man o man, 10.7.2009

Reviewer: Richard Hudson (Woodlawn, TN)

This lathe motor is way over rated. First it stalls about every 10 minutes or so. Will not hold a load when turning hard woods. Have had the kit for about a month and now it is almost burned completely up. Brushes are worn out complete. A far as I 'm concerned a complete waste of money, but it was easy to install.

needs fitting work, 10.6.2009

Reviewer: James Eaton (Albuquerque, NM)

Nice strong system, but the fitting is difficult to allign to the Jet, at least. A separate fitting kit would help.

Not all lathes are turning pens, 9.22.2009

Reviewer: Will Schmit (Albuquerque, NM)

There is a huge market for your motor beyond woodworking lathes. There is a huge community of metalworking lathe and mill hobbyists that need your product. Unfortunately, there are two snags. 1) The 14mm shaft causes the user to make his/her own pulley 2) The 600rpm minimum speed causes the user to tweek the pots to get the speed down to 100rpm Absolutely great product -- don't forget that there are more than woodworkers using them.

VS DC Drive Conversion Kit, 7.21.2009

Reviewer: James Denker (Scituate, MA)

Very neat retrofit package for intended applications. I am installing it in a 1036 Walker-Turner (63-yr old) lathe with a standard v-belt section A(4L) 4-step cone pulley. To fit the metric shaft on the motor, it is necessary to bore-out a standard 1/2" bore pulley to fit. Penn State should offer a std A-section 3-step cone pulley with a stepped bore (14mm & 15mm) to fit the motor shaft. This, together with a 4-foot length of std A-section Twist-Lock V-belting would make the kit an easy retrofit for ANY existing old fixed-speed AC motor drive. There are also many drill presses that use a standard 3L-section v-belt, so a 2 or 3-step cone pulley step-bored to fit the motor woul be an ideal retrofit for all those machines as well.

Power of the Variable Speed Motor, 5.29.2009

Reviewer: Bill Turk (Chilton, WI)

The kit was very easy to install. I tried to turn a small bowl and unlike the Jet 1/2 hp motor the variable motor stalled out. If I had not misplaced the paperwork I would probably have returned the kit. I was very surprised by the lack of torque the motor had.

Worth every cent, 5.21.2009

Reviewer: Thomas Ledbetter (Sweetwater, TX)

One of the best items I have spent any amount or money on. I should have spent the money when I bought by lathe to get this feature.

Lathe conversion kit, 5.12.2009

Reviewer: Sam Spangler (Roanoke, VA)

The service was excellent. Shipment was on time. Easy to assemble,I considered the price to be fair. It greatly improves the performance of the lathe. I have ordered from Penn State before and have always been pleased. Thanks SGS

Well, it's pretty good..., 3.31.2009

Reviewer: Michael W. Miller (Payette, ID)

Was able to successfully convert Jet midi lathe to variable speed. Control box, however, could not be mounted, so it stores clumsily under the lathe. Would be nice if a jet-specific control were included in order to mount the box in a convenient location.

need better instructions, 3.11.2009

Reviewer: David Olson (Inver Grove Hts, MN)

First instruction was to remove old motor. Later in the instructions it says to turn a plug to line up the shaft holes. This would be difficult if you had followed step 1. There is no instruction as to which pulley step on the Jet 5 step pulley to line up with to obtain the slower speeds. I had to call both Penn state and Jet to get an answer.

TCLVSKIT, 3.11.2009

Reviewer: Jeremy Tate (Claude, TX)

I wish I had my head about me enough when I purchased the lathe originally to move up to the variable speed version, but I though to myself, "What's moving a belt now and then. No big deal." I was wrong, I found myself turning things at the wrong speed consistently because I was too lazy to move the belt. So I finally splurged and spent the $120 or so to upgrade, and I am very glad I did. The installation was mostly straight forward. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a direct bolt on for the Turncrafter Pro lathe, being both from the same company. I assumed that most of the modifications would need to be made to other brands, but I was wrong. There was no direct bolt-on to be done. This DC motor upgrade, while adding variable speed capabilities, is slightly underpowered compared with the original AC motor that came on the lathe. I find it dragging under heavy load (polishing, etc) where the AC pushed through. I suppose that it is a worthwhile trade-off, but it would have been better to have not had to make one at all. Regardless, I am happy with my purchase, even if it wasn't exactly what I intended.

