PSI VS kit for mini lathes

[alamocdc]

I had a Delta 46-250 with a bad motor so I ordered the VS kit since the original replacement motor is no longer available. I needed two running so I could teach my grandkids to turn along side me. I guess that'll have to wait until I get my LA200 fixed now since the start capacitor died. So I finished installing the VS set up in the 46-250 today. The mounting of the controller box ain't the prettiest setup, but it works and I'm back turning again. And they include no instructions at all for where to put it or how so you are pretty much left to your own ingenuity.

I turned on it a little today and my first impressions are that it is under powered. I actually bogged the motor down some while sanding, but I had the controller turned down to the lowest setting at the time. But I do love being able to control the speed by simply twisting a knob. We'll see how it does when I put something taxing on it like an 8 inch bowl.

 

[mdburn_em]

Would love to see what you're impressions are after you've used this awhile. I've been looking at that myself.

 

[frank123]

Depending on the controller -the electronic stuff inside the box- there may be an adjustment for torque at low speeds.

The better controllers will have this, the cheaper ones may not. It's usually just a screw to turn (using a plastic screwdriver) or maybe even a knob, nothing complicated.

You'd have to contact the controller manufacturer to get the actual controller instruction/installation sheet to find out, I doubt PSI could help you since it's a technical subject.

 

[alamocdc]

Would love to see what you're impressions are after you've used this awhile. I've been looking at that myself.

Not sure what would justify as "awhile", Mark, but I've used it everyday for a week now and I'm satisfied with it. Would be more so if it had a reverse switch, but it gets the job done. I turned a 4" lidded box without issue, and several pens already.

I'm thinking that maybe a treadmill motor (with the same size shaft) and speed controller for same (available readily apparently) might be the better way to go, but only if the overall price difference isn't much. It would also depend on how much fabrication was necessary to mount the treadmill motor. If it is only drilling the existing lathe motor mount for the new screws, that is easy. And mounting the controller box has to be figured out, but even that can be left sitting off to the side. I hope the contoller isn't vibration sensitive since I tend to be rather taxing on my lathe. I guess time will tell.

 

[frank123]

Would love to see what you're impressions are after you've used this awhile. I've been looking at that myself.

Not sure what would justify as "awhile", Mark, but I've used it everyday for a week now and I'm satisfied with it. Would be more so if it had a reverse switch, but it gets the job done. I turned a 4" lidded box without issue, and several pens already.

I'm thinking that maybe a treadmill motor (with the same size shaft) and speed controller for same (available readily apparently) might be the better way to go, but only if the overall price difference isn't much. It would also depend on how much fabrication was necessary to mount the treadmill motor. If it is only drilling the existing lathe motor mount for the new screws, that is easy. And mounting the controller box has to be figured out, but even that can be left sitting off to the side. I hope the contoller isn't vibration sensitive since I tend to be rather taxing on my lathe. I guess time will tell.

Almost any DC magnet motor can be easily reversed by just changing the polarity to the motor wires. This can be done simply enough with any DPDT switch of sufficient voltage and amperage rating, the only real concern to watch is that anything screwed onto a rotating shaft may unscrew itself when reversed and need locktighting or some other consideration to prevent it.

Treadmill motors tend to be rather large, high speed, and high powered which usually requires a jackshaft speed reducing arrangement to replace a smaller motor mounted directly on a smaller machine. Not hard to do but takes some planning.

 

[Jim Smith]

When the motor on my Delta LA200 died a couple of years ago, I replaced it with the VS from PSI. Other than one problem I had with the control switch on the VS replacement motor (which PSI handled flawlessly), this motor has been great! I only wish I had made the switch a few years earlier. It's so much easier to simply turn the knob to change lathe speeds, making turing faster, easier and more enjoyable.

Jim Smith