I am building a new rod dryer. My old one has been great for me. The motor that I used to drive the rod came from Lowe’s, it is a motor for a rotisserie for a BBQ-er. This one runs about 2 RPM and was great when I started out and made my rods look great since I could not hurry through finishing. I have been very sentimental about it and have just given up with the slow motor.
This dryer will have change gears on it for a two-speed model. Does anyone have any good suggestions on the RPMs for my new dryer?

Make sure you do a search on this topic here as it has been covered many times.

4 to 60 seems to be the range which people have good results with. 18 is a good average, but difference finishes require different speeds for optimum results. Did 2 RPM give you good results with the finish product you're using now? If so, I'd stay close to that. Maybe give 4 RPM a try.

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There is a comment in one of the Flex Coat sales notices that advertises the 6 rpm and the 18 rpm motor. There is a note that says if used for butt wrap finishes use the 18 rpm. I have looked for and never found comments on the rpm reccommended for the specific task at hand. What is the logic of a different rpm for a butt coating. Maybe the areas of no thread coverage in an open wrap create an unlevel field and a faster turning motor would help in leveling.

I am also looking for a cheapie 18rpm dryer. I went to allelectrics.com like some suggested and couldn't find the $3.50 dryer they are talking about. Anyone got any specific model numbers to view on their website?? Thanks Mike Bucca

More finish, which in theory would put it closer to its capacity to hold or support itself without sagging, would require a faster revolution.

I've found the thicker finishes do fine with the slow RPM speeds while the thinner finishes, such as LS Supreme, seem to do better with higher RPM. This is also affected by how much finish you apply at one time, of course.

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Mike,I don't know if All Electronics has any of the 18RPM motors left(they don't have any 4RPM either).They do have a 8RPM(model ACM-118) that would be a good choice.Just make sure to get a motor with a long enough shaft so you can easily attach you chuck adaptor to it.I made the mistake of getting a 40RPM gear motor with a tiny shaft(under 1/4") and now find the chuck is not turning quite right and has a slight wobble to it.

Tony,
I purchased two of the 40rpm, ACM-108 motors from All Electronics. They have a 1/4" sleeve on the shaft that's held on with a cross pin. I clipped the pin off and filed it flush to the sleeve. It fits my 1/4" chuck just fine.

Allen

Find yourself a used microwave turntable motor, usually 4 to 5 rpm, could probably get a good deal at some place that handles used appliance parts, or if you got an old microwave that's not working.

If you attach two pullies to the drying motor itself and two pullies to the gizmo that holds the rod (not connect the motor directly to the gizmo that holds the rod) and use a belt between the two you can have any two speeds that you desire (determined by the relative size of the pullies.
For the gizmo that holds the rod, I have used an end cap for 3 inch PVC pipe. Over the open end I have stretched a piece of rubber using a large hose clamp. I cut about a 1/2 inch hole into the center of the rubber which does a great job of holding the rod and is quick to use, no chuck to mess with. This part is basically a copy of FlexCoats dryer. Into the other end of the PVC pipe cap I drill a hole that accepts a bolt. The bolt goes through a sleeve in a plate with washers between the pullies and plate. The motor with it's pullies also attach to this plate and there is a belt between the two sets of pullies. I have built 7 of these and they work very well. The only problem that I have had with them is the drying motor itself fails fairly often with too much side load (the direction that the pullies load it). The gearing inside the motor housing is plastic and it is what fails. The motors are cheap but if one fails in the middle of doing a rod and you are not there watching, it can spoil your whole day.
I hope I explained this so people can understand it.
I have also made these for a single speed. Just use one pully on the motor and file a shallow grove around the outer edge of the PVC pipe end cap which will act as the other pully.

Mike,
I have seen the little motors that I have used at a number of the sites, Pacific Bay, Jann's Netcraft, etc. They are the same motors that are used on some dryers and the second motor on some rod wrappers. The price varies quite a bit. I have seen them from $6 to $12. The last ones that I bought I got at Pacific Bay for about $6. I'd suggest that you get a spare because they do fail. I had several of them fail a year or so ago until I figured out what the problem was and Pacific Bay was real good about replacing them.

I use a 40 RPM motor, this one:

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IT works GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get a rheostat for lights at a hardware store, hook it up between the motor like you would for a light switch, that will enable you to controll the speed of the motor from very slow to it's maximum speed.
I have a 40 rpm motor that I can run about any speed I want.

I bought an 8 RPM motor from All Electric, wired it direct to a power cord, plugged it in and it smoked and burnt up in 10 seconds. I'm sure the motor was O.K. but needed a transformer or some other power supply, I just didn't know enough about electrical wiring.

Next time, I called appliance repair shops and found a microwave turntable motor (4 rpm) and wired it in the same way and it works great. It was free.

Thanks,
I believe that I will go with a variable speed and see what RPMs I like best. I will post the best RPMs for finishing after I play for a while. Keep your rods up!
Dennis