the fellow with the elevator motor is Al Paley.
And he just happened upon a big, high torque, low speed motor.
But he also has a huge shop, 3 phase, a day job, employees, large budgets, and at the time he built that twisting machine, something like 30 years ago, there was very little info about twisting machines available.
So it was very seat of the pants, as I understand it.
He used it to twist huge pieces- 4" square and bigger, from what I understand, and I think its 20 or 30 hp.

So its not directly applicable to the problem of a small shop with no money.

VFD's can, theoretically, control motors down to very slow speeds- but they tend to have less and less torque at slow speeds, the opposite of what you want here, and they also tend to burn out many motors if you try to run them at ultra slow speeds- most motors are designed with the speed of the motor, say 1725 rpm, heavily contributing to cooling, by using stamped fan plates. Slower speed, no cooling, motor dies.
This is why you cant just slap a VFD on a 14" Delta vertical bandsaw, and make it a metal cutting saw- you get, instead, a slow running blade with no power and a short lived motor.

In many cases, if you want a proper tool, it really helps to look at how they "really" do it in industry. And then, accept the fact that, to move metal in large amounts, it takes MONEY. Some people are incredible scroungers, its true. But they are still scrounging machines and parts that were expensive to begin with.

Many people use old metal lathes for twisters- in many parts of the country, its possible to find an older, bigger lathe, practically free. Of course, a decent 16" x 60" Monarch or American Pacemaker might weigh 6000 to 10,000 lbs- so you need a forklift and a big truck. But they make great twisters- the bed is already there, with a nice moveable tailstock, they are geared down for slow speeds, and require very little adaptation- mostly just dies to hold the material.

Hydraulic motors would work as well- but a hydraulic system is complicated and more expensive, usually, than just a gear motor or a gear reducer. You need a motor, a pump, hose connections, and a hydraulic motor. Even used, that adds up.
For instance, a mid range set of angle rolls will use a standard electric motor and a gear reducer. Maybe 10 grand for a model that will do 2" pipe. It will have 2 driven rolls, chain and sprocket connected.
Step up to a Roundo, the top of the heap for angle rolls- 2 hydraulic motors drive the driven rolls, one each, and it will have a hydraulic cylinder moving the pinch roll up and down. Figure triple the price- $30k- at a minimum. Its a more expensive, more complicated, but better way to do it.

Thanks so much for all the input. It will take me a few days to read it all when I have time but I can tell you guys know what your talking about. It is a much older motor. I don't know the specifics yet. The building is about 100yrs old but I don't know when elevator was installed. I am working on getting more information now. I figured I would get some good responses that I was certain I would learn something from. I have no great need for this piece of machinery now but I am hoping to in the future. I can definitely see how a pipe threader could work, as well. We have a Re-store where I live and I might come across one again. Thanks to all and I will check back for more info.
STEF

I probably didn`t explain myself well when it came to the VFDs.I wasn`t suggesting they alone be used to turn a motor way down as that would just overheat and fry it as you explained so well.What I had intended to suggest was that you could use one in conjunction with a reduction gear box and you would have something that would operate at a speed that had low yet variable RPMs at the output shaft yet still have a high enough motor speed to keep things cool,supply enough torque and still have the advantages of ramp up/down and an electronic brake.
Where I live(Maine coast) you can pick up used hydraulic components for far less than high HP electric motors and/or reduction gear boxes(hydraulics motors pack a lot more punch in a far smaller size too).That makes it more cost effective for us to have a mobile power supply/drive that can be hooked up into multiple machines.I see much the same approach being used where things like farm and heavy equipment are being parted out cheap.I keep forgetting that not all areas of the country are so lucky.
If you have access to cheap components,hydraulics will allow infinitely variable speed in both forward and reverse,instant stop/braking and high torque at very low speeds.
Either way has proven to be cheaper up here than rewiring the shop for 3 phase(if you can even get the power company to supply it) or 460 volts as standard 220 shop voltage will power either a VFD or hydraulic system.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice there is.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/rniemi/Balchairdet1.jpg[/IMG]

1", 3/4", and 5/8" square stainless, twisted hot.

I kinda doubt an impact wrench would do this.

Or these-

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/rniemi/moretwists.jpg[/IMG]

all 1" square hot rolled, mostly twisted hot.

big twistsI dont know what happened here- but somehow I wasnt logged in, AND the IMG links dont work right, even though the bbs software says it supports IMG. So lets try again.
stainless chair
here are two examples of bigger twists I have done, 1" solid square, in mild and stainless. I also have twisted a fair amount of 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" round, and all of that requires a lot of torque and horsepower.

Looks like you spent a lot of time on that chair.looks like it had a turn in both the lathe and the milling machine before it landed in the twister.
You don`t seriously think we`re going to sit still(pun intended) for just detail shots do ya?
We want to see the whole enchilada in all it`s sittin` splendor! If the undercarriage looks that good then the seat and back have got to be a magnum opus!
Be sure to include at least one shot of the maker testing it out if you would.We want to see that smile too.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice there is.

Nice work. I think you need to post a pic of the whole chair with you and that perty smile. LOL. Really.

Great idea. I will still work on retrieving the motor if it seems viable for what I will eventually need. I never thought about using an impact driver for that. I love it when someone has simple and ingenuous ideas. Thanks again.
STEF