Dear Trevor,
I have had the Newton Teslar unit on my lathe for 10 years without a hitch, they are worth the money. You will find the lathe runs ultra silent as the primary headstock drive is via a toothed belt which also result in a good finish. The original motor was 3hp but I have fitted a 2hp which gives plenty of power. My view is it is a little dangerous having a very powerful machine tool in a home workshop where the operator is on their own!
The motor pulley size is not fussy, I run my machine with 2.5dia pulley using 2 V belts (the lathe is fitted for 3 belts)
Last year I completed two big 7.25 engines with all the turned parts machined on my Chipmaster. Dont be afraid to give it some work to do, it is an industrial standard lathe but use some robust tools, non of these Micky Mouse tools used on ML7's! Having said that I have also screw cut threads down to 3mm dia on stainless,
If its in any reasonable condition you will find its a very ergonomic machine, light to the touch, responsive and the cam-lock chuck is great.
All the best,
Harold
Phnom Penh
Cambodia