Thanks all.

Jason, I was turning at a slow speed to face off a piece of 5" mild steel. Probably ran it too slow as it turns out and stalled the motor a few times. After a while smoke started wafting up from the motor and I immediately terminated proceedings! It may well still be ok, but there was quite a bit of smoke.

Thanks John F. I think on the HY I can limit max output. As John R says, I think I can even maintain the original pulley sizes (only, I'd probably prefer a V pulley over the "timing belt" type.

John R, thank you, too. I like the idea of a jack/counter shaft in place of the original motor (that was my first thought as it happens), but I really like Neil's solution. Although, now I'm thinking about it, the jackshaft is coming back in vogue in my thought process! I could even mount the new motor on the bench behind the lathe. Hmmm. As for the VFD, I'll need to have a play when it arrives. I'll deffo be looking at "de-rating" the 3 horses as much as possible!

I think my question has been answered, thanks!

M

Sorry, forgot to say, John R the original (OEM) top rpm was allegedly 2500ish, so I'm not a million miles off that. The only trouble is the high torque (of the new motor) which worries me a bit. In any event, I doubt I'll be using the upper reaches of the rpm range very often (if at all).

John F, actually I'd really be grateful if you could PM your programming of the HY (it's the 220V 2.2kW/3hp one with the removable control panel which I've ordered) to me. Thanks!

Thanks again everyone, great site and forum!

M

Hi Ketan, I'm not at home right now, but it is a generic blue and grey colour-schemed one. It just has a straight-through spindle in the headstock (no gearing at all of the spindle and no intermediate drive shaft) and the drive is direct to the spindle (where the other hi/lo ones have a plastic spacer).

Sorry I can't help with model numbers, but believe me, it really is ungeared! I've had the headstock off to attach a tach and it's pretty empty in there. Tbf though, it's not like I'm going to need gearing with a 3 horse motor!

Thanks for the support, Neil! My thoughts exactly. I really liked your piece on the website btw. I am, however, now conflicted between a) your setup (mounting-wise) which I really liked and b) using a countershaft in place of the OEM motor and running the drive to that horizontally from the new motor mounted directly onto the bench behind the lathe.

Pros for option a: less work (no need to fabricate the countershaft housing). Direct drive to spindle. Ability to upgrade to V belt.

Cons against a: Topheaviness perhaps? Cutting into the tumbler gear mount housing. belt in the way (ish) of the tumbler gear selector.

Pros for for b: Able to use existing belt and housings on the final drive leg (countershaft to spindle). Physical stability of the whole rig. No need to fabricate motor mount.

Cons against b: Need to fabricate countershaft mount (not beyond the pale, but a pain in the proverbial)… actually, probably easier than fabricating a motor mount, come to think of it! Existing drive belt (which would be the final drive from the countershaft to the spindle) is relatively flimsy and might not handle the increased loads (a stall would probably sheer its teeth rather than stall the motor).

Ugh, that didn't help! I must say, though, I am now leaning more towards b than a (perhaps with an upgraded aftermarket final drive toothed belt). At least just to get the thing turning again.

M

Ketan, I am in no position to argue with you (like your regular customer did with JS… sorry, I don't know the late JS, I'm new here). All I want to do is turn bits of metal round and round and change their shape. Currently, my lathe can't do that. It should be able to and I am going to make it able to.

Whilst I am not an engineer with 40 year's industrial experience, turning metal is not some form of sourcery shrouded in mystery, understandable only by an elite chosen few. I'm sorry if this offends you (it's not intended to, honestly), but I am not some halfwit going "wayhay, I have a lathe, let's build the Flying Scotsman!!" My goodness, I've seen enough of those cowboys on YouTube!

In short, I have a healthy respect for machine tools, understand my experience limitations (and the experience I DO have), am extremely eager to learn and gain understanding from those who do have the experience (which I am doing right now) and am surprisingly capable in terms of understanding the process of creating stuff, but what I refuse to do is back down from a challenge thrown at me by a 400 quid minilathe!

And, yes, I am a beginner, but so were you once.

The replies on this thread have been extremely helpful, for which I am grateful and they have greatly helped in both my further understanding of my intended setup and the design of that setup.

I promise I shall proceed with caution in my mods, which is what I was doing anyway (in fact, probably too cautious, which caused the thing to burn out in the first place… lesson learnt).

Don't quote me on this, but it is potentially a CJ0618-3B. It's only a guess, because I got that by zooming into the photo on the eBay listing of my purchased items (on my phone).

At any rate, it's the 550W brushed motor 7×12" one that is slathered all over eBay (at around the £400 to £500 mark) when you search for minilathe.

I don't see how this is relevant, though. How is this going to affect the advice you want to give me? It's a bog-standard 7×12 cheap Chinese minilathe… just like the one everyone is modding with AC motors (even Steve Jordan)!!