daniel bates on thu 16 nov 00
I would appreciate any information on locating a speed control and foot
pedal for an electric wheel (DC motor) I plan to build.
Thanks
ferenc jakab on fri 17 nov 00
> I would appreciate any information on locating a speed control and foot
> pedal for an electric wheel (DC motor) I plan to build.
What about a pedal from an old electric sowing machine?
Feri.
vince pitelka on mon 20 nov 00
> What about a pedal from an old electric sowing machine?
Feri -
Sewing machine pedals are just small rheostats, and they work only on the
very small motors found on sewing machines. They do not work on larger
motors, as one would need on a pottery wheel, and they are a completely
different animal than the speed control mechanisms found on DC-motor pottery
wheels. Also, rheostat controls do not give an even power curve.
Characteristically, they have no low-end torque at all.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
vince pitelka on tue 21 nov 00
> If there is no way I can do this with spare parts I find around town.
> Where would I find these items?, Is there a company I could order them
> through? It's a home made wheel. My first wheel came from Thomas Stuart
> and I had planned to order a new wheel head from them. But like Feri, I
> thought I could get a sewing machine petal. Oh for the simplicity!!
Nancy -
Oh boy. I wish you the best. I would never buy a homemade wheel unless it
was in good working order. I do not know much about DC motors, so I do not
know much about the speed control mechanisms. There are a broad range of DC
motors out there, and the reason they are used in pottery wheels is that you
can regulate the speed while mainting maximum power, whereas an AC motor
looses its torque at lower RPMs.
In order to figure out what you need to fix your wheel, you need to find out
whether it has an AC or a DC motor. If it has an AC motor, then you need to
sell it to some tinkerer, and buy a new or used brand-name wheel. If it has
a DC motor, then you need to ingratiate yourself to your local electrician
or electric motor expert, and find out what kind of speed control will work
with your motor. If you are lucky, the speed control circuit and foot pedal
from a brand-name wheel might work on your motor. It will not be cheap, but
it will be less than a new wheel.
And regarding the wheelhead, if you just need the wheelhead itself, then you
must determine the shaft size, and find a brand-name wheel with the same
shaft, and buy a replacement wheelhead from them. If you need the bearings
too, then you will want to buy the wheelhead, shaft, bearings, and bearing
housing as a complete assembly. You can buy this from most of the wheel
manufacturers. If you buy it from Brent, you can then use the Brent
Splashpan, the best one on the market, since the flange which holds the
splash pan is part of the bearing housing.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Martin Howard on tue 21 nov 00
Potters Mate do these.
Try sending an E-mail to malcolm@pottersmate.co.uk
Martin Howard
Webb's Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
England
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
ferenc jakab on tue 21 nov 00
> Feri -
> Sewing machine pedals are just small rheostats, and they work only on the
> very small motors found on sewing machines. They do not work on larger
> motors, as one would need on a pottery wheel, and they are a completely
Vince,
A full and enlightening reply as usual, thank you.
Feri.
Bill and Sylvia Shirley on tue 21 nov 00
In one of my "genius" moments, I decided to build a motorized banding wheel using a
motor and pedal from an old sewing machine. I made a freestanding little cabinet,
and used a bat cut from a sink cutout for the wheel head. It looked good, and spun
like crazy, (could put the pot into orbit if you weren't careful) but you have to
keep your foot on the pedal - in EXACTLY the same position - at the same time
you're trying to decorate a pot, or it speeds up or stops. That was hard for me to
do, being uncoordinated and all. I tried removing the spring that pushes the pedal
back up, but that didn't work very well. Finally, I tossed it.
Those motors and pedals are a lot of fun to experiment with, though, and you can
get them at garage sales for next to nothing. A lot of times the motors are still
good. (I wonder if you couldn't rig one up to make a ball mill?) The older ones
are better, because the motors are stronger. Those things could sew leather and
thick denim. Good luck trying to even hem jeans with a newer machine.
Sylvia Shirley
vince pitelka wrote:
> > What about a pedal from an old electric sowing machine?
>
> Feri -
> Sewing machine pedals are just small rheostats, and they work only on the
> very small motors found on sewing machines. They do not work on larger
> motors, as one would need on a pottery wheel, and they are a completely
> different animal than the speed control mechanisms found on DC-motor pottery
> wheels. Also, rheostat controls do not give an even power curve.
> Characteristically, they have no low-end torque at all.
> Best wishes -
> - Vince
>
> Vince Pitelka
> Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
> 615/597-5376
> Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
> 615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
> Appalachian Center for Crafts
> Tennessee Technological University
> 1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
> http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Ron & Nancy on tue 21 nov 00
So sorry, I have been little behind in my reading and have just
caught the thread on the speed control information. What is
recommended? I just bought a used electric wheel that has the same
problem. It has one speed .....fast. And it needs a new wheel head also
.. If there is no way I can do this with spare parts I find around town.
