Adding A Speed Reducer To A Flatbed

[cdthayer]

I came up with a speed reducer (got it with my Adler 205-64 project machine) that I would like to install on my Consew 225. I've never attached one, and don't have one on any of my machines. Any tips on how to get it mounted on my stand would be a big help.

The speed reducer has 8 1/2" and 2" pulleys on it. My Consew clutch motor has a 3 3/4" pulley on it, and is a 1725 RPM .42 HP motor. I do very little thick leather on the machine. We use it for general repairs and sewing embroidered patches on leathers. Now that I have access to a reducer, I'd like to slow it down.

The 3 3/4"; motor pulley should allow me to mount the SR fairly close to it, and still get plenty of belt contact, shouldn't it? The machine has had 5/16" leather belting on it since before I had it, and I have more, so I plan on using that back. The bench top cut-out is already fairly long, so I'll have to work around that to keep from cutting any more additional beltway than absolutely necessary.

I've looked through the archives and found some photos of mounted SRs, but nothing yet that looks exactly like mine. If you know of a photo that I've missed in a thread here, could you direct me to it?

CD in Oklahoma

Edited November 26, 2013 by cdthayer

[CowboyBob]

You'll probably have to flip the motor pulley to the other side & maybe even move the motor to the right because the small pulley that goes to the machine will line up with the machine pulley & the belt from the motor goes to the large pulley on the reducer(which will be approx 1&1/2" to the right).The best thing to do is set it underneath & you'll see what you have to do to get it lined up.

[cdthayer]

Thanks Bob, I'm glad you're here. My photos don't show it clearly, but my belt is crowding the left side of the cut-out (viewing from above the machine) almost to the point of rubbing it. That might help me, but I'm not sure it's going to be enough. The closer that I mount the SR to the motor pulley, the more critical will be the pulley alignment, right? Won't that belt walk off of the pulley easier if not in good alignment?

CD in Oklahoma

Edit: I added another photo to the original posting to show the belt better.

Edited November 26, 2013 by cdthayer

[J Hayes]

Maybe try a smaller motor pulley before going through all the work of the SR. Should be able to find a 1 3/4 pulley for it, possibly even 1 1/2. Just a thought

Jeremy

[cdthayer]

Hi Jeremy,

I looked around half-heartedly a while back for a smaller pulley for it, but I didn't find anything. It's got a 5/8 inch shaft with a 3/16 inch square key.

I think the larger pulley may help me more than hurt me on my choice of belting and the closeness that I want to mount the SR to the motor pulley. I think part of the reason that we've done ok using the machine for 6 years now without a major runaway is because of the round leather belting. The old one broke last year or so, and I put a new one on it of the same material. I set it just barely tight enough to pull the machine under light to medium duty work, and I'm sure we're getting some slippage helping us. I might be able to put tighter belts on it with the SR.

CD in Oklahoma

[Cobra Steve]

From what I can see, it doesn't look like you will have any problems mounting your speed reducer. It looks like there is enough space between the belt slot and the legs, and it looks like everything will line up. Steve

[cdthayer]

Thanks Steve. That's what I'm hoping for. My wife and I will probably take a run at it this Holiday weekend while we have the shop closed and we can flip the stand without being in the way. And I can clean up my mess.....

CD in Oklahoma

[Constabulary]

not sure how the motor mount looks like but on my motor I have two spacers I can place at different positions. With these spacers I can move the belt a little left or right. Maybe this could solve your problem.

[SARK9]

Hi CD-

I've mounted several shop-made reducers to similar machines with few issues. The troubles I've run into were simple location issues. With the large (8-9") driven pulley on the reducer, I have encountered some clearance issues with the larger diameter motor pulleys- the two will actually interfere when you locate the reducer mount so that its small pulley is aligned with the sewing machine pulley. You may need to switch out the motor pulley for a smaller one to gain some room closer to the motor for your mounts. The other issue is just to be able to shift the motor towards the "right" toward the nearer K-leg so that the motor pulley is aligned with the large driven pulley's offset. We have a chain of stores in my area called "Tractor Supply" that has a good selection of 3L belts in the usual size ranges... They usually have the smaller motor pulley you need as well...but not the 15mm bore type I need on servos. I have a picture of one of mine mounted under a Chandler CU-563 which is similar to your Consew.

[cdthayer]

I got my speed reducer mounted last evening. It hasn’t taken me since Thanksgiving to do it. I just hadn’t gotten to it until yesterday. It only took me a couple of hours, and even though it’s a little unorthodox-looking, it seems to work. I’ve only test-run it so far, so I’ll have to see how it works after a little use.

My motor doesn’t have any spacers in the mount, and I don’t see any way to shift it to the right without re-drilling the mounting bolts through the top. I could have turned the motor pulley around and gotten some length, but it didn’t look to me like I would get enough. [bTW: The motor shaft diameter is 9/16 instead of 5/8 as I had posted earlier. I measured it again while I had it off.] With the motor pulley already crowding the left side of the belt slot, I decided to squeeze things in with the motor and machine as they were.

