Thanks for the feedback Jonathan.

I read that the Chinese spindles lacked torque but not having seen any figures and in all honesty having no 'feel' for torque I was willing to take a chance on 2.2KW bettering the X1's 150W in most applications. All be it the X1's 150W is geared for torque I guess. I could always swap the original parts back in if necessary, so long as any changes I made were non-destructive, or buy a spare spindle housing from LMS - maybe 2nd time around I'll get my improvised oil ways right! The long and the short of steel on the X1 is no matter what, cutting will be compromised by the machine itself.

I did check out the brushless motors last time you mentioned them, got as far as watching a youtube video on replacing the shaft. Need a small arbor press, they're not so expensive and certainly cost less than a lathe. They are basically just supercharged stepper motors so loads of low end torque I guess dropping off with speed. At the time I was put off by the UK pricing of the motors, and fear of the unknown, but now I see hobbyking can ship from Germany I'll investigate some more.

What are you going to do with 6KW on a poor little C1?