Hi everyone! I have this big ol' motor (picture attached) that someone gave me years ago, and I've just been sitting on it, figuring that eventually I'll have a need a powerful motor. So I think I finally might have such a need -- to power a pinch roller assembly. But I've never worked with an AC motor like this one, so before I try to give it some juice, I thought I'd take advantage of all the big brains here at EEV. From the specs printed on the motor, it looks like I could just connect an AC signal directly from the wall. But I actually need to be able to adjust the speed and reverse the direction. When I've worked with DC motors in the past, I've had good luck by using a motor speed control board like this one,
https://ebay.us/BYh5bT along with a polarity-reversing rocker switch. But I'm not sure if there would be an analogous board for an AC motor, and I definitely don't know how you would reverse the direction when you're working with AC.
Anyway, would it be simpler for me to just get a different motor? I guess I'm just hoping to find a way to rationalize hanging on to this big paperweight for all this time!

Thanks!