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Posted (edited)

A few years back I needed to slow my 80+ year old drill press down to mill out some AR lowers. Sparing you the details of why, I replaced the existing motor with a 1.5HP treadmill motor and just screwed the control panel from the treadmill to the wall next to my drill press. It works great.

The only bugaboo is it starts and stops slow, because you really don't want your treadmill to go from 0 to 100 or 100 to zero in the blink of an eye.

Here's an instructable where the guy has adapted these motors to all sorts of things, including a sewing machine. See Step 11.

https://www.instructables.com/Use-a-Treadmill-DC-Drive-Motor-and-PWM-Speed-Contr/

Thoughts? Comments? Anyone done it??  Treadmills can be found for free or dirt cheap.

Edited by AlZilla
cosmic dissonance

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
- Voltaire

“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.”
- Aristotle

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Posted

I guess the starting slow would be a bonus on a sewing machine. I like to go slow on mine but the foot controllers just go from slow to fast too easily and quickly. I suppose I just need to sort that out

Al speling misteaks aer all mi own werk..

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Posted

@AlZilla Love the idea. Uttam will be very interested. He used to make electrical items with his father - radios and things from scratch - so will have the knowhow to use this idea. Thank you for that.

Learning is a life-long journey.

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, fredk said:

I guess the starting slow would be a bonus on a sewing machine. I like to go slow on mine but the foot controllers just go from slow to fast too easily and quickly. I suppose I just need to sort that out

I wouldn't mind the slow start but I'd prefer it to stop on a dime so I can land my needle exactly.  That's all really a matter of the controller. Maybe one of the geniuses here will have a controller idea. 

You know ... I wonder if it'd run off the same controller most of the servos use. I need to get off my butt and go see how many wires it has.

Edit: It'll take a little to get one dragged out and really see but I now know the switch box has a 2 lead connector and it's not used.  A 4 lead and 6 lead appear to be connected back there, pending a closer look maybe this weekend.

Edited by AlZilla

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
- Voltaire

“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.”
- Aristotle

Posted

Here's a simple controller for sewing machines. It has a potentiometer. I don't see why a domestic sewing machine foot controller couldn't be used in it's place.  Maybe I need to work on this.

 

 

 

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
- Voltaire

“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.”
- Aristotle

  • CFM
Posted
On 7/7/2023 at 12:39 PM, AlZilla said:

A few years back I needed to slow my 80+ year old drill press down to mill out some AR lowers. Sparing you the details of why, I replaced the existing motor with a 1.5HP treadmill motor and just screwed the control panel from the treadmill to the wall next to my drill press. It works great.

The only bugaboo is it starts and stops slow, because you really don't want your treadmill to go from 0 to 100 or 100 to zero in the blink of an eye.

Here's an instructable where the guy has adapted these motors to all sorts of things, including a sewing machine. See Step 11.

https://www.instructables.com/Use-a-Treadmill-DC-Drive-Motor-and-PWM-Speed-Contr/

Thoughts? Comments? Anyone done it??  Treadmills can be found for free or dirt cheap.

those are highly sought after out here not free or cheap anymore  all the tinkerers want em lol. 

Worked in a prison for 30 years if I aint shiny every time I comment its no big deal, I just don't wave pompoms.

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.” THE DUKE!

  • CFM
Posted

On daily motion  type 

brass tumbler #3 001

if you want to see it running

brass tumbler #3 001941E1A93-B09D-4A3F-9D36-6F0F67F17E86.jpeg.66002771004081cbb2274b5ac54d299d.jpeg

 

Singer 66, Chi Chi Patcher, Rex 26-188, singer 29k62 , 2-needles

D.C.F.M

 

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Posted

I built a ceramic tumbler for putting stone wash finishes on knives with a treadmill motor. there is a DC rectifier it the junction box shown and it's powered by a variac, the red gismo on the left.

I'm sure one could be used for a sewing machine...but...there would be a lot of tinkering on mounting it and powering it. in the end I don't know if it would be worth it over just rigging up a servo motor.

 

 

resized 600.jpg

Posted
1 hour ago, bladegrinder said:

but...there would be a lot of tinkering on mounting it and powering it. in the end I don't know if it would be worth it over just rigging up a servo motor.

Sometimes it's interesting just to do things for the sake of doing them.

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
- Voltaire

“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.”
- Aristotle

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Posted
2 hours ago, AlZilla said:

Sometimes it's interesting just to do things for the sake of doing them.

How true, I'm guilty of doing that many times over.:lol:

Machines wot I have - Singer 51W59; Singer 331K4; Seiko STH-8BLD; Pfaff 335; CB4500.

Chinese shoe patcher; Singer 201K (old hand crank)

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