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Would a Harbor freight router speed controll work for the SS?

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 7:43 pm
by jere
Maybe this is a stupid question, but I am curious. Here is the link to the controller. My local HF just started carrying this and it seems like it would be useful if it worked.

http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 7:47 pm
by joshh
The shopsmith uses a brushless induction motor and that's for ac/dc brush type motor. Would be neat if it did work though.

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:04 pm
by jere
Good to know, and if my old SS motor ever goes out I will have to replace it with brushed motor :cool:

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:03 pm
by JPG
jere wrote:Good to know, and if my old SS motor ever goes out I will have to replace it with brushed motor :cool:
Good luck finding one that runs at 3450 rpm at > 1 hp continuous.;)

A Power Pro would likely be cheaper!:rolleyes:

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:49 pm
by billmayo
You will not find any 1 HP brush type motors with enough power that will fit in the Shopsmith motor pan with the fan and floating sheaves setup. You need at least a 2 1/2 HP rated brush type to get close to the HP of the 1 HP induction motor used. I found a 3 to 4 HP 180 VDC motor is needed along with a 220 VAC DC controller for equal power however all the motors I have tried are too long for the motor pan. I used a flat 1/2" aluminum plate in the bottom of the headstock casing with the motor hanging below like the 10ER machines with the controller on top of the plate and no motor pan. Not a clean looking setup. I still have parts remaining from these tests setup if anyone is interested.

My finally solution was to make an induction motor reversible and use external speed decreaser or speed increaser for lower and/or higher speeds.

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:27 am
by jere
[quote="JPG40504"]Good luck finding one that runs at 3450 rpm at > 1 hp continuous.]

It's always something :rolleyes: :p

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:36 am
by jere
billmayo wrote:You will not find any 1 HP brush type motors with enough power that will fit in the Shopsmith motor pan with the fan and floating sheaves setup. You need at least a 2 1/2 HP rated brush type to get close to the HP of the 1 HP induction motor used. I found a 3 to 4 HP 180 VDC motor is needed along with a 220 VAC DC controller for equal power however all the motors I have tried are too long for the motor pan. I used a flat 1/2" aluminum plate in the bottom of the headstock casing with the motor hanging below like the 10ER machines with the controller on top of the plate and no motor pan. Not a clean looking setup. I still have parts remaining from these tests setup if anyone is interested.

My finally solution was to make an induction motor reversible and use external speed decreaser or speed increaser for lower and/or higher speeds.
Sounds like a cool experiment, but a that is getting a little too hardcore for me :o Those 220 controllers aren't cheap and my old garage doesn't have enough juice for that, just a 110 V line.