RPM Range of lathes

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi all, I'm going to be setting up a Consew CSM3000 (750 Watt) motor on a standard Taig lathe. If it works out ok, I might also put it on my Hightower Deluxe, which has been in storage for a decade. I'm gearing up to make a cue:)

What RPM range do you find most useful for cues? I will be buying pulleys so I can make it anything. I believe the motor goes from 500 RPM to 3600 RPM, and I can gear it up or down.

My 12x36 metal lathe I had years ago went to about 1500RPM. And the Hightower midsize I had I'm guessing went to about 1800 RPM. Anyway I have a blank slate. I don't think I'll get into coring for now, so low speed torque probably isn't a big deal.

Thanks,
Nick
 

Dave38

theemperorhasnoclotheson
Silver Member
For main cue building of the parts (forearm, buttsleeve, handle) , I generally use about 900rpm when machining the joint collars, butt caps etc I go around 500rpm. When turning the assembled cue I go about 100rpm on my mill.
 

JerseyBill

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi all, I'm going to be setting up a Consew CSM3000 (750 Watt) motor on a standard Taig lathe. If it works out ok, I might also put it on my Hightower Deluxe, which has been in storage for a decade. I'm gearing up to make a cue:)

What RPM range do you find most useful for cues? I will be buying pulleys so I can make it anything. I believe the motor goes from 500 RPM to 3600 RPM, and I can gear it up or down.

My 12x36 metal lathe I had years ago went to about 1500RPM. And the Hightower midsize I had I'm guessing went to about 1800 RPM. Anyway I have a blank slate. I don't think I'll get into coring for now, so low speed torque probably isn't a big deal.

Thanks,
Nick
what motor is on the deluxe now? did he ever change motors? can you buy a motor from Chris Hightower?
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
what motor is on the deluxe now? did he ever change motors? can you buy a motor from Chris Hightower?
I bought the lathe used 10 years ago but never set it up because I had a Hightower midsize and a metal lathe. Right after I bought it my dayjob moved several states away, and I went with them. At that point I quit cue repair, and put everything in storage. The deluxe motor mount broke during all that transit. So I actually never turned it on once.

I’m thinking of swapping it with a Servo motor instead of spending the time repairing the original mount. Also the original is quite heavy and I wouldn’t mind having it a bit lighter.
 

Ssonerai

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Don't think mine ever runs more than 1,000 rpm for cue making, probably less most of the time.
Lathe is used for heavier work (millwork) at times, so motor and vfd are larger. I kind of dial it by ear, really.
around 30 - 50 hz. Motor is a heavy multipole 1100 rpm @ 60HZ. Except there is also a flat belt drive (another ratio) to the lathe. So never worked out what that might be in rpm.

As others noted, though, for the app it is more stable and more torque to run the motor around 60HZ, and gear it down with the pulleys.

smt
 

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
He's been using the Consew 550W industrial sewing machine motor for 3 years or so now. That motor is available on eBay or Amazon.

There is a question of what you need the motor to do. If you truly want variable speed,some of those motors have a clicker type switch that has a range of preset speeds,instead of turning a knob. There is a tutorial on how to work around it however.

The 2 I bought have the rheostat switch so it turns smooth,no mod needed. This is it.


There is another listing on there where this same one is available 10 bucks cheaper from same vendor,but it had a huge line of code in the link and the one above is neater,but exact same motor. Hope this helps,Tommy D.
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
He's been using the Consew 550W industrial sewing machine motor for 3 years or so now. That motor is available on eBay or Amazon.

There is a question of what you need the motor to do. If you truly want variable speed,some of those motors have a clicker type switch that has a range of preset speeds,instead of turning a knob. There is a tutorial on how to work around it however.

The 2 I bought have the rheostat switch so it turns smooth,no mod needed. This is it.


There is another listing on there where this same one is available 10 bucks cheaper from same vendor,but it had a huge line of code in the link and the one above is neater,but exact same motor. Hope this helps,Tommy D.

