I just ordered a Taig lathe (well, they're called "Peatol" over here), but I never ordered a motor. I have a spare servo motor which is about 1/4 HP, that i would like to use, but I worried it would lose a load of torque at low speeds, using a PWM speed controller. To be honest, I do not know enough about this type of motor control, or even servos, to make a definate decision.

Hmm im not sure about a servo motor either!. But I did own a taig and put a 1/2 horse ac motor to it. she had plenty of balls. They sell the lathe with a 1/4 power motor I believe. So 1/4 hp should be enough. If you use the pulleys they have I dont see why it would not work for you!?

One of the features of PWM control is that it produces good low-speed torque.

robotic regards,

Tom

Thanks guys, all I gotta do now is make up a PCB! Oh yeah, I found a link to a PWM controller suitable for 12/24v motors over here (http://www.solorb.com/elect/solarcirc/pwm1/) if it any use to anyone else.

I started with the Taig motor on my Taig Lathe and Grew to hate it, it was way too big ans I couldn't regulate the speed. so what I did was watch ePAY for an old Watchmakers lathe motor
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x128/bigbunny5/I1.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x128/bigbunny5/i2.jpg
Best part is it ended up costing my $10 with shipping :), I've since moved it on to a custom tool that runs 5-6 / day for the last 2 years with only changing brushes. if you get one with the knee peddle even better you can control speed like a sewing machine

OBTW Dayton sewing machine motors work great to! plus you can use an old sewing machine peddle with it to control it

I use a 1/5 hp 1725 motor on mine, more power then I can use, alot of people use DC motors, I cannot see a servo do a very good job unless it has a controller worth more then the lathe. I could be wrong but straight PWM controls are only used on PMDC motors and not servos, servos typicaly use a form of PWM but with feedback and these have special controls the windings lend themselves to high current draw compared to a standard DC motor. Alot of guys are using tread mill motors and a run of the mill PMDC pwm controller.

chris