another option albeit an expensive one, Replace the original
single phase motor with a 208 volt 3 phase motor and run it from an
inverter drive at 240VAC in. The inverter will electronically create thew 2
other phases and will vary the frequency of the power applied to the motor
to vary it's speed. This is how the more expensive lathes like The Oneway,
Powermatic etc with electronic spped control work.

If you know what you are doing, you can find the parts on Ebay for under
$200. If you don't, you can buy a package of a motor and control for
$400-$500.

On 19 Feb 2007 15:50:56 -0800, "burly pete" wrote:

Hi
My lathe varies speed through a 2 pulley system one on the motor shaft
and one one the lathe spindle. As you change the speed one pulley will
open up reducing its diameter as the other pulley will close down
increasing its diameter. There must be a name for this type of system
but I don't know it.

My problem is the slowest speed is still too fast for the bigger
blanks.
Is there a way I can change the speed of the AC motor to compensate
for the high ratio of the pulleys.

Thanks in Advance


Peter