I like what I have seen(the pictures I have found)...its big though isn't it?The stand its on just make it looks bigger than it really is,a little deceiving.It is strictly 5c only or does this lathe have chucks for it?I've not seen/found a picture of one using a chuck or having a tail stock.It seems kind of the same size as the Southbend 9a or am I mistaken?It just looks bigger to me.8-9" on the swing...about 30 inches between centers?I'm guessing.What would you say is an average price the DV model sells for and(last question I promise) how would it perform on a VFD...it being 3 phase?I've never used a VFD before so I don't know.
With the integral cabinet base, it weighs very roughly 1200lb. It's in the 9x20 capacity class, not 30 between centers.
To repeat myself, there were two spindle noses for the DV/DSM machines, and chucks, faceplates, and dog driving plates are still reasonably available for both spindle noses. Both 3-jaw and 4-jaw chucks, plus special oversized "5C" step chuck closers for shallow diameters of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6". These step chuck closers take special collets with 5C taper shanks and oversized shallow heads, and offer much of the advantage of a set-tru chuck together with collet closer speed for production jobs. And yes, the DV59 should have a tailstock, which you can probably find on eBay if the machine doesn't come with one.
I would strongly recommend
against trying to run a DV/DSM on a VFD. It really wants 3-phase power so you can hotplug directly between forward and reverse. At best, that sort of operation would really confuse a VFD, and would quite likely fry a low-end economy VFD. And because it's already got mechanically variable speeds, all you'd be using the VFD for is 1-phase to 3-phase conversion. Use a phase converter for that, not a VFD. You
could throw out all the existing electrical controls, manufacture some sort of new apparatus to adapt the mechanical high/low and forward/reverse levers to control switching, and scratch-build a control set for a VFD to run the existing motor. Although, the existing motor is a two-speed motor, which most VFDs don't know how to exploit, so you'd have only one speed range rather than two, unless $$$$. But why would you do that, when buying or building a phase converter is cheaper and simpler?