Most of the ones you’ll find will have a 100v-ish DC brushed motor rated for about 0.5 – 1HP, which is as good as or better than what our 7x12 lathe have, especially the older ones.

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Very similar to what the lathes have, you can actually use the minilathe controller to run them in a lot of cases.

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They’re rated for continuous use and even have a big flywheel, very handy.

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Ones from commercial machines tend to be higher DC voltage or AC.

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Some treadmills also have a small motor with a gear box for raising and lowering the bed (incline), I have a few of those but never really looked at them.? They’re low RPM (~50) & high torque, but what are you going to do with a 100mm linear drive?? You could use it as a clamp if you’ve got the patience, or make a press etc.? Of course you could always make a longer shaft, you do have a lathe after all.

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The driver boards can be tricky to use as they’re controlled by the main panel, and there’s very little info as to what the communications spec is.? Thankfully PWM controllers are very cheap.

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Tony

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