Radius dish spinner

[Bob Gleason]

Some people like driving the bus, not me. Done enough of that. Been wanting to build a motorized dish spinner for years. I finally came across a couple of deals on the right used parts to make one. There are lots of ideas for making cheap spinners.This is NOT an economy set-up. If you bought the parts new, it would be very expensive. A friend of mine was switching out a DC motor and speed controller and my machinist had a left over 1/2" x 15" aluminum disc to use for the platen. He machined me a coupler from the disc to the motor shaft. Just posting this because it might give others some ideas. It truly is a dream machine! 1.5HP DC motor with speed control. Direct drive to the aluminum platen which has a center pin and 2 drive pins. Tool less switching to dishes of different radius or diameter.

[TEETERFAN]

Now that’s a terrific setup! Do you have a flat disc as well?

[jread]

Intrigued! My shoulder injury makes me want to drink and drive the bus. Now we just need a motorized French polisher.

[TEETERFAN]

“Motorized french polisher”…. I wonder?

[jread]

Be worth a try.

[Morecowbell]

Wow - thanks for posting, Bob, I always enjoy your ideas.

[Bob Gleason]

Having the dishes be easily interchangeable, with out using extra tools, was important for me. I have dishes in sizes from 15" to 24" in diameter and in 12', 15', 25', 30' radius, and a flat one. A couple of my dishes came from John and they are nice. Most of mine are shop made . It is a nasty job with a router, but not difficult.

[Stray Feathers]

A great idea Bob. I have made two dishes - 15' and 28' - with a router. Not difficult, as you say, but messy. And the mdf I used has cupped, perhaps because of heat generated by routing. (They were varathaned front and back right after sanding them smooth). So I have screwed the two together back to back to try to even out the cupping and maybe stabilize them. This works but it would not be so easy to fit them to your spinner. But there may be a way . . . Bruce W.

[Bob Gleason]

All the dishes I have are cupped to some degree. You could screw them to a flatter piece of high quality ply, if you can find any that is flat. In reality, I don't think the cupping matters if it is not too bad. In practice, I don't think of a 12' radius as actually being 12'. I think of it as being more than a 10' radius and less than a 14' radius. No exact science going on in my shop! Bob