leeson variable speed motors

M

magnum .44

Joined
Jun 12, 1999
Messages
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i found a catalog that sells leeson dc variable speed motors, the 1.5hp motor, with controls is $530, and i asked for the price of a 2hp, which he will call me tomorrow with the price. is it worth getting a variable speed 2hp, 0-1750, or should i stick with a 3hp 3450 for $170. is it really that much easier to finish blades with a variable speed to warrant spending an extra $430- $500? will i get enough torque of a 2hp variable speed to be happy with it, remember i'm using a 3"x132" belt, not a 2"x 72". thanks in advance.
 
in my opinion you HAVE to have a good variable speed to make NICE knives (I am talking about nice looking here)..Aesthetic appeal is very important to me....but there are some very good knife makes who dont have them.....I dont know how they do it....plus, i think its worth the money just so you dont have to burn your fingers 50 times per day.

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
my mind is made up, variable speed. thanks guys. one more question: are they reversable? or should i specify that i need counter clockwise rotation? thanks in advance.
 
i just checked, the controller has a reverse switch. can you run reverse full time? or will it damage the motor?
 
If you run it in reverse, your face and hair will look like your floor. Lotsa grit flying.
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You can find Variable speed motors for considerably less on Ebay if you have some patience! I just bought a Baldor 1hp dc motor new in box for $153 including shipping.
Just food for thought.
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i'd get grit in my eye's too, but i need reverse becuase the clockwise rotation motor would have the belt going up, so i switched it so it goes down.
i checked out e-bay, couldn't find any though, before i buy the motor i'll check.
need to know if you guys suggest i spend the extra $200 and get 2hp over 1.5hp
 
Magmun,

For what it's worth my grinder has a 2hp var. baldor motor and I would recommend this motor anytime.

Jeff

 
I don't remember who had them right now, but I remember seeing an aftermarket variable speed control for a lot less than the $200-$300 your looking at there. It was designed for things like fixed speed routers and was basically based on variable resistance to control the amount of amperage getting to the tool. It looked pretty simple, you could either rewire the tool to run off of it, or I think they had one that worked like an outlet. I don't remember what the rating was. It may not carry enough for a heavy duty motor like you want,Or it could burn out really fast if you tried to slow things down to much on a line carrying alot of voltage. I'll look around and see if I can find them again.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
i saw that router thing but routers run on 115v, and the motor will run on 230v.
i'm gonna have to think about spending the extra $200, if i find it to be definetly worth it i'll go for it. i'm glad i can get some opinions on this though. thanks jeff.
 
Yeah I found the router control a little bit ago. It carried a whopping 1.5 amps which would almost be enough to get the motor turning on a big grinder like your building. I'm pretty sure I saw some that were heavier duty though somewhere.
I don't know what good that small control would be, even for a router. Most of the good routers any more are at least 1.5 horse power and run on a lot more than 1.5 amps.


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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
spend the money...get the right thing...it will save you BIG headaches in the long run. If you are going to do all your grinding on one machine...2 hp is good...make sure it is 1750 rpm or less.....2 hp at 3600rpm is not a very good thing....you need it to be strong, not fast...as for all the deals out there...most of them are cheap for a good reason...is it totally enclosed, its it a permanent magnet dc motor(thats what the leesons are)...is it used, how many amps, rpms etc etc etc.....dont throw your money away just to save a few bucks....if you already have a grinder and are buying one to finish on, 1.5 hp is all you need.

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
alright, i'll go for the leeson 2hp variable speed, tefc, reversible, and has a brake. thanks for the advice. it runs at 0-1750. permenent magnet.
Matt, most of the new 3 1/4hp plunge routers have electically varible speed, so the don't need em.

[This message has been edited by magnum .44 (edited 03-18-2000).]
 
Oops. I must have missed that part on it being a DC motor. Those controllers won't work with those anyway. And if its a sealed magnetic motor, you can't use them either because they're only for motors with replaceable brushes.
McMaster carr has motor controllers on their page, but my adobe acrobat isn't working so I couldn't look at them. Chances are you'll be just as well off to buy the whole unit from leeson. That way you know for sure that the motor and the control are matched for amperage and voltage and everything.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Thats what I meant. You'd probably be better off to buy the package deal than to try and mix and match. When I was talking about the after market controllers I was thinking you could get a single speed motor thats cheaper and add the controller yourself.
btw woodcraft has, or least use to have a conroller for routers that says it will work with any motor up to 3 hp or 15 amps that uses brushes. Its about $40. That would work with most belt/disc sanders if you use one of those for profiling or finishing. You usually don't need the variable speed there, but it may be nice for things like profiling handles where you need to grind away a little bit of metal and it burns the crap out of the wood while you do it. I'm not sure about them having them now, because my mom keeps throwing away my supply catalogs and I could only find one that was about a year old.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
i'll just get the real deal, the leeson motor with controls. plus it's 230v. i'm pretty sure that controller is for 115v. you could probably use it for your grinder, the delta 1"x30"(that's the grinder you have right?)
 
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