To do it, I turned the SR pulleys around on their shaft and went up that way. This SR has bushings with a grease trough in the center running on a solid shaft. I popped off the clip, cleaned out the old grease, filled the center with new grease, and put the pulleys back on the other way. Since I’m using 5/16 leather belting, I can make and break the belt that gets trapped by mounting things this way.

It looks a little different, but I don’t have any belts rubbing on anything, so I don’t see why it won’t work for me. I had to lengthen the belt slot towards the front, but I think I would have needed to do that anyway unless I’d have gone with a smaller motor pulley. I just didn’t dare mount the SR any closer to that 3 3/4 motor pulley. Actually, I only had to taper the top half of the existing slot, so I didn’t remove very much top material at all. Of course, I did have to re-drill the mounting holes for the bobbin winder.

Thank everyone for the help, suggestions, and support.

CD in Oklahoma

[CowboyBob]

Looks good!! It probably should work nice too,that small pulley is smaller than usual so it should slow it down alot.

[cdthayer]

Thanks Bob. You’re not kidding! It really slowed it down!

I have only sewn on clutch motor industrial machines before, and this is my first speed reducer, so it’s all new to me. I was surprised at how much harder it is to hand wheel with the SR attached. I thought I’d done something to cause the brake to drag, until I realized that the gearing adds to the drag on the hand wheel when turning everything from the wheel now. I’ll have to change my style of sewing a bit. Less hand wheeling and more foot sewing.

I was able to use the machine to sew an embroidered patch onto a baseball-style cap yesterday, and it’s like I have a completely different machine now. The additional slow-speed control will make using this machine much more comfortable. Although, it may make it more difficult to feather my other clutch motors now that I’m spoiled.

CD in Oklahoma

[swashbu]

CD,

What type of screw did you use to secure the SR to your table? Looks great by the way.

Steve

[cdthayer]

I used small hex-head lag screws, whatever size diameter that went through the mounting holes, and I think they were 1 1/2” long. I got them at the local hardware store.

CD in Oklahoma

[swashbu]

Thanks for the response CD. I should have thought of using lag screws.

Steve

[SARK9]

Steve-

Another option I find convenient for mounting the SR's is called a hanger bolt- It has a lag threads for wood on one end and a regular machine thread on the other, accepting a nut and washer. Its a bit friendlier if you anticipate having the assembly on and off during fitting, since you can spin the nuts off quickly.

DC

[Constabulary]

Just another idea for attaching a speed reducer .

Edited December 30, 2013 by Constabulary

[swashbu]

DC & Constabulary,

Thanks for the excellent suggestions. My table is kind of funky so having mountings options will help a lot. I have a servo but I would really like to be able go very very very slowly on some small curved pieces.

Thanks!

Steve

[cdthayer]

I like the idea of using the stand frame for attachment points. It helps avoid the congestion at the underside of the top surface, and opens up the possibility of using larger pulleys when making your own speed reducer assembly.

Thanks for posting photos. I hope others will do the same. Mine seems to be working just fine so far.

CD in Oklahoma

[jkbuzbee]

just bought a 225 and its super fast to say the least I am looking into mounting a SR on it is there anyway you can post some more pictures of how it mounted??? where did you get your pulleys form and what was the total cost of adding the SR... really need some help slowing it down thanks jody

[cdthayer]

Hi Jody, welcome to Leatherworker.net

If you don't already have a Speed Reducer, or are not going to cobble together your own, then probably your best course of action to slow your 225 down is to contact one of the Dealers here at the forum. They will probably recommend that you consider a motor change to a servo. The cost savings of a SR instead of a servo would not be practical, if you have to buy everything new, IMO. In my case, I had the SR on-hand from an Adler machine. If you purchase either a servo or SR new, mounting instructions should be included to help you.

CD in Oklahoma

[LoveToLearn]

Thats cool but where are you guys finding the tiny pulley for the motor? I have a Consew clutch motor with a 15mm keyed shaft and I can find nothing for it. I woud like a 35mm pulley with 15mm bore. The machine is a singer 111w-155 which i think the handwheel pullley is 3V. Any ideas where I can locate one of these mythical creatures? If it doesnt slow it down enough that way, Ill add a speed reducer. I already have an idea how to make one inexpensively.

[dikman]

I have 45 mm pulleys on my machines (I think that may be the smallest available). They came from the motor supplier in China, so I reckon a search on ebay should turn them up. They are 15 mm keyed, which appears to be a standard shaft size.

[LoveToLearn]

I have 45 mm pulleys on my machines (I think that may be the smallest available). They came from the motor supplier in China, so I reckon a search on ebay should turn them up. They are 15 mm keyed, which appears to be a standard shaft size.

Did you notice a remarkable difference in speed and control by changing that pulley?

[dikman]

In my case I have servos and speed reducers on two machines and a servo and 8" pulley replacing the handwheel on the third. I wouldn't say that it's a remakable difference with these combos, but it is noticeable. (I figure it all helps). There is another factor, in my case - the settings in the servos affect the performance, if I set the max speed low then this also makes the lowest speed correspondingly slower. So lots of options.