I found an inexpensive sewing machine and foot pedal and made my own power wrapper. The setup works fine but, I find that I can not get consistent incremental speed control. Sometimes it works fine and light pressure on the pedal gives me a nice slow speed, other times light pressure gives me nothing till the pedal is depressed more and it jumps right to a faster speed. I can only assume that it is the fault of a poor quality foot pedal. Can anyone shed light on this ? I don't always use the power wrapper, but when I do I like it to have infinite speeds from very slow to fairly fast. The fairly slow part is the problem. Can anyone recommend a good quality foot pedal? Thanks in advance

Hillsborough, NJ

You can order a new foot pedal from any of the disti's that sell the power wrappers. They aren't high end but serviceable. Of course the first thing I would do is take it apart and inspect the mechanism for good operation. It's probably a slide that engages more of the coil (assuming an AC pedal), or a resistive element. Your problem sounds mechanical at that interface.

Sewing machine parts stores are another good source for these. There is a boatload of them out there, just don't pick the cheapest one. Sorry I don't have more specific info, maybe others do.

Terry

Is this a problem that has just started with something that worked in the past, or is this a new build?

The problem could be your petal, but the symptoms you describe can also come from the motor itself. Sewing machine motors do not have a lot of low end torque and if loaded beyond their capacity will function as you describe especially if your working on a heavy rod and/or with higher thread spool tension.

Have you checked the function of the motor without the load of a rod? Does it still malfunction? If it runs fine under no load then it may be your motor doesn't have the necessary torque for the way you wish to use your wrapper.

Frank,
Pick up a linemaster - 981-sc36 speed control.
Over the years, I have picked up a half dozen of these pedals for different machines that I wanted to speed control.
Industrial quality - very tough, last for a very long time, reliable and velvet smooth through the entire speed range.

In function, Linemaster has chosen to use their molding facility to make a nice nylon molded foot pedal that is made in a top and bottom half that snap together.
Then, for the speed control part of the pedal, they have purchased a large quantity of the variable speed control used in electric corded drills. When, they make the purchase in large quantities, I am sure that they get an excellent price on the controls.
In the bottom of the pedal, they mold a pocket for the trigger control to drop into. They insert the wires into the pedal base, insert the cut wires into the pedal control, snap the pedal together and box it up for shipment.

It is a very simple - and thus reliable that gives very very good speed control for a very long time.

[datasheet.octopart.com]

However, it appears that the product is NOT in the current linemaster catalog:
[www.amazon.com]
Also, Amazon indicates that it does not know when it will be back in stock.

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Another excellent motor speed control is the one made for Foredom model fch-2.

If you go to the internet and do searches for either the
Linemaster 981-sc36 pedal or
the Foredom FCH-2 pedal - you will get a few hits. Search the big @#$%& site.

These pedals sell new - when available for about $50. But you can find them from time to time for less.

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Another very good pedal speed control is the Lucas #9 electronic speed control pedal.

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Also, the Dermal #217 electronic speed control pedal.

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Another possible choice is the use of an "electronic" sewing machine pedal.
For example:
[www.amazon.com]

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The key thing about all of the pedals listed above, is that they use an "electronic speed control circuit based on an SCR or Triac. As a result, there is very little load on the variable resistor that controls the actual speed. As a result, the electronic style speed controls normally have very long life and very smooth operation.

be safe
Roger

A comment about the Lucas speed control low profile pedal:

[mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com]

Frank,

Are you using the whole sewing machine as the headstock for your rod lathe? If so, this may help.

A sewing machine is what has been used as my head stock since starting this addictive hobby a few years ago. After finding a discarded sewing machine on the side of the road, it got working only after spraying some WD-40 all over the guts of the machine. It turned, however, sluggishly. After thinking how all those moving parts inside the case were causing friction and impeding its turning, I decided to gut it. An hour was spent doing so. Only the shaft and bearings were saved among its innards. The left over unnecessary parts fill a 3 lb. coffee can. The unencumbered shaft now spins freely as it rides in the the bearings. New motor brushes were installed and a low grade PacBay chuck was attached. The well functioning motor and a free spinning shaft allows for good speed control at all ranges. I cannot imagine a better headstock platform for my purposes.

If in the future the need arises to sew a tear in my shirt, I can always put it back together, lol.

Sewing machine foot pedals aren't very sensitive, and the motors are pretty high speed. To slow things down, I mounted mine with a countershaft using the pulleys that i canilbalized from the sewing machine. Second, I got a plug in fan speed control like you use on a paddle fan. This slows things down enough to overcome the low sensitivity of the sewing machine pedal. When I need the speed, I just turn it up all the way. It's less costly than the electronic pedals and works for me.

Thanks for all of the tips. This is not a new issue. It has been since I built it. I am pretty confident that it is in the quality of the pedal.

Hillsborough, NJ

you can you a dimmer switch to help your speed of the foot pellal



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2013 08:10PM by Edward Woltering.

Frank, I built my machine around 4 years ago, and after some tweaking, it works great. Here's how it goes....
* I built supports by taking 2X8 blocks, attaching 2 casters on the top end of it, (about 1/8 inch from touching) and attaching a square block base to the bottom. I then bolted, with a wing nut and washers; a top pivoting 2X2 block that swings down with another caster that holds the blank. This is far superior to the "V" block friction-producing style, just use a piece of tape on the blank where it rides on the casters so it doesn't scuff it.

* I also have a sewing machine pedal, but built a box enclosure for a 3/8 DeWalt drill, and put the little 25 dollar chuck sold for the wrapper in the Mudhole catalog in the drill chuck.

* Overly fast start-up was also an issue, but I had a 100-volt transformer from a 500 watt amp that totally deleted that issue somehow. The drill runs through it.

* The drill is set up in it's housing where I can slide a wedge in as much as needed, to control the ultimate output of the drill itself. This allows high speed for grip turning and under-wraps, and light torque for butt wraps.

Hope this helps. The nice part also is that if I want to keep the thread tight, I can just stop it and walk away, as the geared motor has "weight" to it.
*My thread tensioners consist of some bolts sticking up on my 1X12, 10 foot base from the bottom. I use combinations of random springs, wing nuts, nylon locknuts, and washers, works similar to a reel's drag.

Hope this helps, man.

Good morning Frank, I just read your blog and I may have the item that you are looking for. My Company LUCAS DENTAL CO. manufactures a motor speed control Model #9 Lowboy Rheostat which is used all over the country for different applications. You can see the item listed on @#$%& at this time, item #140967111302. This item if you were to puchase it directly from my Company, would cost you a total of $50.00 and that included shipping to your location in NJ. Additional information is available either by Email: Lucadent@verizon.net or by telephone 1-(800)-332-5573 during the week Monday - Friday 8:00am - 3:00pm .... Thank you, Sincerely, Richard Lucas.

Good morning Frank, I just read your blog and I may have the item that you are looking for. My Company LUCAS DENTAL CO. manufactures a motor speed control Model #9 Lowboy Rheostat which is used all over the country for different applications. You can see the item listed on @#$%& at this time, item #140967111302. This item if you were to puchase it directly from my Company, would cost you a total of $50.00 and that included shipping to your location in NJ. Additional information is available either by Email: Lucadent@verizon.net or by telephone 1-(800)-332-5573 during the week Monday - Friday 8:00am - 3:00pm .... Thank you, Sincerely, Richard Lucas.