Posted by:
roger wilson
(---.hsd1.mn.comcast.net)
Eric,
I have made quite a few of these for dryers:
[
www.rodbuilding.org]
1. Obtain a PVC pipe end cap of about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
2. Find the exact center of the cap and drill a cap mounting hole in the center to mount the cap to your adapter shaft.
3. Obtain some neoprene. Generally either 1/32 or 1/16th inch thick. Use a punch or a pair of scissors to cut a 1/2 inch hole in a piece of neoprene about 3 inches square. (It may have to be larger to help to stretch it onto the cap.
4. You can obtain another piece of pvc pipe or adapter to slip over the end of the cap with about a total of 1/32 inch clearance. You may need to reduce the outer diameter of the cap for a nice fit of the pvc ring over the cap.
5. Then, holding the cap in a fixture for stability, use 4 hands. Two hands pulling down on the edges of the neoprene to center the hole and stretch the neoprene over the end of the cap, and two more hands to slip the pvc ring over the stretched neoprene to hold it in place.
6. If you want to do it a bit more quickly and easier, do as Flex Coat does with their chucks and use two plastic tie wraps to secure the stretched neoprene in place over the end of the cap. Again, two hands to stretch the neoprene and two more hands to place and tighten the plastic tie wraps to secure the cap.
7. Now that the chuck is complete, make an adapter shaft to mount the chuck on the motor. Use a piece of aluminum shafting of about a 3/8th inch size. Drill a hole through the center of the shaft the size of the motor shaft on which you are going to mount the shaft.
8. On the chuck end, tap the hole to allow a machine screw to be screwed through the chuck and into the shaft to secure the chuck.
9. In the area of the motor shaft, drill a hole at right angles to the hole to allow a set screw to be installed to secure the shaft to the motor.
10. Finally, tap the cross hole for the set screw.
11. Insert the set screw and secure the shaft onto the motor with the chuck already mounted to the shaft.
12. You should be good to go.
The total cost of the materials for the chuck is about $2.
Or, you could go to flex coat and pay their cost for the chuck already made.
By the way, in all of the hours of drying that I have used these chucks to hold rods of all sizes, I have never ever had a handle come out of the chuck.
Note: to keep the neoprene from leaving a black line on the handle, I will take a wrap of blue pvc tape around the handle to protect the handle from marks.
Here is a picture of my drying motor with the chuck attached:
[
www.rodbuilding.org]
