Motorized weld positioning table

This is my Franken-cobbled motorized weld positioning table! It's made from a Harbor Freight trailer hand winch and 12 volt worm drive motor. (a wiper motor can also be used)

The winch itself is NOT very useful as a winch (lol) as this has about a 40:1 ratio. You would spend most of the afternoon winching your car or boat up using this. ;) Also, both gears are not hardened so using them to pull a heavy load would wear them out quickly! (has terrible reviews)

It is however a GREAT starting place to build a rotary weld positioner! Just cannibalize the needed parts; worm drive, drive gear and housing and your well on your way. There are many parts left over (bonus) that can be used for future projects. (see pics)

This version features both horizontal and vertical positions. I was not going for beauty but rather function and I think I nailed it! lol Probably won't even paint this, just use it as is. (and make improvements as needed)

I've run this from an adjustable power supply from 2 volts up to 30! You won't be welding anything at 30 volts but down around 3-3.2 volts looks about right. (have to time it yet, I heard 1/8" per second is about correct for Tig welding)

If you want fancy, this one is not for you but if you want a cheap & functioning positioner, this fits the bill!

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Thanks bobs409! We've added your Rotary Welding Positioner to our Welding Tables category,
as well as to your builder page: bobs409's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-rotary-welding-positioner"> <img src="/uploads/228865/homemade-rotary-welding-positioner.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-rotary-welding-positioner">Rotary Welding Positioner</a> <span> by <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/builder/bobs409">bobs409</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/positioner'>positioner</a>, <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/welding'>welding</a>, <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/motor'>motor</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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Very nice, Bobs. What kind of adjustable power supply are you using and do you use a foot control?

I bought a couple of those winches a few years ago for 2 projects not started yet. One is for a CNC spin indexer and the other for a car rotisserie. Looks like I should have bought 3 of them!

A good source for a motor like this is AS&S https://www.sciplus.com/car-seat-12v...-motor-49248-p

The worm drive motor you're using is a power-seat unit and they are available all over for around $14. I use them for many things...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saltfever

Very nice, Bobs. What kind of adjustable power supply are you using and do you use a foot control?

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I have this power supply:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I will need either a foot pedal or some other way of starting/stopping but so far, I haven't had time to even test it yet! lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IntheGroove

The worm drive motor you're using is a power-seat unit and they are available all over for around $14. I use them for many things...

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They are great! I use this same motor as a hand held cross slide power feed and have another motor like this for a power X axis on my mill. Both are in my tools area on this site.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saltfever

I bought a couple of those winches a few years ago for 2 projects not started yet. One is for a CNC spin indexer and the other for a car rotisserie. Looks like I should have bought 3 of them!

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I found something else that works great for projects like yours that is worm gear driven: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's called a "slack adjuster" and is some type of brake adjuster for a big rig truck. :D This might work better for a rotisserie. I got this idea from someone on youtube that put one on an engine stand so he could easily/safely rotate the engine!

I bought one for a project I'm planning that is still in the planning stages but that's top secret yet! lol

Yes, bob slack-adjusters are a good source for a worm drive. I have been looking on Craig's list locally for a couple of years but no joy. They are brake adjusters and when they reach their safety limits they are just thrown away. They had no value and were usually tossed in the dumpster. I don't know what has happened but I can't find "free" ones anywhere!

Many thanks for the good ideas and the link!

Did you ever get this running? In particular speed control is so important in welding; what did you do for speed control?

I've run this from an adjustable power supply like the one shown below from 2 volts up to 30! You won't be welding anything at 30 volts but down around 3-3.2 volts looks about right. (I heard 1/8" per second revolution is about correct for Tig welding)

Attachment 36507

Thanks for the update Bob.

That is what I am trying to figure out. The revs can be quite slow and I am wondering how to drive such slow revs. You indicate about 7.5"/min is good for TIG. So welding a 2.375" dia. tube would be about 1 rpm but if you were welding a 14" dia. car rim then the rpm is slowed down to about 1/5 RPM. That is a 5:1 ratio and I was wondering how to get that kind of range in a power supply and still have torque at such a low voltage.

Clever use of the worm drive winch; nice work.
How do you manage the ground connection from the rotating platen / workpiece to the welding rig?

I'd use a pulse width modulated (PWM) motor control: https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Mo.../dp/B08GC7KDKL with a fixed 12V DC power supply. For anyone not familiar, there are lots of resources for PWM online.