It seems something of a mantra to use an "old washing machine" motor for
a grinder, lathe or whatever, but all the FWW articles that I've read
show "old" motors that apparently date from the 1940's or 1950's -- they
look like the usual TEFC motors that one is accustomed to seeing in the
woodshop.

However, when I disassembled our dying dishwasher last year the motor
that I unearthed did not look like any TEFC motor that I ever saw. No
housing, winding exposed, and wires coming out of it that I had never
seen on a motor before. Rather than risk electrocuting myself or burning
the house down I put the motor at curbside along with the remnants of
the dishwasher.

So can someone point me to web material that would show examples of
modern home appliance motors being converted to woodshop use? My clothes
dryer has been on the fritz for awhile.

Thanks,

J.

John,

I believe you will find that the motor on the dryer is more in-line with
what you envision as a motor - compared to the washing machine motor. The
dryer motor typically is an enclosed motor (not TEFC though) and drives a
belt that goes around the drying tub. I would suspect it to be a good sized
motor since it has to turn a heavy load of wet clothes and should be
suitable for making a drum sander, grinder or whatever else you may dream
up.

As for a web site - try Google.

Bob S.


"John" wrote in message
...
It seems something of a mantra to use an "old washing machine" motor for a
grinder, lathe or whatever, but all the FWW articles that I've read show
"old" motors that apparently date from the 1940's or 1950's -- they look
like the usual TEFC motors that one is accustomed to seeing in the
woodshop.

However, when I disassembled our dying dishwasher last year the motor that
I unearthed did not look like any TEFC motor that I ever saw. No housing,
winding exposed, and wires coming out of it that I had never seen on a
motor before. Rather than risk electrocuting myself or burning the house
down I put the motor at curbside along with the remnants of the
dishwasher.

So can someone point me to web material that would show examples of modern
home appliance motors being converted to woodshop use? My clothes dryer
has been on the fritz for awhile.

Thanks,

J.

Most modern motors I see these days are exposed windings, to make them cheap
and get a little more cooling.
Watch the yard sales for old dryer motors. They have mounting bases,
usually, and are generally 2-5 bucks. Washer motors tend to mount from
their ends. They are fine motors, but won't start much torque. I've used
them on small tablesaws and bandsaws, even small compressors, especially if
you use use an unloader switch. Dryer motors often drive the fan from one
end and the drum from the other. You can hook two together with a coupling
and have twice the power!
Wilson


"Bob S" wrote in message
. ..
John,

I believe you will find that the motor on the dryer is more in-line with
what you envision as a motor - compared to the washing machine motor. The
dryer motor typically is an enclosed motor (not TEFC though) and drives a
belt that goes around the drying tub. I would suspect it to be a good
sized motor since it has to turn a heavy load of wet clothes and should be
suitable for making a drum sander, grinder or whatever else you may dream
up.

As for a web site - try Google.

Bob S.


"John" wrote in message
...
It seems something of a mantra to use an "old washing machine" motor for
a grinder, lathe or whatever, but all the FWW articles that I've read
show "old" motors that apparently date from the 1940's or 1950's -- they
look like the usual TEFC motors that one is accustomed to seeing in the
woodshop.

However, when I disassembled our dying dishwasher last year the motor
that I unearthed did not look like any TEFC motor that I ever saw. No
housing, winding exposed, and wires coming out of it that I had never
seen on a motor before. Rather than risk electrocuting myself or burning
the house down I put the motor at curbside along with the remnants of the
dishwasher.

So can someone point me to web material that would show examples of
modern home appliance motors being converted to woodshop use? My clothes
dryer has been on the fritz for awhile.

Thanks,

J.

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 22:27:18 +0000, Wilson opined:

Dryer motors often drive the fan from one
end and the drum from the other. You can hook two together with a coupling
and have twice the power!

Cool. Do the shafts have to be turned to any particular spot relative to
the windings? (I'm imagining one shaft at "top dead center" and the other
motor's shaft turned halfway between poles.) How much slop in alignment
can such a rig take: Should the motors be bolted to a metal rail, instead
of wood? Is the delivered power strictly additive? (I'd guess "not quite,
but close.")



--
"Keep your ass behind you"
wreck20051219 at spambob.net

That is the problem with most appliance motors. The appliance is the
housing. They are pretty much worthless.

"John" wrote in message
...
It seems something of a mantra to use an "old washing machine" motor for
a grinder, lathe or whatever, but all the FWW articles that I've read
show "old" motors that apparently date from the 1940's or 1950's -- they
look like the usual TEFC motors that one is accustomed to seeing in the
woodshop.

However, when I disassembled our dying dishwasher last year the motor
that I unearthed did not look like any TEFC motor that I ever saw. No
housing, winding exposed, and wires coming out of it that I had never
seen on a motor before. Rather than risk electrocuting myself or burning
the house down I put the motor at curbside along with the remnants of
the dishwasher.

So can someone point me to web material that would show examples of
modern home appliance motors being converted to woodshop use? My clothes
dryer has been on the fritz for awhile.

Thanks,

J.

I would try a used bookstore, or Amazon etc. I have seen some pretty
neat old books about repairing applicances and building electrical
gizmos - I'm sure there's one for exactly this topic that's been
published in the last 50 years.