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Convert Belt Drive to VS?

I converted my Woodfast with a kit from CSUSA, but it cost about $1000 to do that. At the time, it was my best, and least expensive option.

For you, Tom......you might think about selling your Jet Mini, and use the proceeds to get a VS model. That might be your least expensive option.

ko
 
Possible, yes . . . worth it, only you can say. It will involve spending money, maybe more than you would like to spend because you will need to also buy a different motor if you want electronic variable speed. All of the mini lathe conversions use either DC or universal motors and variable voltage controllers because that is the only economically reasonable way to do it. The downside is that the replacement motors don't produce the power that you get with a stepped cone pulley drive and half horse AC induction motor. At the low speed end they are pretty weak so don't expect anything comparable to the power that you currently get at the minimum speed. On the positive side, you typically don't need much power at really low speeds on a mini lathe and the electronic variable speed option will enable the lathe to run at much lower speeds. For demonstrators, quickly changing speeds is important, but not for my needs.
 
I tried adapting a treadmill motor to one following a modification to the schematic that someone else printed. It worked fine the first time. Never did get the second one working and I don't have enough electronic knowledge or tools to component trouble shoot the circuit board. Treadmill motors start at 0 and have to be ramped up to speed each time. Not a bad thing necessarily for full size lathes turning large pieces from a safety standpoint but a real pain in the butt if your tuning pens at 3000 rpm and need to stop and inspect the wood frequently.
 
These projects should be directed towards an individual that has multiple skills in
mechanical, electrical, electronics, fabrication etc. By the time you complete one
of these home engineered projects you will have plenty of time and money invested
in the modifications and fine tuning to get it working.
With a minimum level of skills available the prepackaged motor & VFD retro-fit kits
have had most of the bugs worked out and have instructions available to assist the
average person with completing the project.
Whenever we upgrade to newer VFD's at my work place I don't look forward to reading
a 1200 page O&M manual and learning the nuances of the latest release. Plan on spending
some time to learn how to program and troubleshoot a VFD. When they are working they
are a great asset, when they don't work get ready for a good deal of head scratching and
reading of the manual. You can always spend 3 or 4 hours on the phone talking to technical
support in Mumbai.
 
Mike Johnson said:
These projects should be directed towards an individual that has multiple skills in
mechanical, electrical, electronics, fabrication etc.
Click to expand...

That sort of describes me although from the perspective of money and time it may not always make sense to a disinterested observer. English mountaineer George Mallory famously replied to a NY Times reporter when asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, "because it's there". Of course, I hope to have a better outcome with my projects than he did. :D

The trouble with some of these lathe improvement projects is that a woodturning hobby is liable to be replaced with a machine building hobby because these undertakings sometimes have no end.
 
Thanks everybody. Taking all of the above into consideration, I am just going to leave the Jet machine as is and give it to my granddaughter when she's ready. After all, who among us did not start woodturning on a belt driven lathe with step-pulleys? (Ooops, that sounds like the start of a thread diversion).
 
Tom Albrecht said:
Thanks everybody. Taking all of the above into consideration, I am just going to leave the Jet machine as is and give it to my granddaughter when she's ready. After all, who among us did not start woodturning on a belt driven lathe with step-pulleys? (Ooops, that sounds like the start of a thread diversion).
Click to expand...

Tom if you mount the lathe on a cabinet type and remove the original motor, you can mount a treadmill under the base top, I’ve not done so even though I have one old bleu JET 1014? lathe, longer belt needed and I think that is where the weak part of those lathes are, even with the small motor it is easy to damage those 3 rib multi V belts, and if you get a stronger motor well .......

Here are 2 links to the use and incorporation of a treadmill motor, there was another one, but I forget where I saw it.

https://forum.canadianwoodworking.c...088093-drill-press-treadmill-motor-conversion

https://forum.canadianwoodworking.c...rking-aa/53438-tune-up-a-beaver-2300-band-saw

OK found it, has a video also.

https://forum.canadianwoodworking.c...ools/1088580-lathe-treadmill-motor-conversion
 
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Tom Albrecht said:
Is it possible to convert my belt drive Jet Mini to a variable speed?
Inexpensively?
Click to expand...
If you are up to it you can get a three phase motor on the Flea bay for pretty cheap and drive it with a phase perfect phase converter. That'll give you the lower speed torque. a speed controller on a split phase motor won't have any torque at the lower speeds.

OTOH a DC motor will have lots of torque but you'll be into maintenance with the brushes.
 
odie said:
For you, Tom......you might think about selling your Jet Mini, and use the proceeds to get a VS model. That might be your least expensive option.
Click to expand...
I looked at the PSI option and couldn't make myself pull the trigger for upgrading my Excelsior lathe. I really think it would be cheaper to sell it and get a new VS lathe.

...

But as I was driving down the road the other day, I saw a treadmill that someone had dumped on the side of the road. I threw it in the back of the truck and while it's cosmetically in bad shape, the electronics seem to work perfectly. The only thing that I need to buy to make it work is a 10K potentiometer, I think.
 
I had an Excelsior (from Rockler) mini and did the PSI conversion. Takes about 10 minutes and is pretty simple. The most difficult thing is figuring out where to mount the knob. I loved it, it made it so much easier to turn. I've since upgraded to a Nova Galaxi but it was def worth the $120. Although I'd agree with those above, if you think you might move up to a slightly larger midi in a year or so then I'd hold off and put the cash towards that purchase.
 
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