Fair enough on the wish for reverse but I haven't found it to be necessarily
the magic bullet for a difficult piece of wood. If you are able to reverse,
either with your new motor or a new lathe, please be aware that the
faceplate or chuck tend to loosen rather than tighten due to sanding/turning
forces. If the faceplate is put on snuggly sanding is unlikely to cause a
problem but cutting forces can and I have been told it happens very quickly!

I would say the the answer to your question about the Nova DVR is that they
designed it with sturdy bearings in the headstock/motor to handle the
forces. A lot of people like the DVRs and they are not overly expensive.
Personally, I like having the headstock spindle and motor connected by a
belt for no really good reason other than one is not intimately connected to
the other for troubleshooting and repair purposes.

Good luck on your bigger motor project, hope it works well for you.

Billh

"Leslie Gossett" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Well, heres the deal...

I see the advantages of running in reverse for sanding and hollowing.
Power
sanding doesnt seem to be quite enough. I still find myself stopping the
lathe to hand sand in the reverse direction. For scraping, I see a
definate
lack of power. But otherwise with gouges, skews, etc, there seems to be no
problem.

I dug up a new 3/4 hp, 56C, capacitor start, Leeson motor that was sitting
around doing nothing. I have managed to bolt it to the side of the
headstock. Tonight, armed with a step pulley and a few belts, I am going
to
attempt to make this sucker work.
If it doesn't work out, so be it. I will start saving for a new lathe. I
do
like the Nova DVR, or possibly others.
One thing I was wondering about the DVR is how it holds up to roughing
larger, square stock? One would think it might be hard on the motor
bearings, being direct drive. How has Nova overcome this?

Thanks for all your help

Leslie




"billh" wrote in message
. ..

"Leslie Gossett" wrote in message
.net...
About 6 months ago I purchased a very slightly used grizzly 12" x 36"
G5979
lathe. Its a decent machine. But it is lacking power (1/2 hp) and
can't
run
in reverse. The long motor shaft, and the way it is mounted makes it
almost
impossible to upgrade without some major mods to the headstock. The
way
the
motor is mounted also limits the swing when using a shallow face plate
with
stock over 8" diameter. If it weren't for the motor, I would have
nothing
to
complain about.

Alas, I find myself searching for alternatives. The easiest but most
expensive one is to buy a new lathe. It needs be one more geared to
turning
bowls. One with a swing over bed of at least 14". It needs to have a
swivel
headstock for outboard turning of larger bowls. Variable speed,
reversing
and at least 1 hp motor. There are many lathes out there that will
suit
me
quite well. Finding one is no problem. Affording it is a matter of
saving
my
money and staying out of Rockler for a while.
Weight and size is a is a real problem. It has to be brought down a
very
narrow stairway with a sharp 90 degree turn into the basement. It will
have
to be done in many pieces. OK, I can deal with that, I guess. I don't
want
a
monster machine that will create a major project every time I have to
move
it either across the floor or to another home.

Getting a new lathe really isnt that much of a problem. It really
bothers
me
that I can't find a way to upgrade my Grizzly to a better motor. I
have
written to Grizzly about my delima, and their response was rather
negative:
"There is nothing you can do to upgrade the G5979". So I ask all of
you
that
are familiar with this lathe and all of the others that are identical
to
it.
Do you agree with Grizzly's response? Do you know of any way to
retrofit
a
slightly larger motor, that can be reversed?
Either AC, or DC. I know some single phase AC motors can run in
reverse.
DC
is a no brainer. Any ideas out there? Has anyone modified this lathe
before?

Ideas are appreciated

Thanks in advanced

Leslie Gossett





I went through the same dilema with a lathe similar to your Grizzly. I
bought a bigger motor and mounted it differently and used a system of
step
pulleys to set the speed. I also wanted to get a lower minimum speed for
bigger blanks. To make a long story short, the system was cumbersome but
I
did have a lower speed and more power. Then the other shortcomings of
the
lathe became apparent; it just wasn't made for bigger stuff. So I wasted
time and money which I should have put towards a better lathe in all
respects in the first place. I bought a big General variable-speed.

Why are you so keen on being able to reverse the rotation?

Billh