Has anyone had any experience with using a speed control, either dial or foot pedal, with
this motor.
Thanks,
Tom Cooney

It's not designed to be used that way. It could be jury rigged I suppose, but if it's the same one I have it's an AC motor.

The lathe is heavy duty rod lathe, but only a light duty turning lathe. Cork and EVA are okay but once you start turning something that requires that much power I think I'd go with a small wood lathe instead. Otherwise the 1/10HP will do all that you really should be doing on that lathe.

I have constructed a dedicated wood turning lathe from Renzetti pieces (need to put it in the magazine) and it works great that way with the HD motor, but it's still not a variable speed set up.

.................

I am not using it for turning wood, but I do a lot of extentions and handle modifications particularily
on 7- 1/2 ` to 9` one piece musky rods so I need the rod lathe. I have it extended out to 9-1/2` with
6 rod supports. The little motors can`t take turning the big rods . The big motor handles the rods
niece but the initial high speed start up makes be nervous. The extra rod supports resolve the
whipping problem. I called Renzitti about it but they just said no!. I don`t know much about electic
motors but I do know that most woodworking tools have after market speed controls available
but I also don`t want to burn up a $175 motor.
Tom Cooney

I am just curious how the smaller motor does not handle those rods for you. I have the power lathe that is similar to the Renzetti and just finished an 8 foot musky rod for a customer and had no problems with the 1/10 motor turning the rod. Was it because the rod was out of balance as it turns because of the guides? I know someone carries an attachment that goes onto the rod to help with that balance issue.

Mike Sledden

My 1/10HP motor has been spinning 50lb and 80lb offshore trolling rods for years. Something is wrong if you can't get it to spin a musky rod.

The AC motors all operate at a fixed speed. For variable speed, you would need a DC motor. Now there are some newer style electronic variable speed AC motors out (my OneWay lathe has a nice one) that allow you to go variable speed at full torque and without burning the motor up, but they're terribly expensive. At least the ones I'm aware of are.

If you just can't get the 1/10HP DC to do what you want, you may have to look at more powerful DC motors instead of the Renzetti AC HD motor.

.............

Like I said electicity is not one of my specialties. Completely overlooked the AC/DC deal. Never had a
problem for thirty years with turning down new handles with the small motor until I started doing a lot of mod work on factory rods and ran into overheating . The out of balance problem with the guides was overcome with the extra supports. Crooked handles are another problem. Like Tom said I probably need to look at a DC motor with a little more power and a variable speed setup. It would be nice if the manufacturered rods had a little straighter handles and reel seats but it is surprising how many of the big rods are crooked and unfortuneately it is hard to tell until you turn that switch on.
Thanks again for the advice.
Tom Cooney

Hi Thomas,

Check with a local electrican to see if you can use a rheostat (electric light dimmer) can be used on your large motor. I used to use them on my table mounted routers w/o any problems. But be sure you check first.

I see what you are saying about the smaller motor. Back awhile ago someone posted an idea of what to do to counter balance rotating rods with large guides already on the blank. Maybe you could do a search here and maybe use a key word like balance or some other word to find that post. Maybe whoever made that post or someone that remembers it better than I do will chime in with that info.

Hank
On The Rocks Fishing
Wells, ME.

RodMaker had a "tips" section a few years back that showed how to counter-balance rods by taping guides to back of your current guides. This makes turning rods easier and keeps your lathe table from vibrating across the floor.

Also, Renzetti makes an adjustable counter balance fixture for this very same purpose. Although, you can probably get by with just taping similar guides onto the back side of what you have now.

................

Thomas,
I had the same issue and found the perfect solution.
I was able to locate a 1/2 hp DC motor. It plugs into 110v AC, but then there is a control box on the end of the motor that converts it to 90 volts dc. In the center of the box, there is a dial that varies the speed from 0 - 3000 rpm.

I use this motor on my lathe when I need to do finish handle work. I increase the rpm, until the rod becomes a bit shakey, and then slow it down a bit.

I purchased this motor after blowing up a couple of finished rods, that I just wanted to "tweak" the handles a bit. My high speed lathe, blew the rod apart, before I could stop the lathe.

Do a search on DC lathe motor and I think you will find what I mean.

Roger

The following is an example of a motor that will work well for your needs:

I haven't checked the unit for the control box, but if you can't build the control box your self; you may have a friend who can take care of the assembly of the box. You must build the DC control box to drive this motor and not try to use a rheostat or lamp dimmer to drive the motor. If you do, it iwll simply burn out the motor.

Take care
Roger



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2008 05:26PM by Tom Kirkman.

Tom
You can use a fan speed control. These are higher capacity than light dimmers and are designed specifically for motor speed control.
You can find them at electrical supply companies. They usually run from $30 to $50 dollars.

Another solution, although a bit more expensive, is to get a used PacBay lathe with the "Super Chuck". These have the variable speed foot control built right in, and can be extended as far as you like, and you can add rod supports just about forever.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods