For those folks who have power wrappers, and don't want to change their motors, but want a slower wrapping speed there is a simple answer.

Just add a jack shaft with a pair of large small pulleys.
If you want to really slow down the motors you can add a pair of jack shafts with large small pulleys.

Many power wrappers just use a single set of large small pulleys. i.e. a 1 inch pulley on the motor and a 4-6 inch pulley on the head stock of the lathe.

You get a speed reduction that is equal to the ratio of the pulley diameters. So, if you have a 1 inch pulley on the motor and a 6 inch pulley on the lathe you get a 6X speed reduction.

If your motor runs at 10,000 rpm, not unusual for some of the motors, you have a top speed of 1600 rpm which is much much faster than is needed for power wrapping.

But if you add a jack stand with another pair of 1 and 6 inch pulleys you will get a 2nd 6:1 speed reduction or a top speed of 267 rpm.

Finally, if you add a 2nd jack shaft with the same set of 1 and 6 inch pulleys, you will now have a top speed of 45 rpm.

A top speed of 45 rpm with a starting speed that is measured in fractions of 1 rpm - you would have a setup that would allow you to do any type fancy wrapping that you would like to have.


You can easily make any number of jack shafts by simply taking a piece of material of a reasonable thickness, boring an appropriate sized hole in each side to accommodate a ball bearing that will support a jack shaft.
Set up your material to take care of the necessary number of jack shafts and belt tighteners that you might need, and then mount the material between your motor and the head stock of your power wrapper.

If you want to go slow- modify - and go for it.

Roger

I'm too simple for all that. I got the one where you turn the knob to the left, it slows down... turn it to the right... it goes fast. It has this diagram of a line with a big end and a small end. Guess that is supposed to help.

Come to think of it.. my lawnmower has a lever that works the same way... but it uses pictures of a turtle and a rabbit.

Sometimes you're cheaper buying the one that's already made to do what you want than the spending time engineering.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2010 01:47AM by Alex Dziengielewski.

i just tell my kids to peddle slower

What is a large small pulley?

It is the same as a Jumbo shrimp, only made out of a different material.


Well, i thought it was funny!


Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

I just spit coffee! Thanks for the laugh guys!

Chuck

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

I wrap by hand. I've got 10 fingers so I figure that's 10 speeds. If I need to wrap any faster a dose of Black Sabbath cranked up extra loud and a couple of energy drinks will put me in warp drive.

Lance

The only problem with altering pulley size is that you increase the back effort required when you have to do anything by hand, i.e., undo a professional overwind, fix a gap, inlay a thread, etc.

But it's certainly one method for slowing the wrapping speed.

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

I actually us a router speed controller from Harbor Freight to slow down my power wrapper. Works well and have had no problems. It can be used adjustable or switched to full speed.