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Terry Bigelow
11-06-2008, 9:17 AM
O.K. bear with me. I am a woodworker NOT an electrician, that being said I have a projct I'm working on that requires either a slow speed or variable speed motor. The project is sort of a vertical lathe where the workpeice would be rotating flat on a table and a router would take material off on the vertical axis. Am I making sense? So what I need is a motor to drive the "turntable" and thus the workpeice. It obviously needs to be very slow speed or variable. I have no idea where to look or who to ask so I figured I'd try here. Anybody?:confused:
Rod Sheridan
11-06-2008, 9:53 AM
Hi Tony, I suggest that you look for a motor with a built in gear reducer.

You should be able to find some at surplus places.

Regards, Rod.
mreza Salav
11-06-2008, 10:17 AM
A DC gear motor is something will do that. For these types of motors you also need a controller (which supports both the DC power AND the variable speed control). There are also AC ones that are cheaper but their controllers are much more expensive. You can find some good deals on e-bay. I got a new DC gear motor on e-bay for a drum sander I built for $15.
Pete Bradley
11-06-2008, 10:57 AM
You might also look at the drive products from W. M. Berg. They have sprockets, gears, belts, and chains of all sorts.
http://www.wmberg.com/

Depending on your ultimate goal, it may be easier to build a set of round templates using a band saw and rout with a pattern bit or collar.

Pete
Cliff Rohrabacher
11-06-2008, 3:05 PM
Decent gear reducer motors will cost you a bundle. you could just rig a pulley system and get your self a couple of 4-step pulleys.
here is a source: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=93997

If this is a one-off try mounting the work on a regular lathe and rigging the router up however you want. If it's something you might do more often, consider making your own potter's table rig with a weighted kick wheel you can sit at and run with your feet while manipulating the router.

I made one some years back using a concrete kickwheel on a shaft caught between a couple of pedestal bearings. Worked Great. I didn't however, have occasion to hang a router on it.