I was thinking that these mounted in place of the mill's vertical glides with the pillow blocks secured to the mill head/bracket on each end would be a step in the positive direction.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...848855337&rd=1
Maybe a similar set with larger diameter shafts....
anybody see on ebay a 180VDC motor with 2-3 thousand rpm? could be more. At present the diameter of the motor can't exceed 3".
I would also like to extend the mill head out more and move the whole works-lathe and all-out away from the back an inch or two. This would allow a larger diameter spindle motor or at least more room for adjustment.
As it is now, the frame is pretty solid (relative to the machine's size) and just the mill's vertical linear bearings(collars
) are the really weak link.