I am putting a lathe online and I wish to get comments about the motor choice and control.

I am recently retired and have been collecting various AC motors over the years with the thought that I would employ them for various jobs in my shop. I am setting up a wood lathe (Rockwell/Delta 14-11x48, model 46-111) and need a motor to power it. My two best candidates are as follows:

Motor 1- Craftsman ½ HP capacitor motor, 1750 rpm, 115V, 60 cy, 8.2A. It has a shaft out each end so rotation direction is not a problem.

Motor 2 €“ Craftsman 500/5000 rpm, 60 cy, 1 ph, 115V, 15A, ½ HP max. Duty cycle: Hi speed cont./ Lo speed intermittent. Speed control know on opposite end of motor from shaft. Rotation direction is opposite for use on the lathe (without the motor sticking out and in the way) and I tried to switch wires to see if I could change direction, but NG.

I also have the following devices:

Variac Autotransformer W5MT, one side common line and load, 50-60 cy, line 120V, load 0-140V, 5A.

2000W AC50-220V SCR High Power Voltage Regulator Module, 25A max.

Questions:

1. I know that there are various flavors of AC motors (capacitor start, universal, €¦). Can anyone explain the difference or point me to a good web reference to understanding the differences of AC motors and how, if possible, to cjange their rotation direction?

2. The speeds on the lathe are controlled by stepped pulleys. Im thinking I might be able to also control speed by using the Variac or SCR.. Would that damage the motor or even work in this case?

3. For the variable speed Craftsman motor, would there be a way to reverse the rotation? If so, and I ran it at say half speed, how would the term €œintermittent€� apply?

Looking forward to your wisdom, thanks,

Bill Leonhardt