Where would I find these items?, Is there a company I could order them
through? It's a home made wheel. My first wheel came from Thomas Stuart
and I had planned to order a new wheel head from them. But like Feri, I
thought I could get a sewing machine petal. Oh for the simplicity!!
Recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Nancy Hamilton-Hughes looking for a sunny day in Tucson.
David Hendley on tue 21 nov 00
I was waiting to see if anyone had any ideas about this.
I don't think there is anything 'off-the-shelf' that will
do a good job controlling a DC potter's wheel motor.
If I wanted to build my own wheel with a DC motor (actually
a pretty easy project), I would buy the speed control
box and foot pedal from a wheel manufacturer, ready to
connect to the motor.
This is the heart of what makes a good, quiet, smooth
running wheel, and the wheel companies have spent years
designing and improving the electronics involved.
I know that Pacifica will sell the foot pedal and control box
because they are offered for sale to upgrade older wheels.
I bought the upgrade about 8 years ago, and there is now
a newer upgrade, with improved electronics and a heavier
pedal.
As long as I was buying things, I would go ahead and buy the
big plastic piece that covers the top of the wheel table.
Nothing I could make at home would look or work as well.
Of course, now we're talking about several hundred dollars,
and the price of the homemade wheel would probably not be
that much less than just buying one ready-to-go.
The motivation for building your own should be to get exactly
what you want, not to save $$.
--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/
..
scott lykens on tue 21 nov 00
how to fix sort of depends on the wheel brand.
basically all the manufactures offer replacemnet parts. maybe you hav eto
call where they build em, but they sell them.
some pedals have an adjustment screw for low and high end and a bit of
jossleing around or a good dose of water seems to adjust the range for you.
some have magnets and hte distance between the m adjusts them, some have the
brains in a control box mounted to the wheel chassis. call the manufacturer
or call a large scale distributor, like a place that suplies your
distributors. laguna, a.r.t., starndard ceramic, those types of folks.
someone wants to help you and probably at a competative price. i like brent
pedals. ive even heard of folks putting them on other wheeels to get all
they want in a wheel.
best of luck
>From: Ron & Nancy
>Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: wheel speed control info
>Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 10:26:46 -0700
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> So sorry, I have been little behind in my reading and have just
>caught the thread on the speed control information. What is
>recommended? I just bought a used electric wheel that has the same
>problem. It has one speed .....fast. And it needs a new wheel head also
>. If there is no way I can do this with spare parts I find around town.
>Where would I find these items?, Is there a company I could order them
>through? It's a home made wheel. My first wheel came from Thomas Stuart
>and I had planned to order a new wheel head from them. But like Feri, I
>thought I could get a sewing machine petal. Oh for the simplicity!!
>Recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
>Nancy Hamilton-Hughes looking for a sunny day in Tucson.
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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michael wendt on thu 23 nov 00
Dear Nancy,
There are several schemes available that allow you to vary the speed of your
ac powered wheel without a d.c. motor. Here's an easy and very cheap one.
Many kick wheels use a rubber drive wheel attached to the motor shaft that
then makes contact with the flywheel rim of the potter's wheel. If you add a
spring (either a compression or a tension spring as the frame allows) to the
motor pivot system so that the drive wheel does not make contact unless you
push on an actuator pedal or lever (which you will need to add), the wheel
will still function as a kick wheel but with variable speed. Push down
lightly and the rubber drive wheel will slip a little and gradually speed up
the wheel. Just let up a little if it goes too fast for your load. Push
harder and you get more torque and speed.
I have built many wheels of various designs both ac and dc and can explain
in detail why ac motors don't change speed with voltage while dc motors do,
if anyone cares. If anyone asks for more info, I will include in a follow-up
post my main resources for low cost dc motors and speed controllers as well
as bearings and other drive components like worm drive speed reducers.
Regards,
Michael Wendt wendtpot@lewiston.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ron & Nancy
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 12:52 PM
Subject: wheel speed control info
> So sorry, I have been little behind in my reading and have just
>caught the thread on the speed control information. What is
>recommended? I just bought a used electric wheel that has the same
>problem. It has one speed .....fast. And it needs a new wheel head also
>. If there is no way I can do this with spare parts I find around town.
>Where would I find these items?, Is there a company I could order them
>through? It's a home made wheel. My first wheel came from Thomas Stuart
>and I had planned to order a new wheel head from them. But like Feri, I
>thought I could get a sewing machine petal. Oh for the simplicity!!
>Recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
>Nancy Hamilton-Hughes looking for a sunny day in Tucson.
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
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