huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Jul 13, 2016 9:06:18 GMT -5
I saw someone post something about this in another forum, and it got me thinking. 1) You can probably get a treadmill off Craigslist for free in your area 2) Treadmill motors are typically going to be pretty darn reliable and strong and are designed for variable speeds 3) They have very good speed controls already built into the electronics
Has anyone on these boards ever re-worked a treadmill into a rock tumbler, aside from the one person who posted about it timing out? Worst case, you could just cut out all of the electronics and put a rheostat on the motor to control the speed.
I would *think* you could bypass the timer somehow, and then you could just cut off the front clip of it that houses the motor and controls and then fashion the rails into your frame. I don't think you'd really want the entire length of the treadmill, but you could shorten it up and make 4" and 6" PVC barrels that could be 30" wide that would hold a LOT of material.
Maybe there are cheaper/easier ways to make this work, I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this.
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allup
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2016
Posts: 1
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Post by allup on Jul 13, 2016 11:25:04 GMT -5
I am using a treadmill for a tumbler now. my issues are with 5 gallon buckets that wear out and needing to bypass the timer. I can only run it for 90 minutes at a time
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Post by oregon on Jul 13, 2016 11:38:41 GMT -5
Treadmills are often given away and a source of good parts. Some of the older ones have electronics that are easily separated to produce a speed controlled motor, but newer units seem to have everything integrated into one board and not quite as easy to re-purpose. They are heavy duty motors, but usually DC and 180V! (a couple HP). Overkill really for a tumbler. Running things 24/7 makes you want to pay attention to how large of a motor you're running. ie you'll notice the bill running a treadmill 24/7. But that said, the bars out of a tumbler are perfect size for a two barrel tumbler. see below. Recently I took apart a bread machine (hitachi) and it looks to have the perfect motor for a reasonable sized tumbler, plus a replacement fan for my lot-o... Started from treadmill parts.... Bread machine motor looks about perfect for a couple barrels...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2016 12:30:00 GMT -5
Whats the wattage on that bread machine motor? They have a ton of power for kneading bagels!
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Post by oregon on Jul 13, 2016 14:06:31 GMT -5
Whats the wattage on that bread machine motor? They have a ton of power for kneading bagels! As I recall the motor just had a hitachi number on it, no specs, and couldn't find any. it's already in the project box, not at hand. The tumbler above has a 1/12 hp GE motor draws ~2A. seems to run two barrels just fine and the motor isn't near as hot as the previous 1/4 hp 5A motor. As I recall the bread machine motor was ~1500 rpm, drew ~1.5A? not sure. Kneading dough is not an easy, I figured these motors should be well suited to the task. Bearings, capacitor start... besides the pulley arrangement looked just right. This came out of an hitachi HB201 or such, usually plenty of them being given away... Next tumbler.
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sschus87
starting to shine!
Member since November 2015
Posts: 49
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Post by sschus87 on Jul 21, 2016 10:28:00 GMT -5
I've got the barrels, but no skill in making something like this. It is beyond the skill level of someone with no skills?
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Post by oregon on Jul 21, 2016 20:00:52 GMT -5
If you can use a hand drill, you can probably build a decent tumbler like this for your barrels. We had the aluminum framing from some other project, but others have use 2x6's for the fame, and wood should be quiet. So, 5/8" bars (think you can find these at Home Depot, or a broken foosball table) Radiator hose that is snug (use some soap/water to slip it on. You'll need two 2 1/2" pulleys for the far end, one large and small for the motor/drive pulley. four pillow block bearings, couple lag bolts to anchor them to your 2x6 frame. Motors always seem to show up here and there if you look a little while. and oh - my end rollers (blue) are skate board wheels. nice bearings in those. You could make a metal frame out of bedframe angle iron or such, just takes a little more care cutting and drilling. The pillow blocks are forgiving. plenty of other examples buried in the forums, do some searching and go for it. The Barrels are definitely the hard part to come by.
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sschus87
starting to shine!
Member since November 2015
Posts: 49
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Post by sschus87 on Jul 26, 2016 15:37:34 GMT -5
What is the approximate space between the rods? Rest looks straight forward.
Thanks---Steve
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2016 20:27:53 GMT -5
What is the approximate space between the rods? Rest looks straight forward. Thanks---Steve I have been pondering this.seems like 1/2 of barrel diameter is a good place to start.
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Post by oregon on Aug 1, 2016 12:29:02 GMT -5
You might want to think about what size barrels you want to run on it, but the smaller belts to link the two bars will dictate much. Think I used 18" belts (A16?) with 2.5" pulleys.
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rwporter
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2017
Posts: 7
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Post by rwporter on Jan 17, 2017 8:50:21 GMT -5
I love old treadmills!! use that S@#T on everything.. estevanrock.proboards.com/thread/1368/homemade-slab a link for my slab saw that I used a treadmill motor to run and have variable speed control for the blade, also started on a flatlap and a large tumbler, just never found a suitable thing to use for a barrel yet.. will try to get my posts from another site moved over to here soon.... Ron
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Jan 17, 2017 11:35:34 GMT -5
I made my large tumbler barrels out of 12" PVC pipe [7/16" wall] with flat UHMW plastic for the ends, fixed end attached w/drywall screws and removable end held down with 1/4" hanger bolts. I have two 8", 1/2" thick barrels [2 1/2 gallon capacity] built that I would like to pass on to someone. jamesp builds nice 6" barrels, look up his posts.
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