What are these Now with Photo

[Dave OconnellParticipant @daveoconnell57673]

Hi, I want to put together a Electric pottery wheel, I can build the body but need to source the motor etc. Below is a photo of what I need can anyone tell me what they are. The motor will be about half to three quarters horse power, I think the other box is a power regulator this is controlled by a foot peddle. 1. what power regulator and foot peddle do I need. 2. Where can I buy these parts from??

Any other help you can give me will be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Sorry can't get the photo to paste

[Dave OconnellParticipant @daveoconnell57673]

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

My missus has a Shimpo potter's wheel. It's very powerful and can maintain the pedal-controlled speed under heavy load. The motor's a massive and wide ring of coils, arranged a bit like a radial aero-engine. It's integrated into the structure of the casing, apparently not a separate component that could be pulled out as a subassembly.

There are probably other ways to build one, but I think making one like the Shimpo would be a pointlessly-challenging project.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

Mick ,

The motor sounds similar to one of those smart drive motors in a washing machine .

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Hi Dave,

Please have another go at publishing the photo. (Not obvious on this site – the instructions are here.)

A potters wheel should spin in the range 0 – 300rpm. Likely it will be necessary to gear the motor down with a pulley system &/or gearbox. I think 750W would be enough to spin about 30-40kg of clay.

There are at least 3 different types of motor that could do the job, each using a different type of controller.

• 3-phase AC with Variable Frequency Drive
• Brushed DC with Pulse Width Modulation
• New – Brushless DC with motor controller.

Most controllers are speed controlled by a potentiometer (usually). Foot-pedals are either just a switch or just a potentiometer.

I guess most of what you need can be found on ebay or amazon once you know what to look for. The exception might be the motor that might have to come from a motor vendor. If you can publish a photo the experts should be able to point you in the right direction.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 15/03/2018 10:06:47

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I imagine that an important requirement is to be able to sometimes stop the wheel quite quickly. Either a mechanical brake or a VFD appropriately programmed could do this.

Parvalux are a good British supplier of a wide range of motors including gearboxes, and would probably be able to give you excellent advice.

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

Dave,

The Potters Connection Ltd (Company No 06404315)

Stoke-on-Trent, England VAT No. 920919424

Tel: 01782 598729

Fax: 01782 765833

SALES TEAM: sales@pottersconnection.co.uk sales@pottersconnection.co.uk

Bear..

[Dave OconnellParticipant @daveoconnell57673]

Hi, Here is the photo I could not load before. A quick recap on my question,

I would like to build a pottery wheel and would be grateful if anyone can tell me what the parts are I need and the spec so they all match up in size, amp, power, etc.

The photo shows the inside of the wheel, the spindle goes through the top and attaches to the wheel head ( the bit the clay goes on) You can see at the bottom a spindle goes out through the side where it attaches to a foot peddle.

Thanks to all who answered my first post.

Edited By JasonB on 16/03/2018 10:10:36

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I would use a 1hp 750watt 3 phase 4 pole (1440rpm) motor foot mounted wired delta …then a pulley of perhaps 50mm diameter on the motor. Then a pulley of about 200mm on the spindle connected with a v belt “A “ section this will give a 4 to1 reduction so when the motor is spinning at 1440 at 50hz the spindle will be going at 350rpm.

Then a 750w 1hp VFD 240volts in 240v 3 phase out with the foot pedal connected to a switch so when foot is off the vfd is off when the foot pedal is depressed then it allows the vfd to start at say a min speed of 10hz on depressing pedal more moving the potentiometer up to a max speed of 50hz.letting the foot off the pedal would make it go to stop condition.

Or the foot pedal just a switch to start and have the speed controlled by a knob…hand controlled…whichever type of control a potter would prefer

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Buying those parts new should be

Motor £100

VFD £150 or a quality brand or 100 for a Chinese 2.2kw one

Pulleys 20-30

Switch and pot. 10

V belt 5

I would say that if you can wait for secondhand parts the motor and vfd could be less than a 100

Edited By Ian Parkin on 16/03/2018 11:25:51

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Actually looking again at your photo it looks like a brushed motor and a dc variable power supply…I would still go for the induction motor and vfd route as described but another option is a Chinese sewing machine servo motor which is powerful and with control gear all in for about £150 i’ll Try and find a link to one.I have one of these which is on a sewing machine that i use for leather works great and is vary easy to fine control on your foot.. or a standard sewing machine motor which has a clutch and starter gear all in for about £70.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Washing machine.

