DC servo motor for lathe

[Nessmuk1]

I want to run a DC servo motor on my 12 inch lathe.

I need a 1hp motor with a knob speed control and a simple off on switch.

[DonInReno]

Surpluscenter.com usually has good deals on large non-servo dc motors and speed controls that might work, but 1 hp isn’t much for a 12” lathe.  If you really are sold on a big servo they are readily available on eBay, but finding a stand alone controller set up as you described will be difficult - industrial servos are typically not a plug and play application - even a controller that can drive the servo on its own needs a lot of setup.

its a better question for one of the home machinist forums.

[dikman]

Are you talking about 12" between centres or 12" swing?

[Nessmuk1]

It's a 12 x 36 lathe. I'm looking for something with torque at all speeds.  It had a huge 1hp Japanese motor from the 80's on it.  I'd like something lighter and quieter.

[dikman]

I agree with Don, you'd be better off finding a machinery/lathe forum. From what I've read the most common solution appears to be a 3-phase motor with a VFD.

[katit]

Yep. Thats what I did with my 9x20 HF lathe. VFD and motor. There is DYI out there how to do it and I got all controls for speed, on/off and reverse right on front of the lathe