ebay: Bodine 42A3BEPM-E3, 41 RPM High Torque Gear Motor 12V 23A Gearmotor

I understand what he is doing now. Magic, after you mentioned SilentChill I looked at his 6DoF build again. I had forgotten his frame setup.

You do not need to worry about perfect 2x4s. Most are ok for what you want to do as long as they do not have huge knots, etc, small knots are ok. We just finished building a house and believe it or not we only had seven 2x4s that we couldn't use out of 1000+ boards. 1/4 sawn douglas fir is way overkill.

Mostly the 2x4s on the base are to keep the three platforms together and the real strength for the upper platform is the top (plywood, etc).

Since I am a woodworker (I own a custom cabinet shop) my first inclination was to build mine out of wood, and indeed I did for many parts, but I wanted a rigid frame where I knew the bolts would never wobble out.

Regardless, I really look forward to seeing all of your motion platforms up and running!

3/4" plywood at any grade is very strong. lumber can gain weight quickly plan accordingly. His motors are worms not helicals. The helicals have less resistance therefore will turn easily by hand when off. The worms do not. Not sure if a 60:1 worm can be turned manually without a struggle. Imho i would plan for a way to have the platform rest on something when off.

My AC - 60:1's cannot be moved period...........solid as a rock.

I will shop tomorrow for clean white fir and plywood bottom support structure. Parts are arriving now and assembly is due. I know how to use wood and metal to make a stiff structure. Pictures will be posted in a timely manner for this project.

Got the 3 bases built and will assembly the triangle platform tomorrow. The motors and power supply arrived. Waiting on the 1018 steel rods to thread. I need to get 1/4" steel angle to mount the motors. I know a builders thread is needed, but all this is Craig's aka SilentChill. Wish me luck!

I'm a little confused about the specs of this motor vs. others I'm considering on ebay. I've seen 180W motors than run turn 4 times as fast but have the same torque. That shouldn't be possible. If I'm doing my calculations correctly, this Bodine motor outputs 150W at the shaft, from potentially 276W input (12V x 23 Amps). That seems reasonable, with the efficiency probably better than that since 23A is the max, but probably not the normal running current. The right angle gear motors I'm considering out out Canada calculate out to an impossible 600+ watts of shaft power. I think I've answered my own question - if the motor specs sound too good to be true, they probably are!

Another concern is the weight of these motors. I'm planning a flight simulator style frame to get a full 45 degrees of bank (kind of like the Joyrider), so the weight of one of the motors adds to what I need to move. These motors are a non-trivial 13 pounds each. I may try to do something creative to keep that weight near the centerline of the frame.

Remember these Bodine motors are high efficiency and produce high torque for lower ampere than China motors.

Before flying out tonight here is latest build.

@cgodwin You would be the first to adapt these motors for use in a joyrider type setup/rig. I used them in a 2 dof and @MagicEdge is building Stewart platforms with them. There are a few other projects but no joyrider thus far. So build one and let us know. I would be curious to see if the motors would work.

Received two of these motors today. These are serious, heavy duty motors, and I'm already impressed. Big step up from wiper motors and some of the more expensive geared motors I've looked at.

On the other hand, I also got two HP DPS-600 power supplies. These are amazingly small and light. Visually it doesn't seem possible this little power supply to run a Bodine 1/4 HP motor, but with a output rating of 47 amps, in theory I could run both motors off a single power supply. But I'll be running a separate supply for each motor, which should give me plenty of safety margin.

@cgodwin I now run two 50amp psu's in parallel. Before that I would occasionally overwork one and it would shut down. The specs for these motors do not show peak amp draw under load. I do not have numbers but I switched psu's a couple times to eliminate chance of weak psu. So my recommendation is two psu's in parallel minimum.

That is extremely helpful information. Potentially saved me a lot of headaches! My motors came with a 10A self resetting current limiter. I'm assuming you either didn't have that to begin with, or removed it?

Hopefully I won't need more than two 47A PSU's, as two is all I can handle on a 15A circuit. Even with two, I'm getting concerned that with the motors maxed out, plus a PC, monitor, and some misc bits I'm well over 15A. Even if I run a new 20A circuit to my simulator room (not a small task) it is only borderline for my theoretical max power.

i'm on a 20 amp circuit with small ac(5500btu) on same circuit plus some lighting and pc etc. no problems with breaker. the 10 amp fuses will mess you up if not removed. i run no fuse but don't recommend. i have enough components here to replace something if i fry it. my psu's claim 6.7 amps input so 13.4 amps at max.

Since these motors are made in the USA they are likely not made from rare earth magnets. Therefore, US motors are generally 2 to 3 times larger and heavier than most equivalent power Chinese motors. I would say they are probably less efficient though since the armature has more mass to move. One positive thing about their larger size though is that they can sink more heat before needing a cool down period, if at all.

Although they offer low energy compared to rare earth magnets, ferrite magnets have won wide acceptance due to their strong resistance to demagnetization, exceptional corrosion resistance and low price. It is the most common magnet used in most types of DC electric motors. Samarium Cobalt (SmCo) magnets are optimal for high temperature motor applications due to their high magnetic strength, exceptional temperature resistance, and reliable performance without oxidation protection. Neodymium magnets are also used in electric car motor applications. From the motor that spins a DVD disc to the wheels of a hybrid car, neodymium magnets are used throughout the vehicle. The decision between Samarium Cobalt or Neodymium as a vehicle magnet is usually based on either operating temperature and/or corrosion resistance.

not sure which is used in this motor. couldnt find it.

I run 3 600pb's AND my pc AND all my other crap off a single breaker. Trust us, Your Fine

It sounds like we're building a very similar sim, I'm eyeing a few different DC worm geared motors right now for a fighter sim I have in the works. I've already burned up one servo rated at 420kgcm 12rpms. 24v 42 amps. I'm thinking of giving this DC motor a shot. It has 100N/M (1000kgcm) torque. I found a servo driver board with on board encoder that should work with it as well. Im having an issue with the link but it's at Motion Dynamics site listed under heavy industrial geared motors

Must resist...must...resist.....must...resist....resistance slipping....slipping......