I am interested, thanks to the advice of the board, in making a spindle capable of being driven by a Porter Cable router. This will probably be the best starting point as far as a motor goes because of the horse power and variable speed.
Now as far as the collet system and bearings, I really have no idea there. I would like to get the rpms down to a speed which will produce a proper chip load at slower speeds such as 10-15 ipm.
Of course I won't be able to machine a lot of this stuff, so if someone with a lathe is interested in helping out, please let me know.
Now comes the critical question. Do the more experienced machinists think that we can produce a spindle of higher rigidity and quality then the Porter Cable one available right now?
Enough ramblings for now. I'll start thinking about a design and get it in CAD so we can at least have something to look at while we theorize.