The Alps chuck upgrade and DC motor conversion has been completed.
The DC control unit uses a reversing switch on the end of a cord so that the switch may be used up and down the rod as each guide is wrapped. Thus, the control unit remains stationary, and only the switch is moved up and down the rod as each guide is wrapped.

Also, the unit employs a switch to enable use of a dial on the control box for speed control or the separate foot pedal for speed control.

The pedal is a modified Line Master foot pedal.

[www.rodbuilding.org]


Take Care

Thank you, Roger. Very good bit of information there, and much appreciated.

Roger, what would be the correct contact form for a foot control? SPDT?
Would a Linemaster # T-91-S model work?
If not can you supply us with a part number please?

Thanks!

Why not just have Roger build you what you need

Bill - willierods.com

Bill,

The simple answer to your question is $$$.
I know Roger doesn't work for free, and I would not expect him to.
All I was asking for was a little guidance, as I thought this site was famous for sharing information.
I have all the parts I need except for the foot pedal, so I suppose I will proceed with experimenting on my own.

Regards,

Steve Schuster

Necessity is the mother of invention.
The solution to my dilemma was quite simple, and I would be more than willing to share it.
I purchased a used trolling motor foot pedal.

Thanks for your concern.

There's one consideration of using a DC motor that Roger touches on that deserves some elaboration.

The AC motors supplied with power wrappers can be easily turned backwards when power is not applied allowing you to back up by hand. You can't really do this with a DC motor, especially with a toothed belt and pulleys.

When I was in the design stages of building my DC powered wrapper/finisher I didn't really know how I would accommodate my preferred wrapping habit of backing up by hand. I found it clumsy and somewhat counterproductive to stop and reverse the motor, then switch back to forward. There's a bit of a learning curve to it and not everyone will find it a pleasant experience. More than once I accidentally over-revved it in reverse and lost thread tension.

What I ultimately settled on was a smooth belt and offset motor mount in an arrangement that allowed me to fine adjust the belt tension to provide traction while going forward but just enough belt slip that I could reverse by hand. I tried a number of belt materials before I found a smooth plastic belt that worked for me. The tough part about this approach is the variability to the solution, the belt which works for me probably won't be the right belt for another motor/headstock/pulley combo.

For what it's worth, I believe I'm using a 200 rpm motor as Roger recommends. Roger, please correct me if I am wrong but it's my understanding that (all things being equal) the slower the motor is the stronger the hold and inability to reverse unless under power.