Motor for Lathe

Hi all,

I have a Myford SL7 Lathe and was thinking that I would like to fit variable drive motor. I have a treadmill that I no long use which as a variable drive motor and controls. I would have to make up boxes to fit controls and find a way of fitting the motor. My question is the motor is not 3 phase so what will it be and will I be able to make it work, what size should it be to drive the lathe.

Ron

Ron,

I believe that most treadmills use DC motors with PWM controllers.

This YouTube video might be a good place to start.

MichaelG.

.

Edit: This article looks useful too.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/11/2013 21:18:31

Hi Ron

Most treadmill motors are 180 volts DC And in the 1.5 to 2.5 hp Treadmill duty which translates to about just over half the "Treadmill Horse Power"

Having said that they are an excellent motor for smaller lathes and mills.

Setting up the motor controller can be a bit tricky but when properly set they give great results.

My own machines are all DC powered ( Lathe two Drill Presses And a SX2 Mill Drill)

Very happy with the performance.

Keep us posted will be pleased to help get this project up and running.

Eric

Thanks for the info, Sorry for being a pest but (a little but) The info on the motor does not tell me the house power, the only info is

230 Volt, 50/60HZ, 4800RPM, 180 Volts.

Do you know if this is big enough. I have all the control off the treadmill with speed controls. I thought that I could use them just need to build box to fit them in.

The only other thing I would need some kind of rev counter.

Ron.

Ron,

I'm astonished that there is no reference to HP, or KW, but:

What you have is broaldy in line with Eric's description and; if it's powerful enough to drive a treadmill then surely it must be enough for an SL7.

MichaelG.

Hi Ron,

230 Volt, 50/60HZ, 4800RPM, 180 Volts.

The 180v, could it be 180W ? 746W = 1 HP.

Regards, Bear..

Hi Ron

Regards a rev counter you could use a "Bicycle Computer" with the trip magnet on the lathe spindle.

There was an article in "Model Engineers Workshop" a while back that gave all the info How to do it.

You program the wheel circumference to 167 centimetres then the reading needs to be multiplied by 10

Therefore 127.5 = 1275 RPM.

Here is link to the controls that I use

http://www.surpluscenter.com/Electrical/Motor-Speed-Controllers/90-180-VDC-SPEED-CONTROL-W-POT.axd

They are small and compact and fairly easy to wire up BUT they must be set up to suit the motor being used.

You need have the skills required to do this as high voltage DC current is very unforgiving and can be FATAL.

Use the existing motor pulley and flywheel as it helps with a bit smoother running construct a new pulley for the counter shaft to match the "Poly Vee" pitch on the motor.

When you are up and running you will have an even more smooth running an very versatile machine.

Eric

180W is not enough for a treadmill, 1.8KW would be about right. If the machine originally ran off the mains and you intend to use the original controls, it doesn't matter what the motor voltage is since the motor driver supplies the correct voltage. You should locate and retain the speed sensor, some controls wont work without them. The controls usually consist of transformer and filters, electronic control and display and motor driver. The electronic control and display section may be removed and replaced with a potentiometer and on/off switch. If you do this, the speed control usually has to be set to minimum before the motor will start. Be careful with this, 200VDC can BITE!

Dave