Thanks for the heads up about VDF drives I did not know that they lost torque at low speeds so that is not viable for me and you have saved me from buying one. I am cursed with spin on chucks so sudden braking of the drive would undo them. If I fitted a braking system to the chuck itself I would have hells delight removing it from the mandrel, I have four chucks and two faceplates so they do get swapped often. I am working with three speeds direct 860-543-93 + back gear and have got used to it, I would like a faster speed but my lathe has plain cast iron bearings which I defer to as they do get warm fairly quickly at top speed.