Swapping 1HP disc-sander motor with my 1/2HP lathe motor ??

[Joe Watson]

Grizzle has there 12" Disc Sander on sale for $155 to my door.
It has a 1HP, 1725 RPM motor on it.
I "need" a disc sander and the price is right so i will more then likely buy it - but something popped into my head while looking at it, swap the motor and put it on my lathe.
Lathe is a Rikon (pully - not VS) - 1/2HP, 1725 RPM (motor, not spindle speed) which i have bogged down a few times with heavy roughing cuts on green wood.

If they can be physically changed over, size below the ways where the Rikon motor is might be an issue, what to you think ?
The sander will be used mainly for segmented stuff - i wont be "power" sanding anything with it - will 1/2HP be ok for that ?

I work in a machine shop, so if i need to make arbor adapters it shouldn't be to hard.
If i have to drill some holes in the housing(s) for bolt hole patterns - i have no problem with that.
I currently dont like where the lathes on/off switch is, so it will be a good time to move that to the tail-stock end.

What do you think ?
ANY opinion is welcome.
Thanks

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[Luke Townsley]

Be aware that it will put more stress on your toolrest, bed, bearings, spindle and so forth.

[Michael Mills]

Just because I’m frugal.
Why not build a disc for your lathe? Will you be turning and sanding at the same time? A large faceplate (6” - $25) to keep the wood steady from warping and build a table to fit your lathe. Maybe $40 tops.
Do you have a table saw or band saw with a miter gauge? Cut a dado in your top and use your current miter gauge when needed.

[Joe Watson]

Thanks for that heads up, Luke - never thought about that.

Turning the lathe into a 12" disc sand has been thought about, Michael, but i would really like a dedicated sander- thanks for the thought.

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[Luke Townsley]

I had an old Rockwell Lathe that was originally sold with a 1/3 and 1/2HP motors. I upgraded it to a 3/4HP. I was very glad for the power, but had more vibration in the bed and worried sometimes about the bearings and toolrest support. I'm not at all sure it would have handled a 1 horse motor without running into problems. Also of interest in this discussion is the type of capacitor your motor has. If I understand this right, having a run capacitor will help your motor maintain speed and recover more quickly.

[Jeff Fagen]

I had a Ricon,they are tough enough to handle a larger motor and moving the switch is a good idea.Let us see the mods when you're finished.

[Joe Watson]

.... but had more vibration in the bed....

Was the motor you replaced the same speed as the old ?
Cant see why a motor with more power, but spinning at the same speed would cause any more or less vibration - period.
Did they both mount up the same ?

As for the capacitor, i have no clue.
Tried to research about the current motor, but didnt find a whole lot of info... ill have to try again, maybe copy some numbers off the motor itself this time.

Did alittle looking around and found this on the grizzle site, but the motor for the lathe needs to be face mounted (because of the "hinge" to release the pully - (unless i can go variably speed and make a new stand for it and just bolt the motor to the stand (thinking out loud here ))), don't want to use any kind of bracket system - i think that will turn into problems.

Gonna do some more research and see what i can find (and learn about VS contollers) - would be nice to beable to turn it into a VS along with being reversible.

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[Luke Townsley]

Was the motor you replaced the same speed as the old ?
Cant see why a motor with more power, but spinning at the same speed would cause any more or less vibration - period.
Did they both mount up the same ?
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Sorry I didn't clarify, the vibration wasn't from the motor itself, but seemed to be from the bed flexing under the twisting action of the tool rest in heavy cuts. (Bigger motor=more twisting power=more tool chatter) The parting tool was the only tool that really bothered me. I'm really not sure what was going on, but I think the cast iron bed was flexing under power. I do know that when I upgraded to the mustard monster, my frustrations with the parting tool pretty much disappeared.

[terry mccammon]

A single phase, capacitor start AC motor will be challenging to apply a variable speed drive to. One consideration, which I am thinking of doing myself is getting a 3 phase motor - VS drive combo. Check out automation direct for ideas and ball park pricing. You can find 3 phase VS drives that are single phase upto around 5 HP. I would not put that kind of torque on your lathe.

However, given the corners that are cut in modern tool design, be aware that the warnings regarding bearings, etc. are probably valid.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Luke- time for a reality check! If you already have a Mustard Monster, why would you even be interested in investing more money and effort into a baby lathe? Ask yourself if you're more interested in turning or tinkering.