Thread: IXL Capital Lathe British Made

It would be simpler to fit a 3 or 4 hp 240v single phase motor.

I doubt that this will be of much use right now but I have a damned big transformer that amongst other voltages, puts out 415V. My late father had it for years, used to power his old 415V compressor. Unfortunately, it is currently at our place at Tuncurry and I don't know when I could get up there to bring it back to N'cle.

Originally Posted by China

It would be simpler to fit a 3 or 4 hp 240v single phase motor.

Thanks China I had thought of that but the 1.5 hp moter AC drags 8.4 Amps on startup how much would a 3 or 4 hp drag Brian

Have you looked at getting 3 Phase connected?

Once you have 3 phase, you will never want single phase gear.

I`m lucky i was given a real lathe a IXL Capital 6 foot bed all the chucks 4 jaw 3 jaw steadys face plate tool bits etc etc, all i had to do was get it to my place, no easy job it would have to weigh a couple of ton. But i have it in my garage that was the hard part, It was running on 415 volts 3 or 4 hp moter, i dont have 415 so i mounted a 1.5 hp single phase 240 volt moter, not a real success won`t start in the higher gears. I was thinking maybe put the 415 moter back on and connect a 240 volt inverter. My question is would this be practical or use to much electricity, would appreceate some feed back

Brian, congratulations on your pick up. I have a small 3 phase motor on my lathe [1hp] of which I run off my single phase power supply and have not noticed any appreciable power increase. Other than getting 3phase I dont think you have any alternetive.

Congratulations. I have a 1940's IXL Invicta lathe which is really nice. I love these old lathes.

To answer your question about current draw on 3 or 4 hp motors..... A lot.
I have very good 1~ power in my shed (about 60 amps) and the lights still dip when the 4hp starts up. 5x or more of the rated running current is required for a cool start, so.... 4hp or 3000w x 5
gives 15000w or 62.5 amps at startup.

Thanks those who left feedback i ended up putting a 2 1/2 hp single phase moter 2895 revs with a 2 inch v pully works like a charm thanks all Brian