On Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:05:24 -0500, Ignoramus7576
wrote:

On 2011-06-11, Pete C. wrote:

RoyJ wrote:

On 6/10/2011 12:43 PM, Ignoramus7576 wrote:
I brought it home and it even works.

http://igor.chudov.com/misc/ebay/tmp...e/218.jpg.html

I know what I will do with it:

I will probably reuse or sell the acetylene machine torch.

The box itself I will use for a pig roaster. My first task would be to
gear it down (change sprockets or gearmotor) some more, to get to 1 RPM speed.

i
I'll bet the unit is fairly close to 1 rpm or even less. Looks like it
was set up for doing pipe nipples, 6" pipe at 1 rpm would be 20" per
minute.

You might check the duty cycle and power rating of the motor. What
worked fine for a small, balanced load for 1 minute at time might not
work so well for a much larger, unbalanced load for hours on end.

What unbalanced load? I'm sure Iggy's BBQ spit design will have ball
bearings and adjustable counterweights along with a clutch to disengage
the motor so you can free turn the spit during balancing.

I am not sure about the clutch, but for sure I will use ball bearings.

i
My pig roaster has roasted at least 50 pigs. At least a dozen weighing
200 lbs. The pigs are threaded onto a pipe. The pipe has holes drilled
crosswise through in several places. After threading the pig onto the
pipe I pound stakes through the pig and through the holes in the pipe
until the stakes come out the other side. I wind bailing wire around
the stakes and the pig to hold everything together. The pipe, along
with the adjustabe counter weight, is set into a pair of oarlocks. The
oarlocks are the bearings. The gear reducer spins at 1 rpm, is an
"IRON FIREMAN" and plugs into one end of the pipe and is locked in
place with a 1/4-20 screw that goes through the pipe and is held in
place with a wingnut. The "IRON FIREMAN" was originally used to drive
an auger that moved coal in someone's basement. The far end of the
pipe has a bell reducer threaded on. I have a bolt and nut assembly
that goes through the end of the bell. The bolt holds a large washer
against the reducer. This bell reducer washer assembly is the thrust
bearing. The oarlock is captured on both sides, one by the washer and
the other by the belling out of the reducer. I have a pit that the
pigs hangs above where the fire goes. At either end of the pit are
pieces of pipe driven vertically into the ground. The pipes have a cap
scewed on. Each cap has a hole drilled through that accepts the shank
of the oarlock. The pit is lined on the sides with cinderblock. The
bottom is lined with brick. Except for a section from the middle which
is filled with sand. The fire is built on either side of the pit and
across the ends. The sand soaks up the fat that drips from the pig so
there are no flare-ups. The spit assembly gets passed around which is
why it has roasted so many pigs. My current pit has roasted a pig a
year for the last 16 years. Only one year was missed because of
injuries. I think ball bearings are are too sophisticated.
Eric