Modifications to treadmill motors to power workshop machinery.

Treadmill permanent magnet DC motors are popular amongst home machinists because they are readily available from scrapyards and similar, as well as being easy for variable speed.
This video shows how I modify such motors to make them more suitable for the task of driving machinery such as small lathes, drills, mills and grinders. Some unusual machining techniques are demonstrated. The main focus is on driving grinders because they have addition problems due to magnetic grinding dust.
#treadmillmotor #motor #treadmill #permanentmagnetmotor #ferrite #rareearth #cooling

[@836dmar]

Tony, great ideas. I had never thought of “blueprinting” a DC motor. I recently converted a tool grinder to US 110v but this would have been even better. Thanks for another great observation as well - “You are either building down to a price or building up to a standard.” That’ll preach!

[@1Splat]

Shop Vac filter fitted on intake side of the motor. Works great and without need to disassemble the motor.

[@lumotroph]

Thanks for doing all this on camera! Great to watch.

[@randallmarsh446]

My greatgrandfather was a machinist in ww1 ,, he used a magnets on all the electrical motors in the shop to catch floating iron particles .. no need to seal off the motor.. all u need to do is implement ceramiic magnet blocks around the intake where the fan is drawing the cool air into it. it is cheaper to replace brushes than the whole motor from burning up the copper coils from not having suffiecent cooling .. food for thought. . i never seen him replacing any motors in the shop except mabey one off an old boring machine.. lord knows where it came from.lo A decent ventalation system around the work areas will exaust most of the damaging particles as the magnets placed around the motors and work area will capture the rest of the dust.. removing up to 90 percent of magnetic floating dust.. the rest .well keep your shop clean..lo

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

As I have explained, these motors are mainly for intermittent use and heating has never been a problem. Like your grandfather I do you magnets for many dust control jobs.

[@randallmarsh446]

You are absolutly right and I agree. this video was made by an inexperienced person who has no experience at all in electrical motor knowledge

[@randallmarsh446]

The solution to that steel dust problem is put a duct around the intake of the motor and place a few bar magnets and an or a irfilter ..and use a vacum ventilator to suck the dust created by the tool into a collector or ejected outside the bulding.

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello Tony, Nice work and well explained... Take care Paul,,

[@petersilva4242]

Very good idea making the end caps

[@NathanNostaw]

Thanks for such a detailed video. I expect those motors will last forever after those mods. I'm guessing the cooling in a treadmill is needed as they run at low speed for high duty cycles in an enclosed case, so open air cooled and running at higher speed for lower duty cycles should be ok.

[@eCitizen1]

Wow that was a lot of work for motor you can typically source for $20. At that price, they are basically disposable.

[@venkateshagopalgopal4532]

Great! No doubt you are an excellent artist! I appreciate your precision! But blocking air flow may not be a good move. Instead of making so much lathe work, better to buy one more spare motor!

[@johanandersson9287]

Thanks Tony for yet another clever and hands-on video! I've yet to stumble upon a discarded treadmill, but then I've only been on the lookout for a couple of years... I do have a project with a smallish 150W scooter motor with lousy endbells, that your method of aligning the casing and manufacture of endcaps is a given. Thanks and ATB from DIYSwede

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

It is much easier to source things like this in the US than it is on this side of the pond unfortunately. Secondhand treadmills could be found very cheaply on Craigslist or local yard sales.

[@eflanagan1921]

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale Much more consumerism and big bottoms here .

[@tomwyrick2824]

Where are you located? What I did is reach out to every scrap metal guy I see and offered a bounty and all the steel I didn't use. Also Craigslist and yard sales or apps like Offer up. If all else fails Ebay!

[@JesusRoseAgain]

⁴⁵⁵5⅝

[@markkoons7488]

But how does one hold the motor shaft to break free the threads that hold the fan/flywheel casting?

[@danballarin]

Couldn't the flywhee/fan be kept on and just add a filter on the intake side? Maybe a sizeable piece so that the air isn't restricted? Also, what keeps the motor from overheating if airflow is restricted? I'm asking because I don't know... I should have waited until the last minute of the video.... Thanks for answering

[@andyb7754]

Very interesting and informative video, thank you. I stumbled across this video and have a treadmill motor I need to modify, glad I found and watched it. Subscribed!!

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tomwyrick2824]

Wow impressive! How many hours did this take you? I gotta tell you through these motors are so abundant that I just bolt them on and let the chips fall where they may! I have one of these on almost every piece of equipment in my shop and have had them like this for years and I haven't had a failure yet. I do appreciate your desire to improve and perfect yours though nice video!

[@DrewLSsix]

I've been having a hard time sourcing them on my end, and my lathe needs a fairly robust one thats not going to be in every treadmill on the curb. I just got a light industrial unit that has a great motor so I will do a few things to preserve it I think. My smaller motor will move to a drill press.

[@gsmera]

Motor will overheat, I overheated and destroyed one without blocking any holes, only removed the fan.

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

Depends on the load and/or speed that you put on it.

[@jasonwhite2028]

Interference fitting the bearing, sticking the whole motor housing on your mill to mill the outside to use to then true the inside to make your solid aluminium ends true its quite impressive how you added precision to this motor. I do have a couple questions; do you get faster startup and a little more power without the weight from the flywheel? And how long can it run as is before your thermal shuts it off? I would imagine you get some amount of heat dissipation through the aluminium, maybe externally cooled fins in the caps would allow you to get some additional cooling while keeping motor sealed? Good video, good work, i enjoyed it thank you.

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

My use is intermittent so heating has never been a problem. Some fins would help of course. Lack of the flywheel might give a quicker startup depending what the starting load is but a flywheel will give no more power.

