Variable Speed Motor for Taig Lathe?

Steamchick · Dec 14, 2024

Yup! I needed a 12mm shaft for my lathe motor replacement, using the existing pulley. (It's not a Taig).
Hope I didn't confuse anyone?
I have attached a pdf of my re-motoring... Warts n All!
K2

stanstocker · Dec 14, 2024

Danuzzo said:
I want a lower speed with some torque because I do machine steel on the lathe. Diameter is usually less than 1". I turned the C.I. piston of my current Webster build on the Taig, and I would have liked to lap the piston on the Taig, but I think the speed would have been too fast. I also think that I may have been able to machine the Webster steel cylinder with the Taig with lower speed and more torque. Actually, I may have been able to do it in it's current state. It's not that I don't have a bigger lathe. I just like to challenge my capabilities (somewhat limited) and the capabilities of the Taig. By the way, I regard the little Taig as very capable within its size limitations.

Thanks for the link. I do like the Penn State set-up. How is the torque at around 350 rpm?

I've never felt the torque was inadequate, but I rarely did anything in steel at the full diameter of the machine. I'd be inclined to invest in some name brand quality carbide inserts or brazed shank Micro 100 cutters before trying to add lower speed plus more torque. Never bothered to use a tach to see what the entire range of my set up is, this machine was in my clock shop where most everything that went on it was brass or small diameter steel. If I can find the darn tack and get the thing to read reliably I'll see how slow it gets and post later today.

EDIT NOTICE: "quality carbide inserts of brazed shank micro 100..." SHOULD have read "OR brazed shank..." Sorry for the awkward typo, both wrists have carpal tunnel issues, seeing a surgeon next Friday for a consult and scheduling for the worse wrist. In the meantime, I try to proof carefully, but typos abound. Stan.

Danuzzo · Dec 14, 2024

Steamchick said:
Yup! I needed a 12mm shaft for my lathe motor replacement, using the existing pulley. (It's not a Taig).
Hope I didn't confuse anyone?
I have attached a pdf of my re-motoring... Warts n All!
K2

That motor is very similar in appearance to the one I linked on Amazon. I really like what you did with the motor on your lathe.
Thanks.

Danuzzo · Dec 14, 2024

Danuzzo said:
Thank you for the link. Looks like I should be able to find something there. As to size of shaft, I think the Taig is 5/8" which is a little larger than the 15mm; but, I should be able to make an adapter.

Could not edit my previous post. I measured the shaft on my Taig lathe motor, and it is actually 1/2", not 5/8". So, I would have to bore out the pulley for fit.

stanstocker · Dec 14, 2024

UPDATE ON THE PENN STATE INDUSTRIES MOTOR

The smallest motor pulley sheave was turned off as part of boring out the step pulley to fit the armature / motor shaft. Dug out my laser tach this afternoon and charged up some AA batteries. Turns out my lowest speed with the slowest pulley settings is around 950 RPM. No good for your needs. I'll open up the speed controller box to see if there is a low speed trim pot that can be tweaked a bit to slow it down. If there is success I'll post the results. The controller only has around a 2:1 adjustment range, seems awfully limited compared to the wide range we see with the Sherline controller. Maybe the PRC KBIC clone is not so hot. The higher speed than expected never mattered to me, but I was surprised to see about 1K as the slowest! When all you do is small diameter stuff you rarely go much below 1500 to 2000 RPM, and drilling was always done with straight flute solid carbide when repivotting clock arbors. With that said, the motor controller needs some adjustment if possible or is defective or just plain poor quality. If it seems needed there is a spare genuine KBIC controller at hand, it can be patched in to see if that improves things. We'll see.

SmithDoor · Dec 14, 2024

Danuzzo said:
Let me preface this thread by saying that I know very little about electronics. However, I want to modify my Taig lathe by replacing the AC motor with one that I can use a reduced speed. The lowest spindle speed on the stock Taig is around 525 rpm. I have seen that many have converted to a DC motor with variable speed. Also many have used a Sherline motor and controller. I like the Sherline idea; but, I don't like the price, about $380.00 with shipping.

I am looking (and have searched the web) without success for a less expensive alternative that I could just basically just drop in as far as the electronics are concerned. I just don't know what to buy as far as a separate motor and compatible controller. Any info in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Most of ones I look on Amazon and Walmart was $120 to $280 . Ebay is a better price but it is Ebay.

If looks the to brushless aka vfd is good because no brushes. The down side is low speed torque. The torque at low speed is about 1.6 this can be over come by using a larger motor.

Brush type has great low speed torque and lower price. But need to change every 300 hours to I think upto 5,000 hours. The torque from is about most motors is 5x.

I hope this helps
Dave

SmithDoor · Dec 14, 2024

Danuzzo said:
Let me preface this thread by saying that I know very little about electronics. However, I want to modify my Taig lathe by replacing the AC motor with one that I can use a reduced speed. The lowest spindle speed on the stock Taig is around 525 rpm. I have seen that many have converted to a DC motor with variable speed. Also many have used a Sherline motor and controller. I like the Sherline idea; but, I don't like the price, about $380.00 with shipping.

I am looking (and have searched the web) without success for a less expensive alternative that I could just basically just drop in as far as the electronics are concerned. I just don't know what to buy as far as a separate motor and compatible controller. Any info in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

FYI
I put a Temperature gauge and power strip with voltage stick protection.

