Well. I haven't just been working on this one today, but I did give its first kick in the guts today. Kiwi #8 wire job this one, very satisfying. Still needs a bit of tweaking, but with a $5 BBQ, a $50 garage door motor, a king-size berley mincer, a $30 2nd hand bike sprocket, a bit a this, a bit a that, and you have . . .
The Burley-Meister
Photo above is the total concoction. The steel BBQ frame was essential for providing a good solid base.
Mincer is mounted on threaded bolts to allow tweaking of levels & alignment, so that the chain feeds properly, and wing-nuts ollow easy removal for cleaning. The stell bracket it bolts to was one that was kicking around my workshop, and by slicing a 50mm swathe through the centre & re-welding it, it fits a treat. The BBQ grill also allows for easy adjustments.
It took me a long time to hit on the garage door opener as the motor of choice. The motor had to be bi-directional, so that if anything jams, I can reverse it. Also, these things have a load switch - ever grabbed a door as it was closing? Motor stops & reverses. The remote control receiver on this one doesn't work, hence the good price, and I don't need that. But it came with all the other gear, so I was able to shorten the strut to bolt it to the underside of the grill, to help brace the whole thing.
Got the jig-saw onto the grill, and cut out a couple of the bars, to be able to feed the chain through. I had to get a round plate made by an engineering workshop, and brazed onto the inner side of the pulley. Then the bile sprocket screwed straight onto that. Think it is 47 tooth, about the second biggest I could find, for better gearing than straight speed.
Took these photos at 7.45 tonight, so apologies if they are not very clear. I will try to change them for daylight ones when I can.
I also have a brief movie of it running, but I haven't been able to figure out how to upload movies yet - its nearly 8 MB. Any help anyone?
Looking forward to giving it a full trial on a few old KY frames etc. Hopefully, it won't be a big lemon.