4 replies to this topic

[RFD]

Hello all
I am going to have to build a new star roller soon as "old faithful" its on its last legs,are there any thoughts on what is the ideal drum speed,i have a nice 15" stainless drum and a 1/4 hp motor with a reduction gearbox giving about 50 final drive rpm,some of the vids i have seen,50rpm looks like it might be a bit slow,ime planning on using the "torro" method next year and i expect a roller with a bit more grunt might work better,any preferences gents please.

[Vic]

I would say 50rpm is plenty fast enough with a 15” drum, but that is only my opinion.

[digger]

Assuming that you will be rolling up to 12mm stars the critical speed for a 15" drum will be 70rpm, so I guess 50rpm may even be a little on the fast side.

If you can get hold of an inverter for your motor you could have a speed variable roller. Which from experience is great as sometimes different speeds are useful at different points in the rolling process. You also get the benefit of soft start which allows the motor to get up to speed slowly over a predetermined time, this helps to reduce the torque on the motor and also stops a heavily laden drum spitting stars out onto your bench (assuming straight wall drum).

[RFD]

Thanks Digger,
I had been thinking of a variable speed roller but was unsure if the extra expense would be worth it, you've convinced me now,right where did i put "santa's" list.

[digger]

It does not have to be too expensive. I have picked up a brand new Mitsubishi inverters on ebay for a fraction of list price (I really like the little mitsi's).

However have a look at these:-

Click (should go for £50 or less, maybe higher now I have posted it here, but there will be others)

Click (not a bad value package)