Speed Reduction on Electric Motors

[Fred Mc]

My wife is trying to sew some upholstry for the bus and we have an industrial sewing machine with a 1/2 hp clutch motor. Problem is that the motor runs to fast and I have done some mods to reduce the speed with different sized pulleys etc.
I have a variable speed control that I use for my router and angle grinder(when used as a polisher) in the shop and would like to try it on the sewing machine but am a little apprehensive. Anyone have any ideas on whether this would work. I don't want to hook it up and find out I let all the smoke out of the motor.(its good to keep the smoke in)

Thanks

Fred Mc

Fred Mc.

[boogiethecat]

You can't really put a speed contol on one of those motors because they are an AC motor that basically only runs at one speed.
The control for your grinder is made for a DC motor (your grinder has brushes so it's bascically a DC motor) so it's incompatible

There is a much better way... spend $100 and get her a DC speed-controlled motor that's made specifically for industrial sewing machines.
It's the best hundred bucks you'll ever spend on that machine!

Search "servo consew" on ebay and you'll find quite a few. They all have built in DC speed controls, all are pretty much a drop-in replacement for the old clutch motor (they come complete with the standardized mounts and a full pack of any hardware you'll need), and they all have a neat little knob that you can set what the maximum speed will be.  

I've bought 4 thus far for my machines and a couple of friends.  It only takes about ten minutes to swap them out, the kits are well thought out.
Can't be beat!!

cheers
Gary

[Fred Mc]

Thanks

Fred.