Sewing Machine’s motor to run my lathe?

[james1983]

Hello again everyone,

I just got an old Boley Lathe made right here in Canada, however the motor is not running as nice as it should. it keeps changing speed on me and it direct plug in. no foot pedal its plug in and go. Anyone know of a cheap replacment. my father is saying to gut an old sewing machine for its motor from a yard sale or goodwill. Any thoughts?

[james1983]

OK, so my motor just burst into flames…. now I definitely need a new one lol. Any suggestions on a cheap replacement?

[speedmaster]

I’ve seen them on Ebay with sewing machine motors but i’m not sure how good they would be for bigger work.

[arutha]

Hi, yes you can use a sewing machine motor, I have no idea how to wire it up though, someone else will have to help with that but do make sure if you are going to byu a machine it comes with the foot pedal. If it is a standard 8mm boley lathe a sewing machine motor will be fine, my little 6mm lathe looks like it has a sewing machine motor but mine is controlled with a lighting dimmer switch which I am happy with.

[willofiam]

Hi guys, funny you bring this up. I am no expert on small motors but the other day I almost bought a old sewing machine at a garage sale for exactly what your talking about, ($5.00) but I didnt!!! in hindsight I should have. I have looked these small motors up on the web and somewhere along the line I found a guy that sells them cheap but cannot remember where I saw it 🙄 …..I dont think there would be anything wrong with going that route but I may be wrong. hope you find a solution and let us know how it goes… William P.S. your father is hired

[rkw]

Hi AC mains electric sewing machine motor will work ok .
The down side is at low speed the motor will not rotate smoothly and you will lose torque.
Use a 12v DC motor and a bidirectional speed controller, you can have a very smooth rpm from 1rpm to 3000 +rpm and very little loss of torque.
Both the DC motor and a bidirectional speed controller are on EBay, or you can salvage a 12v cordless hand drill everything you want is there.
bidirectional speed controller link.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-Reversible-CW-CCW-DC-Motor-Speed-Regulator-Controller-PWM-Signal-Control-/150782131727?pt=UK_BOI_Industrial_Automation_Control_ET&hash=item231b50be0f
Motor example link http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON-DC-Motor-1LWK8
To convert the mains AC voltage to 12vDC use a liner converter, (laptop power supply)
The above will give you a very versatile setup in forward and reverse motion, without the use of a complicated pulley system.
Hope this helps. Roger.

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