In article ,
Bill Leonhardt wrote:

For years I thought about how to build a stand and mount a motor on a hinged
plate so speed changes would be easy.

Depending where you are at fiscally and the like, I cannot overstate the
advantages of an actual variable speed motor. The hinged motor mount is
still handy for an easy change of speed-range/torque available, but it's
mind-blowing how handy it is to be able to twist a knob and change
speeds.

Can be "free" if you collect a free treadmill and scavenge the motor and
controller (motors on treadmills are, IME, over-rated by about 2X - ie,
a "2 hp" treadmill motor seems to be somewhat like a 3/4-1 hp normal
motor.) All of those I have met are DC, as were the industrial-motor
electronic VS setups commonly used on wood lathes back in the 1990's,
for the most part.

The "better modern approach" (no pesky DC brushes to wear out) is a
3-phase motor and a 1-phase to 3-phase VFD (unless you have 3-phase in
your shop) to control it. If those even existed in the 1990s, they were
either out of reasonable price range or nobody in the woodturning
community was aware of them. Be careful not to overspeed a motor not
rated for overspeed (ie, the VFD may let you drive a 3600 RPM motor to
7200, but the motor may not survive at that speed.)

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