One of my first upgrades to my lathe was a brake, first because it was annoying to wait for the lathe to wind down and for safety’s sake. Throwing the brake lever operates a micro switch to cut the power and a cable operates a brake caliper to act on one of the pulleys.
A very recent upgrade was that of a lever operated clutch and brake combo. My lathe has three large cast iron pulleys which result in very high starting current. So I modified the tensioner on the belt that drives the spindle, so that I could operate it with a lever. The same lever tightens a leather belt around the spindle after the clutch is disengaged to stop the spindle once tension is released. The clutch is very convenient as it allows me to stop the lathe to take measurements, change tooling safely etc without putting too much load on the motor. I have been using it for quite a while and there is no discernable wear on the belt.
In the video, I switch the lathe on and you can hear the motor hum. I then engage the clutch, and the chuck turns. I then disengage the chuck and simultaneously engage the brake stopping the chuck. The brake comes into play at the very end of the lever’s travel and is released when I let go of the lever. This allows me to turn the chuck manually. I then engage the clutch and finally stop the lathe completely using the brake lever.
View attachment WhatsApp Video 2022-05-20 at 9.33.34 PM.mp4
A very recent upgrade was that of a lever operated clutch and brake combo. My lathe has three large cast iron pulleys which result in very high starting current. So I modified the tensioner on the belt that drives the spindle, so that I could operate it with a lever. The same lever tightens a leather belt around the spindle after the clutch is disengaged to stop the spindle once tension is released. The clutch is very convenient as it allows me to stop the lathe to take measurements, change tooling safely etc without putting too much load on the motor. I have been using it for quite a while and there is no discernable wear on the belt.
In the video, I switch the lathe on and you can hear the motor hum. I then engage the clutch, and the chuck turns. I then disengage the chuck and simultaneously engage the brake stopping the chuck. The brake comes into play at the very end of the lever’s travel and is released when I let go of the lever. This allows me to turn the chuck manually. I then engage the clutch and finally stop the lathe completely using the brake lever.
View attachment WhatsApp Video 2022-05-20 at 9.33.34 PM.mp4