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Treadmill motor uses?

Son in law changed his mind and will not be using newly acquired ($25 garage
sale item) treadmill. Choices are to give it away free via Craigslist to a
happy user or tear it apart for some fun pieces.
In the past years you readers have written a lot about using treadmill motors.
How about the belt? Rollers? Re-use for what purpose? I love projects, give me
some ideas.
Thanks, Ivan Vegvary
Reply to
Ivan Vegvary
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item) treadmill. Choices are to give it away free via Craigslist to a happy user or tear it apart for some fun pieces.
about the belt? Rollers? Re-use for what purpose? I love projects, give me some ideas.
I snagged a couple of free treadmills off of CL intending to use the motors on my drill press and small wood lathe to make both variable speed. Alas the shafts on both are 17mm dia and finding pulleys to match has been a show stopper. Art
Reply to
Artemus
c'mon, Artemus...buy the req dia. pulley with suitable hub dimensions.. Bore out, fab a sleeve, and yer done. Metalworking-remember? JR Dweller in the cellar
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Reply to
JR North
Makes a pretty good variable-speed motor. Just divide the claimed horsepower by a factor of two or so, and add a fan that is not on the motor (ie, a fan with it's own, full-speed, motor) if you plan to run it slow (make the fan's air intake from a clean place if you also plan to run it dirty, which is basically true in any shop use.)
My primary use has been wood lathes, but any other shop use that benefits from variable speed (drill press, buffer, belt grinder, etc.) can benefit.
Reply to
Ecnerwal
=A0I love projects, give me some ideas.
Give me a few more days. I am working on something, but want to make sure it really works before letting you know.
=20 Dan
Reply to
dcaster
I use one to drive a small lathe. The high speed of the motor is perfect for the small diameter parts this lathe is capable of turning. I also use the speed controller that was on the treadmill. ERic
Reply to
etpm
I got a whole truckload of assorted such parts including two partially dismantled Stairmasters and a treadmill with no electronics from a repair biz that went bust.
The treadmill had a gear motor with Acme (square?) thread shaft (+ 5 spares :-). Gave one to a guy to build a dumbwaiter for his firewood.
A pulley from a Stairmaster was just right for uprading a small carding mill that was missing parts from the factory.
Those gear motors are reversible so you can use them to position tools, workpieces or whatever. Same as ones used to elevate hospital beds.
Oh, and the big motor on the treadmill had a variable-pitch V-pulley on it. Haven't found a use for it yet but I will.
And those rollers are, IIRC, an odd size of (relatively) thin-wall steel tube. (I was hoping they were stainless but they weren't) Odd-size round things are always handy, especially if you don't have a lathe.
Reply to
Mike Spencer
Metalworker worried about an odd-sizex pulley????
Reply to
clare
Didn't know that.
After a quick google, I think this treadmill setup kinda did it on the cheap. Only the motor pulley is variable. The motor mount is slid along rails by a separate gear motor to force the belt into the sheave (thus reducing diameter) or the reverse.
Now I have to go have another look at it. Maybe good for a drill press that I want to restore this winter. It maybe could replace the stepped flatbelt rigamarole. (Yeah, an *old* drill press.) Gotta finish the cider pressing and then glue up the new kitchen worktop first to make space.
I vaguely recall seeing a weird little car that used a more sophisticated version of this in the mid-60s. DKW? DAF?
Tnx,
Reply to
Mike Spencer
DAF Daffodil from Holland
Reply to
clare
Here is a pic of the tag on a treadmill motor I have:
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Here is a pic of all I have to do to control it as a variable speed motor. I have a variac plugging into the wall and driving a 4 diode bridge rectifier. The rectifier is driving the motor. I turn the dial on the variac and the motor changes speed.
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Reply to
clarkmagnuson
Use it as a motor for a spark gap for a Tesla Coil, or use it as a generator attached to a wind or water turbine.
Jon
Reply to
Jon Danniken
or
How
Yup. That's the problem. Art
Reply to
Artemus
I would say to get 5/8 inch shaft pulley and just drill it out to 17mm 5/8 inch is only 1mm 17mm=43/64 and 5/8inch=16mm
Reply to
lonewolf14779

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