watch craft foot pedal died, recommend a new one?

[nic422]

Hi Guys,

I have a peerless watch craft lathe and the foot pedal finally died. It’s old and I use it a lot, plus it was sending small amounts of electricity through me I could feel on the lathe bed (small shocks!) I have looked on line and seen a few choices for replacing the foot pedal. In haste went ahead and reattached the cord straight into the main plug for a modern use with a (Foredom type) foot pedal, but was wondering if anyone knows which pedal will give me the most variation from slow to fast speed and torque without jerking on and off.

Does anyone have anything for sale or do you recommend a good foot pedal replacement for a watch craft motor? I want to stay away from a desk top Rheostat and or countershaft pulleys.

I’ve seen the Foredom recommended, but I have tried a Foredom knockoff version that gives little no variation so I wonder if they are built the same since both are made in China.

I’ve heard this recommended for flex shaft control
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LowBoy-9-by-LUCAS-Foot-Pedal-SCR-Foredom-Rotary-Tools-Speed-Control-49-00-/131499400983?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9df99f17#shpCntId

but what about this? will it give good variation and torque?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Variable-Speed-Electric-Foot-Pedal-Power-Tool-Switch-Jewelry-Repair-Tool-/351329496096?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51ccdeac20

will a singer work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Black-Singer-Foot-Power-Pedal-Featherweight-221-222-/171794211890?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ffbba432

or is this a good choice as was recommended before flex shaft control too
http://www.ottofrei.com/Pepe-Foot-Control.html

or a sewing machine pedal like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Variable-Speed-Foot-Pedal-Control-Electric-Power-Tool-Switch-Controller-2DayShp/281672587427?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D3401aa348070443baece1948100ddc4d%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D351329496096&rt=nc
or this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-HOME-SEWING-MACHINE-FOOT-CONTROL-PEDAL-W-LIGHT-MOTOR-FC143/121060083326?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3Ded3c45d768c244d5827fb690f238b41f%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D350574290446&rt=nc

I’m really in the dark on this one since the original pedal gave so much variation of speed and I really liked it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance,

Nick

[david pierce]

Nico422,
You might be able to repair the old pedal or find a repair facility to fix your’s. Since you like the way your’s worked you may not be happy with any of the new ones.
david

[nic422]

Thanks for the suggestion David, but there aren’t any repair facilities like that near me (I’ve looked) and it’s too late because I already cut the chord that goes into the three way box

[tmac1956]

Nick:

I have several of these but I don’t use them with my lathe as I use pulley size combinations for that. Of all that I have (some old and some new) I like the “Variable Speed Foot Pedal Control Electric Power Tool Switch Controller” that you listed the best.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Variable-Speed-Foot-Pedal-Control-Electric-Power-Tool-Switch-Controller-2DayShp/281672587427?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D3401aa348070443baece1948100ddc4d%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D351329496096&rt=nc

Alternately, the dial speed controller might be something you’d like to experiment with.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Router-Variable-Speed-Controller-Electric-Motor-AC-Control-Rheostat-120V-15AMP-/351406396090?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51d17412ba

Ultimately, you’ll have to develop a feel for the new one. It just takes a little time.

Later,
Tom

[nic422]

Very good thank you so much Tom that is very good informative information.

[nic422]

By the way Tom, you said you have several, have you tried this one? I’ve heard it’s really good with Flex shafts and wonder if it would translate to a watch craft

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LowBoy-9-by-LUCAS-Foot-Pedal-SCR-Foredom-Rotary-Tools-Speed-Control-49-00-/131499400983?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9df99f17#shpCntId

[tmac1956]

Nick:

That one is way nicer than anything I have. However, I would be interested to see if the pedal travel is adjustable. It looks like it might be rather sensitive otherwise.

Thanks!
Tom

[nic422]

Yes the pedal is low, but to follow up, I fortunately found a store nearby me that had a Foredom FCT in stock at a very fair price.

http://www.foredom.net/cfct1speedcontrol.aspx

I went there, picked one up, tried it and it is amazingly variable. I can get such a slow turn and the variance is huge all the way up to full speed! It will take some getting used to just needing to use my big toe from the low pedal instead of my full foot, but I’m very happy I can get what I am after.

It also got me to take care of the issue of the chord. The old chord had a box in the middle of it, where the foot pedal would plug in to, instead of the motor plugging in to the pedal unit. There also was no ground wiring in the wiring. Maybe they didn’t use grounding that much when these were made? It would explain the electric shocks of variable intensities I would get using the unit without shoes on 😆 So I rewired the motor to have grounding and to plug in to the unit, and with a brand new chord as well. Now it’s all spec’d up.

[Author]

Posts