1.1 kw brushed motor Torque

Hi Dave, yes I agree, confusing is a nice way of putting it, I detest glossy marketing figures, comparing apples to apples would be so simple and nice! As for belt driven lathes I have closely looked at them but I find variable speed control to be so much more convenient, a form of laziness I guess, remember wind up car windows

I am going to revisit the Optimum as it's two speed ratios may be just the job after all. At the same time I will try to fully understand what my present and future needs are or will be, I may have been seeing problems where none really existed!

Thanks again and have a good eving, Maek

Lets put it this way if you do something silly and overload a variable speed unit the smoke comes out pretty much instantly, the same thing happens if you forget to turn the speed to zero every time you switch off. The belt drive one will grunt a bit and may pop the mains plug fuse at worst. + the slower you go the more torque you get with belts

Not in my experience of running variable speed mills and lathes for 14years

Overload breaker just trips on my machines, switch off to reset it and good to go again

Never turned the speed down to slowest/zero just leave it where I want it and press the green/red button.

Don't get me started on the bonkers world of Horse Power!

Almost no-one these days has any idea how much work you can get out of a horse, or what sort of horse the comparison is based on.

Pretty much every country in the world defined HP differently, mechanical and electrical HP aren't the same, and steam engines were sold quoting Indicated Horse Power, which is grossly optimistic compared with Brake or Shaft HP.

Motor cars were rated by Tax Horse Power, another untrustworthy measure. Neither the Citroen 2CV, or Austin 7 were quite what they claimed, because like engine size in litres, the value is just a hint, and it detached completely from reality as efficiency improved. The Model T had a 2.9 litre engine peaking 20HP at 45mph, whereas my 1.4 litre car is about 4 times more powerful.

At least Watts are Watts!

I think Dave is talking about the simple speed controls used on cheap machines from the far east with DC motors. These have little or no protection.

Robert G8RPI.

No particular axe to grind, but when I find that a claim has been inflated/distorted, I start to look for other points which might ‘blind-side’ a non-savvy buyer.

Compressors were historically rated on free air delivery - cheap marketing hype states ‘displacement’ which is fairly irrelevant - except that it is quoting an exaggerated figure which may be misunderstood by a lot of purchasers, who may be disappointed when they find the free air delivery of the purchased machine is insufficient....

I note some bandsaws quote high values for their motors as though they are somehow better than those that provide sensible power for sawing through metal with the same 25 thou wide saw blade.

When excessive claims are made, I start asking questions (or compare carefully) about other claims within the specification, as well. Even those specifications that might be conveniently omitted by the seller.....

It is not just hobby engineering/diy/other hobbies, either. The number of wind turbines (I have seen advertised in the past) which could not possibly provide the electrical power claimed, unless the laws of physics were rewritten, cannot be counted on one hand (possibly both hands - and I have all my digits).

That's what I have DC Brushed motors with simple speed control boards. In the case of the lathe I have a 1.1Kw brushed motor as does the Optimum machine being discussed. One set of brushes in all the time I've had it with a lot of use suggests not all of them blow up.

Edited By JasonB on 31/03/2021 07:16:32

I wonder if anyone has changed the belts and pulleys on one of these lathes to give lower speeds and more torque?

A very good point and one that I would be very interested in,

Mark

Good evening,

After taking in all what has been said in relation to my question I have ordered the Optimum 2406V, whilst it may not be perfect it will very likely fill my requirements. As someone said all lathes are a compromise at a certain level so making a decision may not be easy but a decision has to be made!

Thanks to each and everyone for their kind input, I shall update this thread once my new toy is up and running, delivery in two weeks time, getting it down to my basement and up on the work bench may take longer

Have a nice Easter weekend, Mark