I read on a UK site where this guy snags a tread mill on it's way to the "scrap heap" and salvages the motor and controller. Puts it on a drill press, says it works fine. Turning a belt with a 200lb. blob on it is one think, turning a 3/4" drill bit is another. Has any one ever seen or heard of this done? Woodildo
Well, I've never used one off of a treadmill. We do have a variable speed controller thing. You plug it into the wall, then plug the tool (be it a drill press, grinder, whatever) into the controller. The controller has a knob that you turn, and it works great for slowing electric motors down. However, this controller deal that we have at home works with electrical resistance. As soon as you put a load on the tool it quits turning, because when the speed of the tool was reduced, the torque of the tool went with it. As far as I know, a treadmil works the same way as that controller. Rather than gear the motor down so that it can do some work, it builds more electrical resistance. So the motor gets less juice to it; the speed and power go away. What you want is to "gear it down." All the drill presses I've been around have two pulleys and a belt in the top. You use them to decrease the speed of the tool, and to give the drill some added capacity. If you haven't already, you could probably just as well put it on the slowest, most powerful setting. If it is already, you need to use more bits to lead up to the final size, rather than drilling it all at once. Or get a bigger drill press, or find a friend with a mill. So, in limited instances where a lot of power isn't needed I suppose it would work. But no, it probably won't help you drill through mild steel. Sorry to crush your hopes and dreams, Adam
If you can afford one, the Powermatic (Industrial grade) Drill press with the variable speed pully is the answer. No loss in torque; change speed on the fly. Just turn the crank.o
Harbor Freight Drill Press > Time and effort required to hodge podge together a drill press from a treadmill. Like Dale says, some things are just worth buying new.
No, don't do that! (get back in the box, I mean). I've thought about that too... worked the whole thing out with a friend. But if anyone has done it, I'd love to hear about it. -Brad
Sorry man, I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm just slow today and I couln't figure out what you were talking about. Not trying to step on your toes. What kind of a box? Is it dark in there? I hope you have cable. Adam
Using a resistance type of controler is not a good idea at all, When you drop the voltage you will increase the amperage that the motor will draw under a load which will cause the motor to heat up and will burn it up in a very short time. Much better off to sell it and put the money towards a drill press with adjustable belt pully system.
Most treadmill motors are DC. The controller works like an electric toy train transformer. It converts AC to DC. Motor speed is controlled by load and voltage. These motors have a lot of low RPM torque. Good for drill presses, mills, lathes, anything where variable speed is desirable. Lots of info on the web including "how to" articles where 3 phase AC motors were replaced with variable speed DC motors. On a much larger scale, diesel electric locomotives use DC drive motors. No transmissions. At rest (stopped and idling) the drive motors are not turning. The engine and the train, say 125 filled coal cars, starts to move when power is sent from the diesel powered generator to the drive motors. Pretty stout stuff.
They work great and are well worth the time to set up. Just do a google search for "treadmill motor drill press"... there are literally hundreds of sites with everything you need to know about them. http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=treadmill+motor+drill+press&aq=0b&aqi=g-b1&aql=&oq=treadmill+drill+&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=571a5a623a709717
Virtually all treadmill motors are DC as has been pointed out. And they use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) speed controllers rather than a resistive type. So they can generate a lot of torque at very low speeds. They have to, because the fattest people on the treadmill run them the slowest. They make excellent motors for lathes and drill presses (and bead rollers) as long as you use a PWM controller. Edit: Unkl Ian, I type slow.....
Works very well Google it many have been done.They are cheap as dirt some times on flee bay. Great for band saw reduction from wood speed to metal speed. Tig.
I have a drill press with a 1/2 hp motor/ I have recently picked up 3 treadmills to salvage the motor/controllers. Two are 2.5 hp, one is 3. All are dc motors with PWM controllers. This is the standard for the past 20 years or so. It will be plenty strong enough for anything you need around the shop. Be sure to check the motor before you dis-assemble it. Usually a bunch of wires runs up one of the legs to the control panel. You need to fish the wire through the leg. Watch out for little safety switches. Sometimes they are magnetic, so you just lay a magnet over the top of the switch to activate it. I think the power will be fine for anything you need around the shop.
Log on to Instructables.com and use the search. They have several articles where people have used them.
I salvaged the motor and controller off a $20 tread mill and installed on my vintage band saw . Actually I used the cord and all wiring and the motor mount from the tread mill as well . Perfect to control blade speed for cutting different materials without fooling with pulley changes.
First off, I'm not Chuck Norris, Chuck-yes, Norris-no. Second, HF- they have nothing I want, nothing I need, I refuse to buy crap. Third, I was simply curious about ahe tread mill motor and controller. It maybe usefull information for some build in the future. Forth, My drill press's lowest RPM is 180. I have a dozen+ high-end carbide tipped holesaw's ( 3/4" to2 1/2"). The smaller saw's are OK with 180 RPM, but the 1 1/2" and larger don't like that high RPM. If I do convert to someother drive system, I will do it right. 3PH. motor and a VFD. I take this lesson from a rather large beadroller that I am now building. More on that later. Woodildo, I do thank all of you for your in-put and knowledge based opinion. All knowledge is useless, til you need it.
I thinkin' bead roller as well, i have a pedal off of a check out lane conveyor on my drill press because the switch went bad.
for a bead roller you can use electric bed motors, they have gear reduction and you get two or three out of every bed, there AC, reversable and you can control there speed somewhat.
The best motor controllers I have found to re-purpose are electric wheelchair motors. They have built in gear reduction transmissions with simple disconnects. They also have a very heavy duty PWM motor speed controller with built in reversing. Extreme torque and variable speed in a compact package. Contact the Maintenance Director at your local nursing home and offer to remove any old powerchairs they are looking to get rid of. Once they are so worn they can not be used any more and they are bulky and get in the way if not in use. Offer to pay scrap value for them and be ready to pick them up when they call. I use them on my Junior cars as drive motor. Just send a letter addressed to the Maintenance director to the nursing home stating you would like the chairs if they want to get rid of them and include your name and number and "wanted old electric wheelchairs" on a 3X5 card so they can post it on their bulletin board for when the day comes to get rid of them.
Railroad engines switched to AC motors many years ago. No brushes to wear out and multi pole motors have a lot of starting torque. We use two of the old Railroad DC generators as motors to power a shredder because they were relatively cheap when the railroads were scrapping them. Now they're getting rare. They're rated at 2,000 hp each but can be pushed to 3,000. Turns a car into pieces no bigger than your fist in 20 seconds. Battery operated forklifts have also switched to AC motors. We get lots of treadmills in the scrap. I'll have to check it out for our drill presses.
I sold fitness equiptment for a dozen years. (worst fucking part of the bicycle business) Most of the throw away treadmills you will find on the curb are SHIT! The motors are SHIT, that is why they are n the curb. If it says it is a 3hp, it is really about 1/4-1/2hp. They use PEAK HP figures to look more impressive at ShopMartco. Real world HP is a fractin of what the sticker says. You are better off looking at an industrial salvage place. Look for Leeson,Baldor and some of the other name brands. Northern stocks quite a few for reference.
one thing to beware of: my ancient treadmill uses an adjustable sheave to regulate speed - no electronic speed control.
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