How I made a burnisher for free!

[Stetson912]

Before I start, I need to mention that this project deals with simple circuitry/wiring of a DC motor. Don't do this if you don't know how or understand the risks involved. 

With that said I made a burnisher for free! My neibor gave me two electric scooters that 'dont hold a charge' Soo, I gutted one. 

After taking it apart I realized that the motor for these scooters is a good little motor. It's a 24v permanent magnet motor that has a rated rpm of 2500-3000 with no load on the motor and ton of torque. Unfortunately the batteries were not good so no power for the motor.. or so I thought

Wheels get to spinnin' and I realized I had a power supply to an old laptop...

The charger outputs a 19v 4.78A dc current. I cut the end of the laptop charger off and wired it to the on off switch I salvaged from the scooter. Then wired the switch to the motor and viola! Burnisher motor with switch. I also recommend covering the connections with electrical tape or wire nuts or shrink wrap. In my case, I used hot glue, because it's what I had... Don't judge me! Hehe

The motor works just fine. It's rated for 24v DC and at 19v (from the laptop charger) it runs fast enough for my needs. 

The actual burnisher is attached to the shaft by smashing a nut into a slightly small round hole. In the photos I repurposed a wooden drawer knob. I used a simple chisel to add another groove and also evened out the groove that was already there. So it has 2 grooves. All that's left is mounting it to something I can clamp down to the table. 

While it isn't the best thing in the world, it does work. It takes up minimal space, and is very light weight too. All in all, I'm happy with it. 

I'm posting this because I know people like me can't afford much. And sometimes you gotta make due. You don't need super fancy mega spinomatic 9000 burnisher models out there to get the job done (although if I could buy one I would) I hope this helps people out. Just remember to do your research and be careful with the wiring/soldering. I don't want people getting hurt or fried out there. 

The last picture is a burnish sample. It was done with just water and a little saddle soap and dried. No dye or wax or anything. It was a quick test so it isn't the best, just to show it works. 

Cheers and happy making!

 

[JKHelms]

I like making stuff like this and saving money. 

Good job!

[Wild Bill46]

Nice idea ! 

 

[Stetson912]

Thanks! I'm sure it can be done with a variety of motors salvaged from lots of different things. I wanted a simple light weight quiet burnisher that I can turn off and on. And that's all this is haha. Works for what I need. 

Imade a vacuum press bag as well, just haven't been able to find the fittings too set up the pump to test it yet haha. 

[SheltathaLore]

The most useful thing I learned from my EE class was that red is usually power and black is usually ground.  That's pretty much all you need to know in order to hack up power supplies for projects!

I betcha a lot of us have old (domestic) sewing machine motors around that would work great for this kind of thing too.

[Stetson912]

Yeah I'm sure that would work. Old vacuums have motors you can use too. They are noisier but it'll work. Washing machines and treadmills do too. Some of those may be more complicated and ahem... "Over powered" haha. Like there is such a thing 

[Northmount]

Vacuum cleaner motors may be much higher speed than what you want.  They really wind up!

Tom

 

[alpha2]

On 11/2/2017 at 7:47 PM, Stetson912 said:

Yeah I'm sure that would work. Old vacuums have motors you can use too. They are noisier but it'll work. Washing machines and treadmills do too. Some of those may be more complicated and ahem... "Over powered" haha. Like there is such a thing 

Um, yeah, that's what Tim Taylor said, and look where that got him!!!

Thanks for the tip, though. The power supply is the easy part, now I need to stop throwing away the motors...

[Stetson912]

@northmount that is true. Perhaps with some clever gear ratio you can downspeed the output rpm? Just a thought. 

@alpha2, it was a fun little project. It is a good little motor for it too. Seems to fit the role just right. The motor new I believ is around $30 but, I happened to get the scooters free. Never know what you'll find at yard sales too.

[DJole]

All it needs is a rheostat to control the speed. I'm sure everybody's got one of those lying around, right? (ha ha!)

[WoodysWorkshop]

I seen a You Tube video once where a guy drilled a hole in a block of Pine, epoxied in a nail (1/8" I'm guessing) and cut off the head.

Mounted in a dremel and ruffed it out round with a rasp files, and worked to a milled files and then to sand paper.

Seamed to work.

The work you did looks fun to do. Makes me wish I had something laying around to put a motor out of.

I'm going to have to try that epoxy the nail in a block thing soon.

Anyone think of a reason pine wouldn't be a good wood? I might have a small chunk of maple or oak some wheres left over from my wood shop....when I had it.

[Stetson912]

@DJole I was going to use a potentiometer but didn't have one. So I just did this. You could always add one in later haha. A rheostat will work too

@WoodysWorkshop I can't think of a reason why pine wouldn't work. I'm pretty sure that's all this little drawer handle is.  

[billybopp]

Pine would probably work OK, but it can be a bit resinous and as a soft wood, would likely wear down more with use.  Oak will also likely work but it is porous and might be a bit more abrasive than you want.  Maple is hard and tight grained, so that would be my choice in this case.

Bill

[Stetson912]

@billybopp thanks for the input. I don't know much about wood so, good to hear the reasons for and against. Thanks