thatCharlieDude Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Has anybody upgraded a lathe by replacing the motor? My son purchased a Rockler Excelsior lathe a few months ago and while it's a great beginner lathe I can see him wanting something with more options later. It made me wonder if lathes are upgrade-able? Could l replace the motor and gears with one that had more hp or a better range of gears or for one with variable speed? I've been just playing around with this idea so I haven't done any research yet. I just hate to see a good tool become obsolete as the user's skill increases. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Well, it's less of an upgrade and more of a side-grade. But yes you can, I'm running my Jet Midi lathe off of an old unrelated baldor motor. Penn State sells upgrade kits that will fit the motor mount on a variety of midi lathes, but I've heard mixed reviews. Fundamentally all you need is a way to mount the motor so it can turn the pulley/headstock. It won't be as good as buying a full-size lathe, but between bed extensions and a variable speed motor, I expect you could get a lot out of that Excelsior. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmotjr Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Bonn, was that an upgrade or a replacement? Installing a vs motor would be an upgrade, but getting a set of gears /pulleys to match up correctly for the sake of an upgrade might not be worth the trouble. If you have the budget and you know what you want, you might be best off to purchase the lathe you want. I know my 10" has all the HP I'll ever need for anything that will fit in it. If I extend the bed some, then I might want a bit more juice. But If I'm going to be turning something like a 10"x36" spindle for like a lamp or table base, I'm not so keen on my benchtop lathe being able to hold all that mass in place. It may stay attached to the lathe, but I'm not sure the lathe (or I) will survive. It's kinda like adding a 1200c motor to a moped. Of course you can, but should you? How safe is it now? If you look at the upgrade kit available, most of them aren't big jumps in HP, they're usually just VS. I can appreciate wanting VS, but more HP I don't see being an advantage. And I would counter argue that a higher skill level doesn't require a bigger/better lathe. I prefer turning bigger stock since it gives more wiggle room to make errors adjustments. The smaller the piece, the more skill it takes to get the details right. A goblet takes far more skill than a large bowl in my opinion. A bigger lathe will give you more options, though. I would really love an outboard head stock, but that's not in the budget right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 6 minutes ago, Marmotjr said: Bonn, was that an upgrade or a replacement? Replacement, the original motor had blown a capacitor. Just an example that you can attach pretty much any motor you need to a lathe, this is just one I had lying around. It's using the original pulley, though I had to offset it one notch since the shaft on the replacement is pretty short. I have the stuff to make an extension, but haven't gotten around to it.Technically it has less horsepower than the original (1/3HP), but I suspect the actual power isn't much different. HP ratings seem to have gotten a little overblown over the last half century. I agree that going too high in horsepower would be a bad idea, but something like a 3/4HP VS would be a nice upgrade over the stock 1/2HP. Just make sure to bolt or screw the little lathe down to your bench. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatCharlieDude Posted June 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2017 5 hours ago, BonPacific said: Penn State sells upgrade kits that will fit the motor mount on a variety of midi lathes, but I've heard mixed reviews. Fundamentally all you need is a way to mount the motor so it can turn the pulley/headstock. It won't be as good as buying a full-size lathe, but between bed extensions and a variable speed motor, I expect you could get a lot out of that Excelsior. I saw one of this on PSI tonight. The reviews look great. I'm surprised it's so cheap. I may buy one of these kits and test it out. I wish had the space for a bed extension but I'm running out of garage space fast! lol Thanks for the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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