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Sewing Machine Motor to Drive Watchmaker Lathe

jdrichard
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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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I was looking for an alternate lathe motor and I remembered that someone said you can use a sewing machine motor to drive a lathe. I am not sure if it would generate the Horsepower needed. They all seem to come with foot controllers which is a advantage. They are usually 115 volts and .8 to 1 amp. Anyone have an opinion or even use one with their lathe. PS: I also have a counter shaft pully system that I could employ to generate more torque.
 
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jdm Distinguished Member

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Of course a sewing machine motor it will have the power needed for a a watchmaker lather or even model maker. I have took apart and old machine and it has a lot of shafts and gears for advancing fabric, and many other functions. So a powerful motor is used.

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Of course a sewing machine motor it will have the power needed for a a watchmaker lather or even model maker. I have took apart and old machine and it has a lot of shafts and gears for advancing fabric, and many other functions. So a powerful motor is used.

I wonder if my wife would notice if i disassembled her moms old sewing machine:)


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Marc Distinguished Member

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My 8mm BTM is powered by a motor salvaged from an old (1950's) Jones sewing machine, controlled using the Jones foot pedal. I even use the rubber drive belt from the Jones. No issues with power or torque here, even at the slower speeds.

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jdm Distinguished Member

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3 hours ago, jdrichard said:


I wonder if my wife would notice if i disassembled her moms old sewing machine:)

That is my mom's Necchi machine, but it has been out of service since many years already. The fault is a worn or distorted shaft, which would always cause is o seize almost, and the motor to overheat. I was not able to fix the shaft, but cleaned and rewired the motor, which works fine in itself. Maybe one day I'll use it to power a lathe :)

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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My 8mm BTM is powered by a motor salvaged from an old (1950's) Jones sewing machine, controlled using the Jones foot pedal. I even use the rubber drive belt from the Jones. No issues with power or torque here, even at the slower speeds.

That has to be the best option then, thanks Mark.


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

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Problem solved i think. I landed three sewing machine motors and a singer foot pedal from a local sewing business that also does repairs. The maintenance guy had a large box of motors and gave me three. I have figured out how to hook up the motor to a transfer pulley and then to the lathe. Just need a few more brackets to attach the motor and i am done. Need to hook the pedal up as well, although i do have a Lowboy pedal in the mail that should work: in line with the power cord.c7320dbefa50bf7430408053c4a3aaca.jpg&key=54d64a279e8413fd32b1347c1f0d61c799940319349371b1759fe32b357c0c5c

 

 

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

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Was about to say, mark put a post and link up to a motor he uses on his lathe, I took his advice and bought one myself, nice and quite and comes with a foot pedal, all for £30 brand new

I may have too many motors now:) I’ll have a look. 30 lb is 60 bucks canadian


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

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Was about to say, mark put a post and link up to a motor he uses on his lathe, I took his advice and bought one myself, nice and quite and comes with a foot pedal, all for £30 brand new

I may have too many motors now:) I’ll have a look. 30 lb is 60 bucks canadian


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

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My 8mm BTM is powered by a motor salvaged from an old (1950's) Jones sewing machine, controlled using the Jones foot pedal. I even use the rubber drive belt from the Jones. No issues with power or torque here, even at the slower speeds.

Mark, how many amps in this motor, or what is the Horse Power. You are at twice the voltage as canada so your amps can be lower to get the watts. Then watts divided by 745 gets you HP


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

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It's a "Threadlite" Model A2 fully suppressed 1/30 HP motor by the Jones Sewing Machine Co. Ltd.

200/250 volts AC/DC.

P1060753.thumb.JPG.3fbc4a558922782bfaa3e1077653faa1.JPG

The hp seems very low, however it does work as you say. Motor direct to lathe pulley with no other gears, correct

cf2af45ae6c14b39a2ebc0b39190daec.jpg my new setup to generate torque at low speed. Test it tomorrow

 

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Marc Distinguished Member

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Just now, jdrichard said:

Motor direct to lathe pulley with no other gears, correct

Correct.

Given the light loads involved you really don't need a lot of raw power. Torque is more important, particularly at low RPM in order to maintain a reasonably constant speed. I have no idea what the numbers are but this little motor doesn't do to bad. Obviously using the smaller pully on the lathe helps to keep the motor RPM (and therefore torque) up at the lower spindle speeds.

Interestingly, one of the drawbacks using the older sewing machine foot pedals is that (as I understand it, and I'm no electrical engineer!!) they simply reduce the voltage available to the motor to slow it down and in doing so the torque drops off as well, making it easier to stall the motor. I believe a more modern solution is to pulse the full voltage on and off at a higher or lower frequency to control the speed which means that the torque during each on pulse is always at it's max.

As I said though I am no electrical engineer and could have that completely ar$e about face.

Another problem with the older style pedals is that they simply dissipate the diverted power as heat, so during a prolonged session at the lathe your shoe starts to melt :startle:

I intent to replace my foot pedal in the not too distant future with an on/off switch and a control dial that can be set and left. I have used this setup before and find that it affords much more stable control of the speed. The pedal can prove to be a distraction (especially when hot!!).

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

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Correct.
Given the light loads involved you really don't need a lot of raw power. Torque is more important, particularly at low RPM in order to maintain a reasonably constant speed. I have no idea what the numbers are but this little motor doesn't do to bad. Obviously using the smaller pully on the lathe helps to keep the motor RPM (and therefore torque) up at the lower spindle speeds.
Interestingly, one of the drawbacks using the older sewing machine foot pedals is that (as I understand it, and I'm no electrical engineer!!) they simply reduce the voltage available to the motor to slow it down and in doing so the torque drops off as well, making it easier to stall the motor. I believe a more modern solution is to pulse the full voltage on and off at a higher or lower frequency to control the speed which means that the torque during each on pulse is always at it's max.
As I said though I am no electrical engineer and could have that completely ar$e about face.
Another problem with the older style pedals is that they simply dissipate the diverted power as heat, so during a prolonged session at the lathe your shoe starts to melt :startle:
I intent to replace my foot pedal in the not too distant future with an on/off switch and a control dial that can be set and left. I have used this setup before and find that it affords much more stable control of the speed. The pedal can prove to be a distraction (especially when hot!!).

I thought the voltage stayed the same but the current was reduced in the windings. I am an EE but i hated machines:) i added


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