Can someone suggest where I can get a used ball spinner or plans on how to build one yourself?

Also what to look for when you are in the market to buy, I don't want to buy a cheap imitation that will break after a few uses?

A couple of months ago, I was in the market for a spinner. After reading several positive comments about the Vertex spinner on the ASB newsgroup and the "coverstock preparation forum" of [Banned-SpamURL].com, I went ahead a bought one (although I was worried that I was buying a "cheap imitation" as you mentioned).

The Vertex spinner has been great! It has a sturdy metal base and does not wobble while the ball is spinning. It spins at 450 RPM, which seems to be "just enough" for my purposes.

In addition to routine cleaning and polishing, I was able to sand out all of the Track scratches from a couple of balls, and they came out "like new."

Anyway, I've only had the spinner a couple of months, so I don't know about how well it will do over the long haul, but it certainly seems to be well built; I expect it to last a good long time.

Hello "old",

I have a spinner from Donkee in my house and it does quite well for my purposes. It does wobble a little bit on high RPM's. I have the biggest one they have, and have done a lot of full resurfaces, to mine, my wifes, and teammates equipment. I've had it now for six months, and I've definately got my moneys worth. It has worked very well, and with the large one, the splash guard was free. I don't recall if it still is. Innovativebowling also has one out that works quite well, but is a little more expensive.

Hello,

I got the plans for mine off ebay. It took me a couple of months to acquire everything needed (working on it part time), but the assembly only took me two evenings in my garage. It works great, variable in speed from about 400-900 rpm. It cost me about sixty bucks to get all the stuff necessary to build it. A friend of mine has the vertex model, and I like mine much better.

take care,

Jim

I built one from scratch. I had used a donkee for a while but wanted something more heavy duty.

I used a dryer motor, ordered a conical bearing and a needle bearing and a couple of other little pieces from McMaster Carr and used some square-stock metal (and a friend who is a welder) and built it.

I like it far better than the donkee. It doesn't wobble PERIOD. I've put the most non-round-core ball in the worst possible orientation in order to try to get it to wobble. Nada.

Does anyone have plans for a spinner that they'd like to share? I'm interested in building one, but I don't have a lot of confidence in my ability to judge how strong it needs to be.

When I was looking into it, I compared the prices of all the components to build one, and it was more expensive to build a good one, than buy one.

You could scrounge around and get lucky finding materials to build with. But for the price of a new ball you can buy one. For about 1 1/2 times the price of a new ball you can get a really good, two speed, heavy duty spinner.

I can get a free used motor no problem, and I know a guy who has two(2) CNC machines in his basement, so I think I'd be able to do this fairly cheaply..

No real need for a CNC machine....

You need a heavy steel plate for the base, have it bent on all four sides so you have a recess to house the pulleys & belt, have the corners welded so it wont spring. Put some heavy duty shock mount feet on it. Drill it so the motor can be mounted shaft down, you'll need a totally enclosed motor. You'll will need a mandrel with the bearings loaded to take heavy end thrust and side load. Calculate the pully sizes to give you about 480 RPM on the bowl. Devise a belt tensioning device. Build or buy a metal or heavy plastic bowl to hold the ball. Treat the lip with some type of soft yet durable material so it wont mar the ball. Build a splash shield kind of in the shape of a fruit basket to catch the waste product slung off with the water. Oh and make sure the motor and all electrical components are waterproof. As well as all lubricated shafts and bearings.

Or order one online for around $150, and just plug it in....

I'm also in the market, my Pro Shop is now charging $4 a ball to clean them. OK plus I like to tinker with surface finishes.Has anyone seen one for under $160?

Just add about 30 bucks and you can get one form Donkee.com. I bought the 1/3 hp model and it works just great.

but they get you in the shipping

I have a Donkee 2 speed spinner and I think it was one of the best investments that I could have made. If I decided to charge my friends for the work that I do for them I could have paid for it already! It is a good investment if you plan to use it.

Hey Group,
When you use them do you also use water at the same time?? what exactly is the correct process for re-surfacing a ball?

Thanks

Well I worked in a Pro Shop for awhile, and the way i was taught to resurface a ball was 1. you do need water so you dont eat away your coverstock. 2. Sand the ball on four sides which would be with the CG up, Then Flip it to where the fingers and thunb are down. Then from there Flip it on its side. then Flip it over again so its on the other side.

General question here.

I had my TS&A resurfaced a week ago. Box specs called for 400 grit finish. The Pro Shop said that with the age and use of the ball, he would take it down to 250.

I now find this ball has renewed hook, but too much.

Can I lessen the friction by going in reverse by resanding back to, say 600?