Hi, to clarify, the motor in your link can use the variable speed knob as an actual speed control on a lathe, as-is? Or does that speed knob set the "max" rpm of the motor, and you still need to rig the foot control to another potentiometer to use on a lathe?

I have the CSM1000 550W Consew motor on my Taig mill. That motor controller has up/down speed buttons (no knob), but they are used to set the max speed. I wired in a potentiometer where the foot controller hall effect sensor was, and use that knob to strart/stop and adjust the speed.

One more question, have you had also the CSM1000 version to compare to the one in your link? If so, any performance differences noticed?

One more: It looks like that motor has brushes? Is that correct? Thanks.
 

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
Yes,that exact motor will work right out of the box. However,there isn't a good foot controller option in the sense of using it for doing wraps for example,at least from what Chris told me. The foot controller that comes with this is meant to pull the lever down with a rod system,as the motor is meant to be mounted upside down under a table mounted sewing machine. You won't need that,but the lever has an electromagnetic switch built in that has to be pushed into position to work,so you'll have to work around that.

I don't have any experience with the other Consew motors. I'm going to rig both of my lathes to use the stock Dayton sewing machine motor that came with my old Cuesmith that had been hot rodded with a new carriage,solid billet headstock,the motor I showed,and a custom tailstock. Tommy D.
 

Ssonerai

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi, to clarify, the motor in your link can use the variable speed knob as an actual speed control on a lathe, as-is? Or does that speed knob set the "max" rpm of the motor, and you still need to rig the foot control to another potentiometer to use on a lathe?

The first of these i bought maybe 6 or 8 years ago is the type linked by Tommy-D.
Procured, wait for it....to replace the clutch motor on my wife's Consew. :)
Just now i went up, slipped the belt off (so as not to create a snarled skein of thread without sewing anything), and ran the motor through its paces to verify my memory:

You can hold the lever down (on) and dial with the dial from 0 to max rpm.
Alternately, the dial can be set for max rpm, and the foot pedal used to control (vary) speed. More or less.
Both work fine & are positive, but they are not fine tuning.

If i intended to use in-process variable foot pedal speed control, i'd arrange the leverage so it took a fairly large travel to fine tune the short travel of the lever. If you just want to lock it -on- and vary rpm with the knob, it will work fine.

I have one each, of 2, slightly different kinds of the programmable "brushless servo motors". One is mounted on the rotating center set used on my planer for cue tapering and turning. You can set ("program") the max rpm, and use the lever for a foot pedal if desired. Same notes about abruptness as above. I've never seen a need for the foot pedal, so removed the spring (default is off with spring) and set the lever by hand.

Also have one on 4' x 4' x 8' convection oven i'm building for thermoforming plastics, to run the impellor. That will be on or off, to a pre-set speed. Not sure yet what speed will be optimal for uniform heating without a lot of excess tempest going on.

So the brush type has 2 options for in process control.
The brushless type, max speed is set by "programming"; if you want variable, the lever has to be used.
Brushless type also increments in 100 rpm steps only.
Both types seem solid and stable to me, perhaps the brush type is a little more, how shall we say, "elegant". Like a bimmer to the chevies. But that does not imply i have a preference.

Caveat - it's possible they might change specs of these units over time, this is a report on the ones i have, most recent (3rd) received & installed last week.
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
To update, I had ordered the CSM3000 when I started this thread for the Taig lathe (not the Hightower). It arrived a few days ago with a broken in the box fan cover and fan blade. I returned it and ordered another. It’s on the way.
 

conetip

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Having the ability to go slow like 100rpm or so is very useful. I have 3 belt speed on mine, 3:1 , 2:1, 1.3 :1 , I use the 3:1 the most, as the VFD can over rev the motor to 100hz. Lowest to run the motor without heating issues is around 10 to 12 hz for my setup. Max speed I use normally is around 1 k, hence leaving it on the lowest pully selection most of the time.
 
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