Hello all,

I'm still on a quest to put a variable speed motor on the spindle of my Taig lathe. Simple enough except ideally I would want to control spindle speed through software like Mach so I could use it to thread on the lathe.

I floated an idea about using a stepper as a spindle but due to high RPM torque loss and other concerns about cut quality I have discounted as an option...

I have found a cheap sewing machine motor in the right RPM range. It is advertised as a DC servo motor. There must be some sort of feedback loop to control the speed so this might be true. The speed itself is controlled by a small knob on the end of the motor along with a spindle direction switch so control is all internal.

I'm hoping that someone here with more knowledge than I can help appraise this idea. Would it be possible to take something like this, rip the stock controls off and hook up some sort of driver to control the speed/direction by software? Has anyone attempted this? Any advise you have is welcome.

The motor I'm considering is a Yamata FESM-400. It would be like using a treadmill motor as some people have for spindle drive but is small enough for my needs, as I don't require 2+hp on a Taig.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

MP