Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Can big grinder become big bowl lathe?
Shawn - in ID
>Saw a huge industrial size grinder today at an auction and wondered - can the motor be retrofitted for variable speed and thread one spindle, converting it to a big bowl lathe? Motor is a 3phase, 220V, 3 HP Baldor and the spindle would stand about chest height. Maybe you wouldn't want to mount wood directly on your motor spindle?
Yes
Phil Joines, Krum, Tx
>You could use a VFD with the motor to give the variable speed. Most of the higher end lathes do.
The Poolwood and Nova DVR both use the motor shaft as the spindle. I'd want to check the bearings to make sure they are in good shape.
No......
TDaniel
>There are no thrust bearings in a grinder so you could not push very hard with a tool. I am not saying it would not work, just would not work well.
TD
I'll agree with Terry, with one exception
John Cotten
>Grinders are not made for lateral pressure, no thrust bearings. This being the case, I think you would set yourself up for failure AS A DIRECT DRIVE UNIT..
That said, there is not reason you could not use it with a flat step pulley arrangement and put together a seperate shaft with thrust bearings. I have seen some REALLY big production bowl lathes made this way.
Check out the head assembly for the PM 3520 or 3520A to see what I am talking about.