Starting to get my workshop together

Hi all.
It's been a few months and I've done very little to my workshop until recently. I spent quite a bit of time getting rid of many projects that have been sitting waiting on me gathering motivation. Trying to concentrate on one project at a time.
After creating a good bit of space and more areas to work in, I'm looking at how to power my lathe seeing as the garage has no power. I was looking at generators, but I'm not sure what power I'd need. The motor is 500w .75hp 230v.
Has anyone made an off grid system where you're able to power a single phase motor powering a lathe or mill etc?
 
Batteries.

Would need lots with solar if plenty of light.

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A generator will run it no problem but most are noisy and expensive to run. I'd be seriously thinking about burying a line to the house for 220v. You might need forklift batteries to get 220v off of a solar/wind setup. If you really want to go off the grid, maybe you should think about installing a boiler and run your lathe off of belts and a central shaft like they did back in the day. If wood is scarce around where you are there are scrap oil burners that run on used motor oil too.
 
Hi all.
So I've spent more time cleaning up and organising in the workshop. It's looking quite good now.
I had something that needed machining the other day and thought it was a good opportunity to see how I could power the lathe. A neighbour had told me that he had a big generator and that we could try it.
He wheeled out a 3kw 6.5hp machine and I thought it would run my 0.55kw 0.75hp lathe motor no problem.
The generator bounced about like mad and was really struggling to operate when I turned the lathe on.
I understand that the start up is much larger than normal running power, but surely it cant be over the 3kw?
I'm no electrician, So I have no idea how these things work.
Anyone any other ideas?
 
Were you running 220? A lot of those mid range generators are a bit low on amperage at 220v; but they should still put out 20A. On 110 you should have no problem running a lathe. I can run a 5HP compressor with mine. 'Course, where you are everything is 220, right? Are your hertz correct for your area? Just grasping at straws, really. Being North American I don't understand completely how your electrical system is calibrated. If the generator works on something else comparable, or larger, say an air compressor, then you may have an issue with the lathe's motor. You should try process of elimination to find where the issue lies. Also, make sure that you are not drawing too many amps over too long of a distance with a small gauge extension cord. Nothing worse than having a new toy and no batteries. Good luck.
 
The motor is a 230v single phase (3 phase here is 440v). I might see if I can find a 110v equivalent.
 
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