Only thing to add is make sure you provide the motor with a cooling fan.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

JAAAOSwyTdaplkY”>https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Industrial-Sewing-Machine-Low-Speed-Clutch-Motor-for-Seiko-PWB-8GWC/123018949373?epid=1073431808&hash=item1ca48032fd:gJAAAOSwyTdaplkY

That’s a standard motor with clutch

6kAAOSwqgRZrp6o”>https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADJUSTABLE-SPEED-INDUSTRIAL-SEWING-MACHINE-SERVO-ENERGY-SAVING-3-4-HP-MOTOR/382407998903?hash=item59094afdb7:g6kAAOSwqgRZrp6o

That’s a servo motor in the uk cheaper from china

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Under the potters wheel put a large diametre steel disc, under this a shaft with a rubber tyrerd wheel as a friction drive, a means of moving the friction wheel across the diametre to change the speed.

Ian S C

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Just like a Ner-A-Car drive

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Depends a bit on how skilled and able to work round problems you are, and what tools are available. The quickest and easiest way of solving the problem is to buy a manufactured wheel.

If not, problems to be solved are:

• A moderately waterproof enclosure to hold the motor, controller and pulley system. It has to be strong enough to take the weight of the pot at a height that suits the potter and secure enough to keep passing toddlers from getting inside.

• A turntable sat on some sort of bearing, perhaps a Lazy Susan.

• A shaft from the turntable into the box with a large pulley on the end. An old washing machine drum pulley is likely suitable and they can be bought new as spares.

• A motor with pulley. Note that the groove in the motor pulley must match that in the drum pulley.

• A belt sized and the correct profile to fit between the two pulleys. It shouldn't be too tight or too loose, which is why the motor in your photo is mounted on rails allowing the belt tension to be adjusted.

• A motor controller that matches the motor. This part needs careful attention because what suits one type of motor will be completely and wildly wrong for another. Wiring an unknown motor up correctly is a challenge especially if you have no experience. If you don't have a motor already, then I'd buy a 3-phase motor like this (other vendors available) and a VFD as listed on Amazon. (Motor HP and  VFD HP to match or VFD HP slightly bigger.)

• A foot controlled potentiometer to control speed. A sewing machine pedal might do the job but I see the photo shows the potentiometer is inside the yellow box and controlled via an internal shaft and push-rod. This is almost certainly done to protect the electrics in a mucky environment : a sewing machine pedal plonked on the floor might not last, and you certainly don't want a wet potentiometer unstoppably spinning clay at top speed.

None of this is rocket science but you will have to bring it all together yourself. Basic design, woodwork, metalwork and electrical skills working in partnership. I've found the forum to be very helpful. I doubt anyone will be able to provide a shopping list and detailed plan for a potters wheel but there are several who should be able to advise if you have a go and get stuck.

Dave

 

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 16/03/2018 14:01:25

[Dave OconnellParticipant @daveoconnell57673]

Thanks all for the advice,

Can I ask you said a 3 phase motor would be best but I do not have a 3 phase supply, would it be better to use 3 phase in this case?

The foot peddle would need to work very accurately ie start very slowly with high torque and be very responsive

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

Motor looks similar to a treadmill motor, used to be able to find them 2nd hand. DC motor with PWM. That said have a look at *** PotteryCraft *** they do a wide selection of wheels and parts, a few useful diagrams. Max size motor seems to be .5HP so not too large, wheelhead speed max about 300RPM.

John

[LimpetParticipant @limpet]

Dave you may want to do a bit more research as I have been requested to build one as well (how can you say no to your daughter) and the other main driving method is a cone on the motor rotating a rubber wheel and the cone moves in or out on the edge of the wheel with the motor running at a constant speed. It gets rid of all that expensive electronic trickery

Check the net for potters wheel repair for utube videos full mechanical speed regulation

Lionel

[Author]

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