Lathe motor advice

[JseTay]

Hey everyone! I sure this topic has probably been discussed before, but I want some good recommendations based on experience or knowledge about a good affordable high torque DC motor that I can use for my lathe. I have a little lathe but it has the regular old style motor that was used in the past with a foot controller. However, I would like to improve it by buy a nice motor with a speed controller so I don’t have to use my foot. I would like the motor to have really good torque so that even if I run it at a very low speed, it still can cut material easily. I saw online this brand called Servo sewing machine motor with a speed controller, but I don’t know how good they are and if they would work like I would like to for my lathe. Thank you for all the help!

[Dell]

I use a Jack industrial sewing machine motor on my Pultra I can’t fault it although I have converted from foot to a potentiometer  the torque even when running slow is excellent.

check out my videos on YouTube to see it in use @torsiondell.

Dell

[JseTay]

2 hours ago, Dell said:

I use a Jack industrial sewing machine motor on my Pultra I can’t fault it although I have converted from foot to a potentiometer  the torque even when running slow is excellent.

check out my videos on YouTube to see it in use @torsiondell.

Dell

I sure appreciate your comment! I will look into one of those or maybe something similar. I of course will check your video to have a better idea. 
by the way, that’s a beautiful lathe! Mine is a little peersless, but I just bought a Boley & Leinen that is on its way. That’s the one I am looking a motor for. It comes with a motor, but I want to replace it for  one that has a speed controller.

[Dell]

7 hours ago, JseTay said:

I sure appreciate your comment! I will look into one of those or maybe something similar. I of course will check your video to have a better idea. 
by the way, that’s a beautiful lathe! Mine is a little peersless, but I just bought a Boley & Leinen that is on its way. That’s the one I am looking a motor for. It comes with a motor, but I want to replace it for  one that has a speed controller.

Well if you get the Jack & want to convert to speed control via potentiometer I can send you a wiring diagram & explain how to do it if needed it is very easy, I also changed the pulley to same size as on lathe so I could be sure the rpm on the display is correct.

Dell

[JseTay]

On 4/25/2025 at 12:51 AM, Dell said:

Well if you get the Jack & want to convert to speed control via potentiometer I can send you a wiring diagram & explain how to do it if needed it is very easy, I also changed the pulley to same size as on lathe so I could be sure the rpm on the display is correct.

Dell

I found a motor that is 3/4 hp and another that is 1.2hp. They come with speed controller. So I don’t think I would need a wiring diagram. But I sure appreciate you offering your help!

Do you think 1.2 hp would be too much for a watchmaker’s lathe?

[Dell]

11 hours ago, JseTay said:

I found a motor that is 3/4 hp and another that is 1.2hp. They come with speed controller. So I don’t think I would need a wiring diagram. But I sure appreciate you offering your help!

Do you think 1.2 hp would be too much for a watchmaker’s lathe?

Yes in my opinion the 3/4HP is plenty but it’s your decision & yes it does come with speed control but foot operation so my reason for changing to potentiometer was because my leg shakes so it was like me revving the lathe & anyway I prefer to set the speed.

I & a few others that I recommended the motor to run a Pultra 10mm lathe so if you have a 6 or 8mm B & L then it will be plenty, if you have seen any of my videos you will have seen that when using a graver I run quite slow without any problems.

Dell

[JseTay]

8 hours ago, Dell said:

Yes in my opinion the 3/4HP is plenty but it’s your decision & yes it does come with speed control but foot operation so my reason for changing to potentiometer was because my leg shakes so it was like me revving the lathe & anyway I prefer to set the speed.

I & a few others that I recommended the motor to run a Pultra 10mm lathe so if you have a 6 or 8mm B & L then it will be plenty, if you have seen any of my videos you will have seen that when using a graver I run quite slow without any problems.

Dell

Thank you Dell! Very useful information for me! I saw your videos and they are great! You do an amazing job! And I saw one where you are using the lathe very slowly and it seems to work perfectly. I will take your advice and go for 3/4 hp motor. The one I saw comes with a nob to select the speed and it has the forward/reverse option with I like. 
thank you very much again for all your help!