Hi,

Just purchased a myford ML 4 lathe and Its really nice, it has no chuck yet but I want to get the thing set up. Ive got a .7 hp squirrel (2800rpm) cage capacitor start / run induction motor, and had purchased a cheap pulse width modulation circuit from China for something else, I removed the cap from the motor and have used the circuit with it and it works ok although not as much speed control as I'd like.

Anyway Ive got a spare washing machine motor I can use if needed.

Now I need to buy and set up some pulleys but Don't have a clue about that stuff, In an ideal world I'd have a single phase VFD device and buy a 3phase motor, and have a direct drive system if possible to save space and big dangerous moving pulleys. but I read that is not preffered as you loose lots of torque without the pulleys.

So I'm on a tight budget and want to know best to get my lathe up and running, its really frustrating knowing I could make pulleys if my lathe was up and running, I am really tight with cash and don't like the idea of spending £11+ per pulley from ebay and have to buy a whole bunch of them because I have the wrong size / design etc.

Are there any good ebooks or websites that you can reccommend?

I remember basic pulley physics from school but although I have a garage full of tools I have little in the way of steel box section, angle iron, shafts, bearings, etc.

It really does help thank you.