Having the Temperature gauge gives I good idea how hot the motor is and stoping work or let the motor run to cooling under no power.

The power strip with voltage stick protection. Is to protect the electronic from voltage spikes . This kills electronics

https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/added-temperature-gauge-for-mini-lathe.36110/

Danuzzo · Sunday at 10:21 AM

stanstocker said:
UPDATE ON THE PENN STATE INDUSTRIES MOTOR

The smallest motor pulley sheave was turned off as part of boring out the step pulley to fit the armature / motor shaft. Dug out my laser tach this afternoon and charged up some AA batteries. Turns out my lowest speed with the slowest pulley settings is around 950 RPM. No good for your needs. I'll open up the speed controller box to see if there is a low speed trim pot that can be tweaked a bit to slow it down. If there is success I'll post the results. The controller only has around a 2:1 adjustment range, seems awfully limited compared to the wide range we see with the Sherline controller. Maybe the PRC KBIC clone is not so hot. The higher speed than expected never mattered to me, but I was surprised to see about 1K as the slowest! When all you do is small diameter stuff you rarely go much below 1500 to 2000 RPM, and drilling was always done with straight flute solid carbide when repivotting clock arbors. With that said, the motor controller needs some adjustment if possible or is defective or just plain poor quality. If it seems needed there is a spare genuine KBIC controller at hand, it can be patched in to see if that improves things. We'll see.

Thanks Stan. I don't know if I am being presumptuous here; but, please do not tweak your controller for my sake. I am actually inclined to go with a set-up like the one I linked, and not the Penn State.

stanstocker · Sunday at 11:33 AM

Danuzzo said:
Thanks Stan. I don't know if I am being presumptuous here; but, please do not tweak your controller for my sake. I am actually inclined to go with a set-up like the one I linked, and not the Penn State.

It's more a case that once I'm aware that something doesn't seem right it will bother me until it's either fixed, replaced, or accepted as just how it is

Now I just want to know!

ddmckee54 · Sunday at 10:29 PM

I replaced my 3/4 Hp drill press motor with a 1 Hp sewing machine servo motor kit about a year ago. I love it, no more changing belts and I've got a variable speed from about 300-5000 Rpm. I just ordered, and received another 550W servo kit for my Unimat/Sherline - for whenever I get around to changing one the them. Another plus is that these servo kits are available in 120V, or 220V versions.

One word of caution if you use one of these servo motors. The setting for the "motor brake intensity' can be set from 0-5, it defaults to 1. At the default value it's trying to stop the motor in a very short time, I believe this is less than 100 milliseconds. When I was first testing my drill press motor replacement this would spin the drill chuck open/closed on motor start-up/shutdown. I changed the motor brake intensity parameter to 0. On shutdown this allows the motor to coast down to the minimum speed setting, 300 Rpm for me, then brake to a stop.

My biggest gripe about these little servo kits is that the "real-time" Rpm display is a 4 digit display, which only displays Rpm's to the nearest 100 Rpm.

Steamchick · Monday at 1:46 AM

I haven't got that problem with my Motor and controller. Rather the opposite. When I stop the motor, it seems there must be a large capacitor of something holding it running until it runs down. Maybe 1 or 2 seconds before it slows, then it ramps down to rest.
I don't want to mess with settings as I am sure to make a hash of things somehow, and be worse off!
K2

ShopShoe · Monday at 8:18 AM

FYI on Pulleys:

TAIG actually has pulleys for different size shafts:

https://taigtools.com/?s=Pulley&post_type=product&dgwt_wcas=1

Or maybe closer to a size you might want to bore and/or ream to size.

--ShopShoe

Danuzzo · Thursday at 7:51 PM

Update: I was ready to buy one on Amazon like the one I linked earlier (https://www.amazon.com/XXSTAR-Contr...rking-Machine/dp/B0CMV558SD?tag=forumyield-20). However, it and ones like it on Amazon all have a threaded pulley shaft. I need a plain one. Any other ideas?

EDIT: I found some on Ebay.

SmithDoor · Thursday at 10:46 PM

Danuzzo said:
Update: I was ready to buy one on Amazon like the one I linked earlier (https://www.amazon.com/XXSTAR-Contr...rking-Machine/dp/B0CMV558SD?tag=forumyield-20). However, it and ones like it on Amazon all have a threaded pulley shaft. I need a plain one. Any other ideas?

EDIT: I found some on Ebay.

I have made own on equipment.
More details is need.
I first try buying
Then find I can modify.
Then make one steel or cast iron
The thread part is probably no big deal.

I have modified the shaft this can be a lot of work DC worst over DC

Dave

Steamchick · 2024-12-20T04:38:20-0500

I similarly found a motor with the correct shaft and pulley location for my existing pulley, as it seemed the sensible solution... (Keep to manufacturer's dimensions where possible!).
K2

Danuzzo · 2024-12-20T09:08:36-0500

I am putting this on the backburner for a while. Now at least I know the direction I want to go. Thank you for all the responses.

Steamchick · 2024-12-21T04:10:26-0500

Ask again when you get back to it.
I was a few years pondering, and repairing, then "bit the bullet" and bought the new motor and controller after a few dramatic electrical "BANGS!". - BEST THING I did to improve the lathe.
K2

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