Or how do I find out? I've been trying my hand at some simple woodworking and I like it. I want a small lathe but don't really want to spend the money on one. I have an old vacuum cleaner that hasn't been used in a long time and I ripped the motor out of it. I'm planning on using this along with maybe some old bicycle wheels or maybe some roller skate bearings to make a small little lathe but I don't know if it turns enough rpms.
There's no way a motor in a vacuum cleaner is going to have the horsepower or torque to turn a lathe. It doesn't have to do with RPMS (in fact, a lathe is going to spin slower than a vacuum cleaner), but with power. I wouldn't go with anything less than 1/2 HP for a lathe, and a vacuum cleaner isn't anywhere near that.
Most AC electric motor are designed to turn at 1760 RPM on 60 cycle. Washing machine motors are usually 2 speed of 1760 and 1140 for 60 Hz systems. 50Hz run a little slower. Other common speeds are 3520. I would go ahead and build your lathe and use it as a learning experiment. The turning speed for a lathe is slower than the 1760 common speeds so small drive pulley on the motor and 4 times larger should slow the lathe head to around 400 RPM.
