Power

All discussion about lathes including but not limited to: South Bend, Hardinge, Logan, Monarch, Clausing and other HSM lathes, including imports

Moderators: GlennW, Harold_V

Post Reply
Water-mark
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:09 pm
Location: England UK

Power

Post by Water-mark »

I've picked up a 9" smart and brown sabel lathe that came with a rough looking 1/2hp 3 phase motor.
I don't have a 3 phase supply so i need to change the motor.

I do have a 320 watt single i could fit but would it have enough grunt?

Does more power actually equal more cutting ability, or is it likely to cause belts slipping etc?
John Hasler
Posts: 1852
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:05 pm
Location: Elmwood, Wisconsin

Re: Power

Post by John Hasler »

Water-mark wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:49 pm I've picked up a 9" smart and brown sabel lathe that came with a rough looking 1/2hp 3 phase motor.
I don't have a 3 phase supply so i need to change the motor.

I do have a 320 watt single i could fit but would it have enough grunt?

Does more power actually equal more cutting ability, or is it likely to cause belts slipping etc?
That's approximately .43 hp so it's close enough if the speed is correct. More power can give you more cutting ability depending on how stout the machine is. It does no harm. The motor only delivers as much power as the load requires up to the limits of its ability. You generally want your belts loose enough to have some chance that they will slip before anything expensive breaks.
Inspector
Posts: 721
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:25 am
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Re: Power

Post by Inspector »

If it is a delta wound motor you can get a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) and it will change your single phase to 3 phase with the ability to vary the speed of the motor, reverse etc.
Water-mark
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:09 pm
Location: England UK

Re: Power

Post by Water-mark »

That sounds complicated.
pete
Posts: 2518
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:04 am

Re: Power

Post by pete »

Yours is a fairly simple lathe as far as the electrical goes and doesn't have multiple contact switches to interface with a VFD. So it wouldn't be very complicated at all. It was an unbelievable eye opener the first time I started my 3 phase mill with a VFD. From what I've seen as far as smoothness and very quiet power delivery with 3 phase I'd always chose that combination over any single phase motor out there every single time even if I had to pay a proper electrition to do the final wiring hook up. They really are that good and on a lathe will show better surface finishes, have the ability of variable speed and a lot of options for presetting the motor speeds, ramp up/down times etc. If I can do it anyone could. In my humble opinion all machine tools including even the simple bench grinders should be 3 phase with built in inverters today. Single phase power or 3 phase / VFD is almost like comparing a 1960's Austin mini to a brand new fomula 1 car.
Post Reply