Treadmill motor for a sewing machine??

[AlZilla]

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 July 7, 2023 by AlZilla
cosmic dissonance

[fredk]

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

[SUP]

@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.

[AlZilla]

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 July 7, 2023 by AlZilla

[AlZilla]

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.

 

 

 

[chuck123wapati]

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. 

[Frodo]

On daily motion  type 

brass tumbler #3 001

if you want to see it running

brass tumbler #3 001

[bladegrinder]

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.

 

 

[AlZilla]

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.

[dikman]

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.