Use for all my salvaged electric motors and switches

[sawtooth13]

I am a person that can't just throw an appliance or broken tool away. I see all of these switches, pumps, and motors there and I just have to salvage them. My trouble is that I can't settle on a use for them. I keep rolling over one idea after another through my head and getting stuck on exactly how to combine this with that to make anything work. I have pressure switches, trip switches, float switches, and electric motors, pressure pipe, galvinised pipe, steel tubing, and a host of other parts that I have collected over the years, but I am stuck on the brain storm of what to do with all of this. I even have a mobil wheel chair that has been scraped, still compleat with battery powered motors. Can someone give me the brain storm of what to build?

[C-Bag]

Welcome sawtooth13.

I too am a junkyard dog. I see motors, switches, brackets , specially formed pieces and hardware as potential building blocks not to be wasted by throwing away too. But I've gotten to where I can't be indiscriminate about my "collecting" because of limited room. This makes me only save those things that can be recycled into immediate projects. Those projects are usually a useful tool or piece of equipment. I'm a metal worker and occasional woodworker. So thats my focus. You don't mention your focus as that tends to narrow the scope of what one might suggest. Also mentioning what kind of equipment you already have helps. This site is full(if you can find them) of mod's done to existing equipment or building from scratch.

A prime piece of equipment here seems to be a belt sander. There are several examples in the archives. It just all depends what would be useful for the next level of your focus.

[Jon]

The simplest build is going to be bench-mounting a motor and adding a chuck. See here: Bench motor

For sure belt sander will top the list. The nice 2x72s are thousands of dollars new, and the most expensive component, the motor, can be salvaged from a free treadmill. Salvage the speed controls too, to control the belt sander motor speed. Also salvage the incline motor from the treadmill; it can be used to tension the belt. Along the same lines: weightlifting benches can provide frames for tools.

Here's a good video on wiring salvaged motors:

[SRCowan]

Ha, wish I could help, i have probably 200 motors, everything from a few volts DC to 220v 3ph. Buckets of switches, boxes of power supplies etc. A few things i would like to make are: tapping machine - from an old Craftsman "hand drill, drill press stand" and Snow tapping head, Lapping plate, slow speed wet grinder, tool post grinder, Mill table feed, etc. Would even like to add a stepper motor and rotary encoder to my rotary table. Which will give it 14,400 positions with a 1:1 ratio. make gear cutting and indexing very accurate. You come up with any great ideas let me know. Anything under 18v look into old computer power supplies cheap and powerful.

[IAMSatisfied]

I am a person that can't just throw an appliance or broken tool away... Can someone give me the brain storm of what to build?

Welcome to the forums!

Your question is pretty broad, so I would start by asking "What do you need?" And from there I would search this forum and other tool forums & youtube for ideas.

I liken everyone's life to a "toolbox", and their experiences are their "tools"... everyone has the tools that they're proficient with, and I love to look into other folks toolboxes, both literally and figuratively, to learn about new tools or new uses for familiar tools. I have several long time friends who I can go to when I get stuck on a project or conundrum, and get their feedback on how they'd approach a certain problem. Very often, it's the more "eccentric" characters that have the most creative, outside-the-box ideas.

You've come to (one of the) the right place(s) to get your creative spark jumping.

[Freemo]

I am a person that can't just throw an appliance or broken tool away. I see all of these switches, pumps, and motors there and I just have to salvage them. My trouble is that I can't settle on a use for them. I keep rolling over one idea after another through my head and getting stuck on exactly how to combine this with that to make anything work. I have pressure switches, trip switches, float switches, and electric motors, pressure pipe, galvinised pipe, steel tubing, and a host of other parts that I have collected over the years, but I am stuck on the brain storm of what to do with all of this. I even have a mobil wheel chair that has been scraped, still compleat with battery powered motors. Can someone give me the brain storm of what to build?

Hi Freemo here I once thought that the comments of the old wheelchair could be fitted toward the front of scaffolding with the controls up on top or possibly wireless you could then move it around with out getting off🙂

[Ralphxyz]

Right now it seems I am just adding and adding to the collection. Hopefully one of the days I will see a actual application.
But for now they are all taking up space.

I really wonder about use for a AC motor, DC motors seem to lend themselves to modified usage much better, but all I have are AC motors.

Ralph

Ralph

[Nhogan]

I am a person that can't just throw an appliance or broken tool away. I see all of these switches, pumps, and motors there and I just have to salvage them. My trouble is that I can't settle on a use for them. I keep rolling over one idea after another through my head and getting stuck on exactly how to combine this with that to make anything work. I have pressure switches, trip switches, float switches, and electric motors, pressure pipe, galvinised pipe, steel tubing, and a host of other parts that I have collected over the years, but I am stuck on the brain storm of what to do with all of this. I even have a mobil wheel chair that has been scraped, still compleat with battery powered motors. Can someone give me the brain storm of what to build?

If you have children they would really like a power go cart built with bicycle wheels. It sits higher for visibility and wheel chair speed is safer. Enjoy

[hemmjo]

I hear your pain. I was at your point a few years ago, you are always hesitant to use something because you might need it for something different down the road!!! (right?) I finally started just making the things I need.

Pick one and make it. Use the items in your collection and get it done. Of course you should try to pick something that will help you with future projects. You cannot second guess yourself when it comes to what to use. Of course you need to be prudent and try to be frugal in your use of your treasures, but USE THEM. It is spring time, why not make a lawnmower blade sharpener and balancer

Right now I am building a milling attachment for my lathe. I have used part of an I-beam I had been saving for a log splitter. I want a mill more than I want a log splitter. Used up some heavy angle iron. Used up a piece of barn door track and some trolleys along with an old boat winch to hoist it on and off the lathe. Got a lot of good steel bars for from a heavy old dentist chair. Used an old trailer hub and bearings to make a heavy duty spindle. Sprockets and chain for the up/down Z axis movement of the spindle. Going to pick a motor from my supply for the spindle drive. Step pulleys for the variable spindle speeds. It is not complete yet, but working on it.

During the process of building one thing, you will find you need something to help you build it. Take the time to build that, then continue on your main project. I needed a good tool grinder to better grind cutting tools, so I took the time to build that. Next, I wished I had a surface grinder, so I made an adapter for my angle grinder that fits on my lathe tool post.

Imagine the Wright Brothers, then they needed something, they had to make it. They could not go to the hardware store, or online to buy one... no one sold airplane parts back then!!!!

You just have to do it!!

[pfredX1]

Difficult tasks become easier when you break them down into manageable steps. You are puzzled with what to do with your stock of salvaged materials. You can approach this like a maze, where you start at the end, and work your way back to the beginning. To do that you need to define a goal. Then figure out a way to incorporate what you have on hand to achieve that goal. Like others say we don't know what you want. So I think figuring that out is step one.