Shhh Ron.....don't let these guys know the big secret about
treadmills. ;)
A story...
For me, this last summer was "The Summer of the Treadmill". I got
several different treadmills for nothing...right place at the right
time. One was like the ones you mention. It had a complete Reeves
mechanism with a very healthy AC 220V motor...a bear to tear down
because it was built like a tank...first time I have used a sled
hammer as the main disassembly tool. When you take yours apart, make
sure you keep the entire Reeves/motor assembly together in one piece.
My assembly would be a drop-in replacement for a bandsaw application
that is being discussed.
The other treadmill I got had a LARGE DC motor assembly with speed
controller. When I mention LARGE DC motor, I am describing a real 3.5
HP DC Baldor motor that weighs many pounds. I was told by the store
that threw the treadmill out that the motor was worth thousands of
dollars
Finally I found another treadmill in the junkyard later this summer
(remember I had been looking for surplus treadmills for years with no
success until now). When I tore this one apart, lo and behold, there
was the "infamous treadmill motor" that the surplus places sell.
A simple test that I now use to determine whether there is "HSM gold"
in that thar treadmill is to try to pick up the powered end of the
treadmill. If you can, the treadmill has the "infamous treadmill
motor" of questionable horsepower...useful for some applications. If
you can't pick the treadmill up, you likely have yourself a treadmill
worth taking apart since the two I mentioned (the Reeves and the BIG
DC) were ones I couldn't budge without busting a disc or two.
The moral of this story....if you can find a high end treadmill, GRAB
IT. It will have either a Reeves mechanism with a BIG AC motor or a
BIG DC motor. Either of these are perfect drop-in subassemblies for
powering bandsaws, mills or lathes with little or no modification to
the machine in question.
Oh, and my New Year's resolution is to find all the treadmills I can't
lift for the coming year. ;)
Ron Moore wrote in message ...
I picked up a couple of treadmills the other day at a surplus biz. I
thought they would be a varispeed DC unit. I found that they used a
motor-controlled cone pulley arrangement with a 1+ hp (haven't torn it
apart yet) AC motor. It has about a 12:1 speed range (3/4 - 10 mph).
It should be great for a bandsaw app as the most torque will develope
at the slowest speed. These are old hospital grade units that are
getting replaced a lot these days. Just a thought if you have any
surplus resources in your area.
Respectfully,
Ron Moore
Roy wrote:
I got a lot of mixed results in regards to gear reducer drives, VFD's
and jack shafts in regards to my powering up my home brew bandsaw.
I had thought I could do it with my 1.5 hp DC motor and a gear reducer
and jackshaft, but then along came the VFD's etc........Not looking
to spend a ton of money of course but not necessarily looking to cut
corners either. I want it to be useable in the home shop for metal
cutting mainly with wood and other materials secondary.
Anyone have any offerings as to how or what would be the best yet most
economical way to power this bandsaw?
Specs....3 wheels (12" approx diam 37.75" circumferance) Preferable
speeds for metal cutting and hopefully speeds for wood cutting as
well.
I found a neat crank type gear reducer however it may be a bit to
light for this job. Its at the below link on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tegory=26 227
I am at the point I need to decide how I am going to power this thing,
so any info would be appreciated.
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