Single phase long shaft motors?

After lurking for a while (I believe that is a required first sentence isn't it?) I finally made an account and am seeking some of the accumulated knowledge around here.

I just bought a Tree Journeyman 310 with Dynopath Delta 10 control. I have minimal expierence with milling or CAM software , and modest expierence with CAD. I imagine I will become a much more active forum member in the near future.

First off I would like to get the machine up and running. Looking the machine over, it looks as though the spindle drive motor is the only part of the machine requiring 3 phase power. a single phase conversion would involve little more than a new spindle drive motor, some rearranging of electronics running off the third leg, and just a little wiring. (The coolant pump may have been three phase. I can't remember for sure, but it's an easy fix.) There was no spec tag on the motor so I pulled it last night to bring it into work for testing. (three phase available) I can get RPM, amp draw, wattage, and ultimately HP output from that. A little preemptive web search has indicated a shortage of long shaft single phase motors though. I would really like to hear anything known about the reason there are so few, any known sources worth checking out, if people would reccomend just buying a VFD and putting the 3 phase motor back on, or another option I haven't considered.
The shop that I have the machine in has a lower than average power feed where the total amp draw has to be kept in mind. I would share more specific information if I had it, but haven't checked the line in voltage, nor do I know the feed line size. I do know that there were many things done on the property years ago that were done quickly without much thought of future needs .
Any assistance that you have time to share would be greatly appreciated. If there is more information that I can give, just ask and I will gladly do what I can.

(Sorry, this grew longer than intended, and again if I am inadvertently missing any forum etiquette)

A 3 horsepower VFD is cheap enough. Gives you variable speed, within reason, fast reverse, power braking etc.
If the motor is 240 -208 volts keep it and use a VFD.
Bil lD

Folks have repalced the special motor with a jackshaft and a normal motor belt driving the jackshaft. The jackshaft is often made from a burned up original motor.
Bil lD

I vote for a 1ph input 3ph output VFD as well
The motor fits already ,runs smoother and will not draw that much amps at start-up wen set properly
If the voltage does not match one can use a 1ph transformer to step up input voltage


Peter

A vfd is a cheap fix with the added value of speed control, but if you want to reinvent the wheel you will need to find a single phase motor and machine a new shaft and press it in... not for the faint of heart...Phil

Thanks a lot guys. I had read about VFDs, but hadn't price checked them. I guess I made the mistake of assuming they would cost more than a good rotary converter. If I had done better research, I never would have pulled the motor. On the bright side, it was a good opportunity to clean things up a little, inspect the belt, and gain a little more familiarity with the inner workings. I will start researching freq drives. Does anyone have advice/ recomendations?