[@paulmanhart4481]

Excellent video. It’s nice to know how to true up the rotation shaft with the magnets. What bearings did you use? I have a Lieli 4.25 hp treadmill motor I’m using for my Jet 1014 wood lathe and I’d like to do what you did. I realize your bearings might not be what I need, but I’m wondering about the type and quality. Can you recommend? Thanks, Paul

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

I forget the shaft diameter, but I just used standard ball bearing that fitted the shaft.

[@erbfarms50]

EXCELLENT VIDEO! How do you get the flywheel off?

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

I do not recall how I removed the flywheel. Remember that most have a LH thread..

[@WrenagadeWorkshop]

Great video. I have a hybrid surface/T&C cutter grinder build in my future and this was really helpful. I have two motors by the same manufacturer (1.5HP and 2.5HP), fly wheels are solid and have right hand threads. Main housings are really thick and look to be one piece but will find out for sure once I've opened them up to see if there is a weld seam. I'm also thinking that the fly wheels could be converted to mounting bosses for the stones, given how much meat there is on them. Thanks for taking the time to film and share 🙏

[@lgatewood5262]

Hope you get this. I bought a 2.5 hp treadmill motor with a very heavy flywheel. There is a bolt into the end of the shaft and I don't know if the flywheel is threaded or pressed. I have tried to loosen it but it won't budge. Any ideas?

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

Jack, I do not recall seeing one with a bolt like that. Maybe it has an interference fit.

[@randallmarsh446]

If you seal those air vent on the motor you will burn the motor windings up. Those holes are to vent the heat and keep it cool especially under a load.I recommend do not do this. Do not seal those vent holes unless you like replacing motors evry day. ,In addition to brushes wearing out frequently or exessive arcing when running ,load or no load use a choke in between the power suppy and the motor. A microwave transformer has been well known to eliminate arcing using in a series on the a/c side before the rectifier and a capacitor between the rectified voltage and the motor.. to get more info on the size of caps see you tube. there are plenty of vids explaining size and uf rtio to voltage formulas .

[@larrythompson2967]

I just picked up my very first treadmill, took it apart and the motor has a straight shaft with a keyway? What are the chances?

[@DrewLSsix]

Was it a True brand treadmill? I picked one up specifically because of this feature. They are also "light commercial " machines and seem robust overall compared to most so hopefully it'll be a more stout choice than my current one.

[@larrythompson2967]

@@DrewLSsix I don't remember the name right now but it certainly seems pretty well built. Could be a commercial unit as it doesn't fold down.

[@mark4tucker]

And you're saying that this motor doesn't over heat now that you've closed off the important cooling ports? They are known to run hot even with the original fan system . We used these motors on wood lathes and they run hot .

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

It will overheat depending on the load. A lathe is arduous duty but my requirements are lighter duty and for short periods.

[@marianodiaz461]

Hi, Tony, I was told before not to remove the rotor from a permanent magnet dc motor , as they could lose their magnetism, I was told also that If a rotor has to be removed , a piece of iron the same diameter of the rotor , must be inserted and keep the in there until the rotor is replaced..

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

Mariano, Old iron based magnets could lose magnetism and "keepers" were a common method to reduce this when needed. It was also a common practice/necessity to re-magnetise motor and magneto magnets. These treadmill motors have ferrite magnets which do not easily lose their magnetism. I can assure you that these motors work just the same after pulling the armature and re-inserting. In fact when re-inserting you have to be careful where you hold the endcap because as soon as the armature gets near the magnets it gets drawn in with a bang, you do not want your fingers in the way.

[@marianodiaz461]

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale thank you Tony , you have made my day , as I have some German steppers , that the driving shaft has snapped , and now I can pull them apart to fix it...

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

@@marianodiaz461 i am pretty sure that steppers will use ferrite magnets which are known for their excellent magnetic retention. I would have no hesitation in dismantling a stepper when necessary. Ferrite is almost universally used in modern permanent magnet motors. It is less powerful than rare earth magnets but it is relatively cheap and easy to make in whatever shape is needed.

[@alchemy1]

why is it that everybody takes off their flywheel so easily turning it clockwise, while mine won't even budge. I am sure it is the same style, the same motor, 2.6 HP.. I have also turned the power on to run the motor counterclockwise by holding on the flywheel, no success. What is tthe problem anyway? I like to install a pulley on it.

[@eflanagan1921]

Will make a big difference in vibration and longevity . Will heat be a problem ?

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

I think when used to drive a lathe or mill etc. then you need to think about the heat and near the end of the video I indicated that the ventilation should be kept for that. My experience using one on a Tool & Cutter grinder is that the low duty cycle and low loads does not cause a heat problem.

[@sleykin]

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale I found the filter material that goes in the intake of window shaker air conditioners is perfect for allowing airflow and blocking most dust. I use a 120VAC muffin fan to cool the motor. The fan comes on full as soon as the motor is turned on.

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

@@sleykin Good tip.

[@selfdestructint]

Very interesting, I have a treadmill motor i want to use with the knee on my bridgeport clone, happy to see you're well during this time Tony. If you ever need a place to kip for a visit to Pembrey, look me up!

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

I have motorised the knee on my Bridgeport but with a large servo motor which I had spare. If you want to use a treadmill motor for that then to get enough torque to the mill drive you will have to gear it down and get the motor spinning fast. Do you mean Pembrey in Kent?

[@selfdestructint]

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale It's rated at 3HP, so pretty beefy. I'm near Pembrey circuit in South Wales.

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

@@selfdestructint Of course, I was thinking of Pembury.

[@SGTGraham]

🤣I just can't anymore today, gl everyone 🤣

[@frankcolumbus3330]

Yeah ok not everyone is a machinist.

[@leebatt7964]

This makes my duck tape and coffee filter set up look really stupid.

[@MotoChassisByTonyFoale]

If it works it is not stupid.