Thanks for all the valuable input. I enjoyed the over-the-top use of an excavator on the lift. Someone actually did that??
In my case, I'm pretty level headed and not felony stupid (just normal stupid sometimes). If I was that dumb, I wouldn't have asked the question in the first place and would have just cranked the thing up to max and "give her a go" with predictable results. I learned a bit about my chucks' ratings so that will be some guidance. Great point about the potential next owner. If I do anything, I can set the upper limits of the VFD temporarily and then back to the normal 1800 RPM limit.
I believe that this lathe was not designed so that at 1801 RPM things start flying apart, especially with a small chuck/part mounted. The trick is "staying well inside that envelope" and not pushing it. I think centrifugal force increases with RPM^2 so a 10% RPM increase is about 20% more force. So, if I do anything at all, after considering it, I'll likely keep it to at most 110% of nameplate.