I wouldn't have dropped it that much. I would've brought it back to 320. 600 will be higher than the box finish, and thus will have more skid than fresh out of the box.

Thanks Brian. Since, my guy does it for free, and lets a counter kid do it, I think the kid was having trouble finding the right grit emory to bring it down. He settled on 250, which is what he could find. I just have to take some off to lessen the friction.

Yeah, just bump it up to 320. You could even hit it with a red Scotch Brite pad dry and it will be around 320.

I also purchased the Donkee. On low rpms it spins smoothly, but on high rpms has a good bit of wobble. Doesn't really bother me as I only use high rpm to polish, but I imagine it might annoy others. As others have said that the Vertex doesn't wobble I kinda wish I got that one. Live and learn.

I have a Vertex spinner, and depending on the ball orientation it will wobble also. Nothing I worry about though. It works quite well.

Well from the research I've done, the Vertex is spinning only around 435-450 rpm's. And the Donkee spins at 475 and 675 rpm's. And I've only heard that the Donkee wobbles at the higher speed. Sounds as if the Vertex might have some wobble depending on where the top weight is oriented at its one speed of 435+ rpm. So if the Vertex was capable of hitting the 675 rpm's that the Donkee is hitting it would most likely be a bad wobbler too. Donkee seems to be the only one with the splash guard, and I really don't have a $35+ need for a foot control pedal. So as soon as the Donkee's 3/4 hp are back in stock, I think this will be my choice.

i haven't found one for less $240.00 if someone has seen a ball spinner for $160.00 please give up the location. if someone has plans to build one i would like for them to share the plans with me. thanks

Brian-

Do you have a source for the different color 3M pads with reasonable prices?

Read

where can you get a spinner for $160.00?

I haven't seen any for $160. The least expensive I have found is $199, both Donkee and Vertex Mold have one for that price. I've never used any of those so can't say if they are any good, but I do believe in general you get what you pay for. If you aren't going to be using it but a few times a year, then an inexpensive spinner will probably be fine. If you are going to use it frequently spend the extra money and get a good, heavy duty spinner with a heavy metal base and metal ball cup. Then offer to your fellow bowlers to clean / sand / polish their balls for them for $3 or $5 to help offset the cost.

I totaly agree about getting what you pay for...
I have a motor and I think I can build one for a fraction of the price of a donkee and a vertex. If all works well I will post how I did it and all of us can enjoy the use of a good ball spinner.

I just made a spinner using a table top drill press. With some modifications the total cost was about $75.00. Variable speed and minimal wobble. Looks good and works great. Anybody want more info I can take pics.

That would be great!

I was just at a salvage type place today. They had an electric motor that would probably have had plenty of power. Everything else I've read here though seems to suggest I would need some welding prowess, which I don't have. Does the drill press solution assemble easily?

The drill press idea works great. No welding invoved.
If I could load some pics I would, but I'm having trouble doing that. For now I will try to explain the process. The bench top drill press comes with a stand and the motor drill assembly. I turned the motor drill assembly upside down with the shaft which holds the chuck face up. I did not use the chuck. The shaft holds the plate which the bowl will sit on. Since this plate needs a hole directly centered and that fits on the shaft, I used a solid pulley with the same diameter as the shaft. The stainless steel bowl then is bolted to the pulley. The pulley is used for convenience and is only used to hold the bowl.
Now the tough part. The whole motor asembly which now has the bowl mounted on to it should be placed on the stand. The stand consists of a steel pole and the base. It also has a work platform that connects to the pole. This work platform will support the motor assembly. The motor assembly can fit onto the pole but it won't go all the way down to the platform. A hole using a hole drill must be cut through the covering. This covering is thin metal and houses the two pulleys and the belt that turns the whole contraption. Once this hole is drilled the motor assembly can be lowered all the way down to the base. Then, the pole can be measured and cut flush with the motor assembly. The idea is to get the bowl posotioned perfectly centered on the pulley(plate). This is the best I can do right now. I already resurfaced one ball using those new sanding pads and it turned out great. When the balls weight block is not centered, and this will happen as you turn the ball over, I did get some wobble. I ended up bolting the machine to my work table with good results. The drill press cost me about $70.00 and the stainless steel bowl cost $12.00. I had all the bolts and drills and everything else. So for less than $100.00 I got myself a spinner that works very well. ASk me specifics. Maybe you guys have an idea better than this.

Thanks for the info, but it's hard to see without pics. Can you load them to someplace like http://www.flickr.com and then link them?

Again, thanks for putting this together!

I will try tonight. Can HTML be enabled. Maybe that is the problem.

