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Looking at motorizing my Monster Mill - what is the best place to buy a motor local or online. I don't want to buy outside of Canada.

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I got my gearhead motor at PrincessAuto. Rugged and cheap.

Had a quick look on their site, and couldn't find much. Any idea what the specs would be on a gear head motor?

They have a lot of stuff laying around that isn't on the website. I'll get a pic off the nameplate later today.

Last I was there they still have 1-2 of the Bodine gear motors. They're in the back with the surplus stuff, ~550rpm I believe ~$79-89 IIRC.
Other than that they have your standard new 1800rpm motors.

Jimmy, I'm totally going to take advantage of your legwork here - let me know what you figure out, I'd like to do the same with my monster mill.

is there an advantage other than swag factor to using a motor like this instead of a cordless drill? I have a barley crusher rather than a monster mill if that matters.

MitchK wrote:is there an advantage other than swag factor to using a motor like this instead of a cordless drill? I have a barley crusher rather than a monster mill if that matters.

I'm pretty sure I'll burn my drill out on the monster mill. The same drill running the barley crusher had zero problems and could run all day long.

I like having my hands free and letting the motor do it's thing

I use drills every day at work so I'm sure whatever wear I put on it with a mill will be nothing compared to using it all day to drill through steel... I suppose wearing out the drill would be more of a concern if I had one of the more "budget" oriented dewalts.

MitchK wrote:I use drills every day at work so I'm sure whatever wear I put on it with a mill will be nothing compared to using it all day to drill through steel... I suppose wearing out the drill would be more of a concern if I had one of the more "budget" oriented dewalts.

It's not a concern with the barley crusher. It's surprising the difference in torque required between the barley crusher and monster mill. I could run the drill wide open no problem with the monster mill, it's running the drill at low speeds and still having enough torque that's the problem.

mr x wrote:They have a lot of stuff laying around that isn't on the website. I'll get a pic off the nameplate later today.

Have a pic? I stopped in Princess Auto yesterday and couldn't find much.

Sorry, forgot about the pic. I'll get on that when I'm back onshore

What is the best place in town to buy pulleys/sheaves? Looking for 5/8" x 1" and 1/2" x 10", or as close to that as I can get.

Princess Auto or Canadian tire. That smaller one probably does not exist. Do you still need the motor pic? Home now.

mr x wrote:Princess Auto or Canadian tire. That smaller one probably does not exist. Do you still need the motor pic? Home now.

No, that's alright. I ended up ordering a motor.

I was thinking the smaller one may not exist because of the small difference between bore and outer diameter. The smallest I could find for a 5/8 bore was 1.75" OD

Has anyone used a split tapered bushing on their mill before?

Was thinking of going with the following on the mill itself - just wondering if it would work? Any downsides to using a split tapered bushing instead of a pulley that matches the shaft size on the mill?

Bushing:
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1 ... -p8069494e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pulley:
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1 ... -p8046179e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Shouldn't be any downside. Split bushings are used in industrial belt drives all the time, up to hundreds of horsepower.

That's how mine is run.

Jimmy wrote:Looking at motorizing my Monster Mill - what is the best place to buy a motor local or online. I don't want to buy outside of Canada.

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Jimmy, how did you make out with this project. I want to pull the trigger on mine asap and was wondering if you had any advice based on your experience.

mcgster wrote:

Jimmy wrote:Looking at motorizing my Monster Mill - what is the best place to buy a motor local or online. I don't want to buy outside of Canada.

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Jimmy, how did you make out with this project. I want to pull the trigger on mine asap and was wondering if you had any advice based on your experience.

I haven't finished my build, been procrastinating.

I ordered a 1hp grizzley motor from amazon (not the cheapest option, but I had gift cards to use). I also spoke with a man by the name of Don Kelly at Applied Industrial Technologies in Burnside (902 468 4300). He was very helpful and they are likely your best option if you're starting from scratch.

That is a nice looking motor, your setup will look pretty slick.

Did you decide on going the pulley route or through a gear reducer? I have a 3/4 hp motor kicking around that i'm going to try and rig up to save myself the $$ on a new one. Then i'm probably going to go the pulley/sheave route to keep the cost down. Reading on HBT i have mixed feelings on the pulley/sheave route, some say it works amazing, others complain of belts slipping. That said it is so much cheaper than a gear reducer and i could always go that route if i had issues.

Pulleys work great. If you have belt slippage, tighten the belt! When you build it make sure you design a way to tension the belt. Most, including Keiths that I just built, have slots so the motor can move an inch or so for belt removal/tightening.

Keggermeister wrote:Pulleys work great. If you have belt slippage, tighten the belt! When you build it make sure you design a way to tension the belt. Most, including Keiths that I just built, have slots so the motor can move an inch or so for belt removal/tightening.

Yah, i definitely can't see how belt slippage would be an issue. You don't even need a belt tensioner when you can just slide the motor and screw it down again lol..

That being said belt slippage was a recurring issue on HBT, thats the only reason i brought it up.

Now i just have to wait for the new mill to arrive.

Do you have pics of the setup you and Keith did?

Here ya go!