On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 11:56:08 -0700, Jim Stewart
wrote:

Chuck Sherwood wrote:

I am not so sure.
I bought two DC motors for next to nothing: a 90V 1 HP Leeson ($5),
and a 180V 1.5 HP Dayton with controller ($20).


Add to it a few electronic relays, this and that, and I could quickly
have a power unit built on a cart.


Getting 90V DC would require some fairly expensive and heavy batteries.
180VDc would probably be insane. You will spend way more money on
batteries than you saved on the motor. All the components have to
work together and thats pretty tough to do with scrounged parts.
You will spend so much time trying to make it work and still have
a compromised product.

I have degrees in electrical engineering. I use to think I could
design and build things cheaper than I could buy them. In college
we would build our own audio amps, digital clocks etc. It was fun
and educational, but not really cheap when you take into account
the burned out parts that are part of the learning curve.

But when you get to be a productive engineer,
you can usually get free samples to burn out.

Having a son that is a silicon peddler works too!