Hey there David! :)
If you have any chance to get to Michigan, this is the kind of thing you
could build yourself very easily at The Geek Group. We have an SR-100 Sheet
Router that could easily carve you out a new handwheel from just about any
material you can think of. Something as simple as HDPE, or as advanced as
doing a lamination of exotic hardwoods (if you're building a museum piece,
etc). The only real limiting factor would be that your handwheel can't be
more than 4 feet in diameter without having to make it in multiple pieces.
;)
Alternatively, if you want to make this easy for 1-hand-use, provided you
have suitable clearance around the unit, I would recommend making a simple
"tiller" type setup. Just a lever (which could easily be a piece of simple
1.25" pipe (easy to grip) with a suitable clamp made from the end. The
clamping end is easily done with nothing more than a drill press and a
hacksaw with the addition of a bolt. Drill a hole that will *just* fit the
shaft about an inch from the end of the pipe. Then drill another hole,
90deg off, about a quarter-inch from the same end. Then slit the pipe up
through the shaft hole. Slide it on the shaft, put a small (like 1/4"-20)
bolt through the other hole, and as you tighten the bolt down it will clamp
the pipe down onto the shaft. Make the pipe to length and you have an easy,
simple, custom handle. If you want to go for extra credit, make it from a
piece of thickwall Aluminum tube, polish the pipe to a mirror finish
(Mother's works great), clearcoat it, and knurl the last 4 inches for a
handgrip.
Have fun!
Chris Boden
President, The Geek Group
www.thegeekgroup.org
We Build Awesome!
On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 10:09 AM, David Rieben <drieben@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have been recently trying to secure an economical control wheel to
> replace the factory black phenolic control knob wheel on my 4-stacked 1256D
> Powerstats in my Green Monster pig coil control panel. Reason being is
> that the turning of the combined 4 variacs while smooth, does offer
> significant resistance to overcome the friction of turning the rotating
> guts of 4 large units. I'm sure the factory 7" outer diamter control wheels
> that Powerstats come with are more designed for operating a single variac
> unit and not multiple units. (Multiple units are typically operated with a
> remote control motorized drive). I can run the variac thru its range simply
> enough, but to do so comfortably pretty much requires both hands. So, I'm
> kind of looking for something a bit larger, say in the 10" to 13" diameter
> range, or maybe just 8" diameter if it had one of those "suicide knob" type
> handles on the wheel, like a lathe control wheel, for example. I've spotted
> a few possible candidates on eBay but am a little concerned on how well the
> hub would match up with my 3/4" solid steel shaft through my variacs. Some
> of
> the boat steering wheels have the tapered 5/8" to 3/4" hub hole and that
> would not work for a solid 3/4" shaft. Some of the large valve control
> wheels look like a possible fit or if the hub was too small but straight
> and untapered, I could simply bore it out to the required 3/4", although
> finding a 3/4" standard twist drill bit in my local Home Depot has proven
> to be rather illusive. Anyway, I do prefer the manual hand control to
> motorized control but would like the find a control wheel that offers a bit
> more leverage. Here a couple of eBay candidates that I have found:
>
>
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/301222411547?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
> and
>
>
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/121374903703?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
>
>
> Any suggestions from those more mechanically inclined than me (not
> difficult at all :-) would be most welcome.
>
> Oh yea, is anyone else having trouble snipping a chosen part of a post
> when responding via "reply all" through the new format of this list?
>
> Thanks,
> David
> _______________________________________________
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>
--
Chris Boden
President
The Geek Group National Science Center
www.thegeekgroup.org
We Build Awesome
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