Another source for variable speed

[peterm]

You may recall an old post where I put a treadmill motor on a dedicated Shopsmith drill press that had a bad motor, seen here:
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=6925
Later I had problems with the brushes in that motor and replaced the head with a working one off an old greenie. I put an old 1/4hp motor in the ex DP head and installed it on the greenie base to use for wire brushing and light uses. I started looking for an old treadmill to get another motor from.

I was browsing the Hobby Machinist forum yesterday and ran across an interesting post by jumps4 about purchasing a 3/4 hp var. speed, reversible, DC motor complete with speed control that runs off 110volt ac for $129,originally sold for industrial sewing machines. He does a very thorough job of showing how to use one of these motors.
I think you have to join to see the photos:http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthre ... ped-source
He goes on to order one, a FL-550 and tries it out on a 9x20 metal working lathe. He reported very positive results, complete with video of it running. On the strength of that, I have today ordered what I think is a similar motor:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... OC:US:3160

[ATTACH]20235[/ATTACH]
You set the max speed on the dial and then the foot control speeds up to that max. I hope to modify the foot control. I am hoping to mount it to that ex DP head and will post results here later. I guess I think of this as a poor man's Power Pro and wanted to share the idea right away. Delivery will be in a couple of weeks and I can hardly wait! .

[pennview]

Peter, I'd be interested in seeing how that motor works on the Shopsmith, together with how the variable speed aspect performs. I saw someone add one of those sewing machine motors to a metal lathe recently, but don't recall which forum I saw that on. That motor was a Consew DC motor with controller, also being sold on e-bay.

[peterm]

pennview, further down in the Hobby Machinist post I mentioned above, I note the following post by bobvia:
http://www.consew.com/View/Consew-Model-CS1000-CS2000
Just finished dc conversion this weekend using this motor and controller on my 9x20 lathe. The foot switch on this controller uses a photo resistor and diode for speed control just have to replace the photo resistor with a 25k pot and you can adjust speed from 0 to max set rpm. The motor is easy to mount as it has several t-slots so mounting can be as simple as as using 1.25" angle and drilling holes to match the existing motor mounting studs. The controller and motor have have tach leads to control the rpm of the motor, so even at low speeds and heavy cuts the motor runs at a constant speed.

Maybe he posted more about this elsewhere. I think I will have to relate the speed dial on the dc motor to the speed ranges on the Shopsmith but I have one of those cheap Chinese tachs that was discussed here awhile ago, so that should be doable.

[pennview]

Peter, yes, that's the same guy I was referring to. After looking more closely at the Hobby Machinist site, I believe he had posted some details of his set-up on the Yahoo 9x20 lathe group and that's where I came across the information. I recall seeing the one video where he shows the motor mounted to the lathe and then cuts a piece of steel.

[billmayo]

I still have both 110 VAC and 220 VAC DC controller boards along with a few 90 VDC and 180 VDC motors left over from my days of playing around with them. I am sure the parts are laying around somewhere in my shop if anyone is interested. I would be happy to share some of the problems and solutions I encounted and still remember during that time. Thew other problem was most of the DC motors were too long so I could not use the motor pan but left the motor like the 10ER machine on the few I attempted to constructed. Not the best looking setup.

Along with controller heat problems, I was unable to construct motor mounts that would stand up to the power/torque of the DC motors but with the PowerPro, I was able to use a approx. 6X9 1/2" aluminum plate using the same mounting holes as the PowerPro motor and mount the DC motor on the bottom and the controller board on top. I modified the Speed Control bracket to use the variable resister (pot) and glued the speed control dial to the speed control handle as the means for controlling the speed. My health at that time prevented me from doing further development. I am only able to rebuild and recondition a few Shopsmith headstocks, parts and items these days.

[peterm]

Bill, thank you for your thoughts. If you were not 2000 miles from me, I would love to visit and see your shop (and buy one of those 120 VAC controls).

[peterm]

Update: My FESM550N, 110V 3/4HP 550W 3300RPM,Quiet HighTorque DC Servo Motor arrived in the mail (Canada Post) today, 25 Feb., in perfect condition:p in a reasonably sturdy cardboard box with foam liner:
[ATTACH]20332[/ATTACH]
It cost me $143 but you can get it for $100, shipping in USA included right now. (I have no connection with the Ebay seller) It looks good and included a spare set of brushes and a fuse. The speed dial actually goes to 3450 rpm.
[ATTACH]20333[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]20334[/ATTACH]
That is a reversing switch and a 110v outlet on the back of the control box.It runs very quiet and the foot pedal speed detector uses a magnet, similar to the description on the Hobby Machinist forum describing the similar FL-550. There is a cooling fan just outboard of the brushes, so sawdust ingress will have to be prevented, perhaps with a filter of some sort.
Here is a view looking up into the controls.
[ATTACH]20335[/ATTACH]
It sits about 8" from the mounts to the top of the motor, so the control box will have to be relocated,(which I would do anyway) when I hang it under the SS headstock. I will also have to dream up a way of operating the foot pedal lever without having one. Your ideas on this appreciated!

[eartigas]

Mmmmmm, this is getting interesting. We'll stay tuned.

[donalexander]

Bill,

I am definitely interested in learning about your controller boards.

Don

I still have both 110 VAC and 220 VAC DC controller boards along with a few 90 VDC and 180 VDC motors left over from my days of playing around with them. I am sure the parts are laying around somewhere in my shop if anyone is interested. I would be happy to share some of the problems and solutions I encounted and still remember during that time. Thew other problem was most of the DC motors were too long so I could not use the motor pan but left the motor like the 10ER machine on the few I attempted to constructed. Not the best looking setup.

Along with controller heat problems, I was unable to construct motor mounts that would stand up to the power/torque of the DC motors but with the PowerPro, I was able to use a approx. 6X9 1/2" aluminum plate using the same mounting holes as the PowerPro motor and mount the DC motor on the bottom and the controller board on top. I modified the Speed Control bracket to use the variable resister (pot) and glued the speed control dial to the speed control handle as the means for controlling the speed. My health at that time prevented me from doing further development. I am only able to rebuild and recondition a few Shopsmith headstocks, parts and items these days.

[peterm]

A little more progress:
I mounted a pulley on the idler shaft with a length of red link belt:
[ATTACH]20411[/ATTACH]
I cut out a 3/4" thick plywood plate to mount the dc motor:
[ATTACH]20413[/ATTACH]
The back needed a couple of recesses (done using a hole saw) to let it sit fully into the headstock:
[ATTACH]20412[/ATTACH]
I used 5/16"x2" bolts to mount the motor:
[ATTACH]20414[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]20415[/ATTACH]
I hooked it up to the control box with temporary jumper wires and it ran fine:) , but the magnet in the foot pedal arm has to be placed close to the pickup or else it does not run , so I am going to have to rig that on a pivot with a way of setting it precisely. For the moment I am not worrying about pulley sizes versus Shopsmith speed. The motor cannot be enclosed inside the cover as it sits now. It protrudes towards the tail end by a inch or so and hangs a little low. It might be possible to modify whats left of the idler sheeve to move the motor further left (up in the pics) and shorten the casting where the motor hinges, but I think I might end up with this head installed back on my dedicated SS drillpress, in which case I will just leave it exposed. Lots of experimenting yet to do before deciding.