Very good unit, 3.11.2009

Reviewer: Louis Robbio (North Port, FL)

I purchased the conversion kit for the Delta Midi. The change over was easy and effective. I fing it outperforms and is easier to use than the Jet "variable speed" Mini Lathe. I recommend it.

Lathe Speed Conversion, 3.10.2009

Reviewer: Michael Yarsawich (North Branford, CT)

Good value for the money. Worked fine for my RIKON midi lathe. Would recommend as a value upgrade.

A great and easy upgrade to my Turncrafter lathe, 6.3.2008

Reviewer: Timothy Dennis (Woodstock, GA)

Very easy to install this on my Turncrafter Pro midi lathe. Simply dismount the old motor and mount this one - on the TCL lathe there's no drilling needed and the modification is quick. I mounted the controls on the underside of the bed and that worked great. Definitely worth it to minimize belt swaps.

Very good value for the price., 5.29.2008

Reviewer: William Sparacio (Jim Thorpe, PA)

I purchased this for my Turncrafter lathe a few months back and it is great. It adapted to my lathe perfectly and in less than 15 minutes I was off and running. The only problem I have had with it is using the 3 wheeled buffing system. The motor kicks off if you try to polish at high speeds. I can't go more than 1600-1700 Rpm or the built in breaker pops. Other than that i highly recommend this variable speed adaption.

Variable speed kit, 9.16.2007

Reviewer: Bill Turpin (Hendersonville, NC US, )

I got the kit for my Fisch mini lathe. Conversion took less than 1.5 hours. Easy for anybody with normal mechanical skills. Turn the wooden centering spindles before tearing your lathe apart! Power is surprisingly good, there is probably a 5% reduction in speed when hogging with 1/2" bowl gouge. I just turned a 8 inch bowl from dry red maple. Works good, this is a resonably priced package for those who want to upgrade their mini lathes.

Easy & Highly Recommended Up Grade, 8.16.2007

Reviewer: Howard Stoppiello (Middletown, NJ US, )

I purchased and installed this product last night, and it was easy. The hardest thing to do was drill the holes in the face plate, and that also was no problem. You just use the original plte as a template. The other problem was removeing the pulley from the old moter in order to get the face plate off. I needed a wheel puller but did not have one so I used a PSI clamp S-Y12 for a make shift puller. As for the product itself, its great. No more turning lathe off and haveing to adjust belt for speed. I love it. Just turn the dial and go from slow to fast. The only concern I have is at the slowest speed it is a little faster then the slowest speed with the old motor, but I think I can resolve that problem with a belt and pulley adjustment. I just did not have the time to try that yet. I would highly recommend this upgrade for anyone who is thinking about it. I have the (TURNCRAFTER MINI LATHE).

Motor install problem, 8.15.2007

Reviewer: Rick West (Vail, AZ US, )

I purchased this kit to upgrade my Jet Mini Lathe, followed the direction for the mounting hole placement, mounted the motor to the plate and then installed on the lathe. The top bolt on the motor mount hit the cross member of the lathe bed not allowing the belt to be positioned on the pulley or any adjustment for tension. I replaced the original bolt with a flat head hex bolt to clear the cross member, after that the installation went fine.

Variable-Speed-Motor-, 7.13.2007

Reviewer: Richard Jones (Bow, NH US, )

Everything was easy to install. The variable speed is great, but I don't think it is a 1/2 HP. If you apply too much preasure it stalls and has to be re-set. Works great for pens and spindle turning. Not so good for bowls.