A thread below talks about building a dryer out of a gear motor. How is this done? How do you build a chuck to hold the reel seat? And if a motor costs $2.50, how are they selling dryers for $100+?
Thanks, Andrew

Andrew, making the stand is as simple as taking a 1x6 and cutting the hole to fit. Then mount 1x6 to wall or table or whatever. Making a chuck can be done two ways easily. One is using a PVC cap. Drill center hole to mount to motor, then drill three holes around the periphery (equal distances) and thread in wing bolts. (don't forget to dip the tips on plasti-dip, or put rubber caps on them) THe second is a little hard to explain, but have a diagram that I have been emailing to others to show, it also contains the diagram for the rod stands I made. Email me and I will send them to you
ELrod (Jon)

Hi Andrew & Elrod:
I have several chucks made from PVC caps, work great. However, go to Home Depot or similar store and get those white 1/4" diam. "nylon" screws/bolts, thread the 3 holes, use these in place of your "wing bolts" and no padding req'd, will not mar the blank.

Another method for a chuck is to use a pvc cap but use pipe insulation to hold the rod. You can get pipe insulation in different sizes and it will self center the rod. This only works when the insulation can grip the butt cap or the rear grip. If need be you can build up a tape arbor around the end of the blank and it can be turned that way.

Steve

I use rubber crutch tips, also from home depot. you can either use the one that fits tight onto the butt for a good tight friction fit, or a bigger one and shim the butt up with tape or foam. My dryer is made from a rottisery, so it came with a couple of meat forks with wing nuts on them. well, I broke off the tines, and epoxied on the crutch tips, and now have interchangeable ends, you probably do the same thing with the pvc chucks.

Andrew,

When you say gear motor, there are (110V) AC and DC gear or gearhead motors. I use a 12 volt DC gearhead motor that I bought from a surplus store with a variable power supply that allows variable speeds. The shaft is smaller than the diameter of the butt of my rods and I build up the shaft diameter with masking tape and I tape the rod butt to the motor. I don't have problems with centering the rod and I have never experienced a rod falling off the motor or stand, yet (Lord willing). Just remember to wind the masking tape as tightly as you can.

Where do you get a motor for $2.50???

Please email me that information, if you would be so kind, to tonyhill@tidalwave.net. Thanks!

I recently bought a rotissere motor as a turner. It is a little noisy, (gear noise) but it works great. In Home Depot, there is a universal dishwasher drain adapter in the plumbing section. It is a stepped piece of black rubber. I have the smallest end stretched around the motor shaft, and the larger, stepped end fits every butt grip I have used with a tight friction fit.

This system works perfectly, every time, with zero failure. Turning rods is not an issue anymore. I don't even think about it anymore.

TH