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

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

It's called a Reeves drive and the odds are long against being able to
reduce the speed of the motor.

Possibly ... just possibly ... you could put the pulley on an idler
shaft and reduce the speed that way. Probably far more effort than it's
worth though ...that's why I have not done it on mine.

Bill

--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com

Pete, if you feel it's worth the work, like Bill said, it can be
done. I think an "idler" would be like a clutch? Well, that's what
Dell Stubbs did to his lathe in his bowl turning video.
It's also an excellent video about turning so you'll get double info
from it. : )

Ruth
http://www.torne-lignum.com

Try a foot switch for a sewing machine, you may have to cut the sewing
machine side plug and relace with a standard plug. Tehse foot switch are
usally carbon pile and can vary speed form extra slow to full speed on a
110v motor
"burly pete" wrote in message
oups.com...
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

Try a foot switch for a sewing machine, you may have to cut the sewing
machine side plug and relace with a standard plug. Tehse foot switch are
usally carbon pile and can vary speed form extra slow to full speed on a
110v motor

I doubt if that voltage drop controller will work. That sewing machine motor is
probably something like 1/60Hp. I have serious doubts it can deal with the amps
even a 1/2Hp motor will draw.

D


"burly pete" wrote in message
oups.com...
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

"Dan Bollinger" wrote in message
news
Try a foot switch for a sewing machine, you may have to cut the sewing
machine side plug and relace with a standard plug. Tehse foot switch are
usally carbon pile and can vary speed form extra slow to full speed on a
110v motor

I doubt if that voltage drop controller will work. That sewing machine
motor is probably something like 1/60Hp. I have serious doubts it can deal
with the amps even a 1/2Hp motor will draw.

Should be interesting to observe--from a distance.

Max

Penn State Industries has just released a variable speed motor kit for delta
and jet mini-lathes. Cost is around $120 US. Might be a better answer. Kit
contains new motor and speed control unit. Here is link..
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/tclvskit.html.
Kevin

"burly pete" wrote in message
oups.com...
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

On Feb 19, 6:50 pm, "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

Sounds like my old Craftsman Variable speed 15". They are called
Reeves drives. The bottom pulley slides along a shaft and "pinches"
the belt to make it move in or out on the pulley. The upper pulley is
spring driven and you have no control over that. The bottom pulley at
some point will cease to contact the sides of the pulley and no longer
power the lathe if you force the mechanism too far. My lathe allowed
speeds between 400 and 2000 and I often found it too fast for really
rough/out of round pieces.

As far as using a sewing machine pedal, variable speed switches only
work with DC motors that use brushes. (an electrician can jump in and
correct this if I am wrong). You'll probably blow the pedal but the
smoke effects should be entertaining! Older sewing machines used heavy
duty contact points (that was before the days of miniaturization) and
on mine all I suceeded to do was fuse the heavy copper contacts
together until the fuse box kicked out.

The easy answer to your question is therefore, no....unless you want
to get into some jig building and using a second motor which you could
use only until the piece is roughed out enough for the lathe's normal
power drive to be turned on again.

Mike Courteau

http://www.toymakersite.com

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

"Somebody" wrote in message
. ..
Penn State Industries has just released a variable speed motor kit for
delta and jet mini-lathes. Cost is around $120 US. Might be a better
answer. Kit contains new motor and speed control unit. Here is link..
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/tclvskit.html.
Kevin

Interestingly the ad didn't specify the HP of the motor. Anyone know?

Max

Most likely either 1/4 or 1/2 hp. That's what the various minilathes run;
most 1/2 hp

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 13:39:22 GMT, "Maxprop" wrote:


"Somebody" wrote in message
...
Penn State Industries has just released a variable speed motor kit for
delta and jet mini-lathes. Cost is around $120 US. Might be a better
answer. Kit contains new motor and speed control unit. Here is link..
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/tclvskit.html.
Kevin

Interestingly the ad didn't specify the HP of the motor. Anyone know?

Max

Slowest speed is 650 rpm which may be too high. Wonder what the
torque is at slow speeds ?

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:38:35 -0500, "Somebody"
wrote:

Penn State Industries has just released a variable speed motor kit for delta
and jet mini-lathes. Cost is around $120 US. Might be a better answer. Kit
contains new motor and speed control unit. Here is link..
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/tclvskit.html.