Question about a prospect CNC lathe

[J5P332]

Could anyone be so kind as to tell me if there are powerful enough stepper motors or an equivalent to be used on the spindle for a homemade lathe? Ideally I'd like to turn material 2.5" by 8" with the ability to rotate it accurately as well. Please forgive my newbie ignorance. I'm not about to attempt a complicated build right off the bat, however I'm curious and can't help but ask now.

[ozzie34231]

One approach is to use both a servo or stepper and a regular spindle motor. You would power only one at a time.
You could rig a large DC motor as a servo, but I think it's not an easy or cheap deal. You'd need a driver that can handle the voltage and amps of the big motor and a proper control program. Mach 3 would do it.
Hope that helps a bit.
Ozzie

[JH-Q]

A beefy stepper motor can be fount here. http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/en-gb/dept_144.html

If this is for wood turning application, the biggest motor listed there might do the job. As for metal turning, i have no idea if it would work.

As in my lathe, i'm going to put a 2KW DC motor for the spindle and 500ppr encoder on it so i can position spindle accurately if i have the need for it. The main purpose of the encoder will be actually maintaining the RPM of the spindle constant.