I have noticed when shopping for wood lathes they have anywhere from 1/3 hp to 3/4 hp motors. what would yall recommend as far a size of the motor. I will be turning pots and strikers and maybe a duck call.
Regarding buying lathes..get at least 1/2 HP, you can make out with less, but I wouldnt, and make sure the lathe has MT2 tapers in the headstock and tailstock. These are the most common tapers, and you will find that all the tools you will ever need for it comes in MT2.
Mark
Generally the motors are suited to the size of the lathe capacity. The larger the capacity, the larger the motor. Whatever motor is on them should be able to handle any project that will fit on that lathe. The Jet mini lathes that I use have a fairly small motor. With them turning at full speed, I wouldn't suggest trying to stop them by hand... ;D
The Jet minis, delta and rikon minis should all do the job.
My next lathe will probably be the Jet midi... one step up in size from what I have turned over 2,000 pots on.