Coronet start-up

[condeesteso]

Hi all, I have an old green Coronet lathe and it is excellent for the work I do. But I am a bit concerned that there is no soft-start and when on high speed setting (normal for me as I do spindle work mostly) the kick on start-up puts a big load on the drive train, especially the take-up pulley which is locked to shaft with one small grub screw and is aluminium.
Question - is there any simple electronic fix to make the motor soft-start? I am no expert in electronics so it needs to be simple or at least easy to follow.
Any advice appreciated.