You can use UBB Code. It's like HTML, but it's not . If you have a link to an image, you put [ img ] Link_to_pic [ /img ] around it, without the spaces within the tag.

you lost me on the tough part... making the work stand. try to get those pics up. can u still use the varialble speed on the drill press?

Explain the UBB again. You can still use a variable speed by changing the belt on the pulleys which are inside the cover. Pictures will explain everything.

i thought that was the way you would change the speed. were you able to upload the pics? i think i understand now about mounting it on the pole, but i still would like to see some images.

If you upload the photos to another site, you can link them here with the UBB code I explained. You can also click on the "Enter an Image" button to link to an image that's hosted somewhere else.

For the UBB code, you have the link to an image (like http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TM5SC72TL._AA280_.jpg ). You then put the "image" tags around it to make it appear like this



If you quote my message, you'll see exactly what it looks like.

HEY! You're pretty smart. That sounds lots easier than the stuff necessary to embed an image while posting and you could (presumably) edit in text around the images as well, no?

Yep, you can put whatever you want, wherever you want.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23024799@N08/archives/date-posted/2008/01/19/

Here some pics for the Keglndude Spinner. Any questions just ask.

Awsome job, that thing is wicked. Great enginuaty and skill. I bought a drill press just like that and i would like to know how many amps does your motor pull? It should be listed on the press somewhere. thanks and again great job!!!!

Keglndude, your spinner looks great, however I think I would add a shield around the motor or seal it somehow. In order to resurface your balls, you will be using copious amounts of water. It will get thrown everywhere, including into the openings in the motor. This can/will cause serious issues with shorting, shocking, and at the extreme, electrocution.

edited...

got any pics of where you had to modify the housing?

A "step by step" with pics would probably make you the darling of the DIY bowling world.

New pics with descriptions.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23024799@N08/archives/date-posted/2008/01/19/

You'll want to make sure there's a heavy duty rubber edging around the cup so the ball doesn't slip while appying pressure and get the ball all scratched up

I had some nice weatherstripping that worked real nice.

Those are the same pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23024799@N08/archives/date-posted/2008/

If this doesn't work click on January

Don't know the amps but they are all pretty much the same, unless you bought a heavy duty model. The one I purchased is 1/3 HP. Really wanted 1/2 HP but this one seems to do the job.

thanks for the reply...

New to forum. I happen to have a bench top drill press and was wondering why I could not just put the motor and head assembly upside down on my work bench and chuck in a bowl with a bit shank attached ? Why did you not use the chuck?

GG

I don't see why you couldn't do that. I liked the idea of it being mounted. I'll tell you thou, this thing is sweet. I have used it numerous times already with great results. As far as using the chuck........I thought that I wanted the bowl to be closer to the base and thus would have less wobble. If you use the chuck assembly the bowl will be about 2-3" above the base. Be my guest and try it. Just let me know cause I plan on making more. Thanks for the interest.

Keglndude

Just make sure you tighten the chuck with a chuck key before each use so you don't loose a limb, we don't need industrial accidents on this site. I don't want to see a post that starts off with, I tore my thumb off in a drill press I was using as a spinner, any ideas as to how to bowl league tonight?

Hi, i was thinking (a dangerous thing I know)but you probably have something there about less wobble the closer the cup to the head. I have not had time yet to try a few test runs but I have a question. You said you bolted a cup to a pully --is that right? I assume you locked it down with allen screws, is that right? With the chuck seat being tapered how did you get it tight enough to keep from wobbling? If you could post a photo that would help.
Thanks

I saw where you built your ball spinner from a dril press.This was a good ideal. I already had the drill press. Bought a thick metal bowl at trift store for two dollars. Drilled a hole in the center. Cut the head off a 2 1/2 X 1/2 bolt one that the threads don't go all the way to the head. Put a nut then a large washer bowl then another washer and nut. The washers help support plus if the bowl wobbles you can make the hole a little bigger and adjust the wobble out. I removed the cover top cut the hole in the bottom cover. Had to file a little in the top of the press housing and knock a pin out that kept the pipe from going all the way thru. I removed the adjustable table and slid everything to the bottom support or stand. Chucked the bowl in the chuck and tighten. Turned it on. It needed very little adjustment. I then tighten the the two nut on the bowl. Stretched a thick sock over the bowl left the rest in the bowl. Put an old ball in for the test. Worked great. I have polished 6 or 7 balls and put a 2000 grit finish on a old Hammer ball. Used a spray bottle with
water and a 2000 pad looks great. $42.00 total Thanks Pup

Oh yes, I did forget about that part. The shaft that is home to the chuck is tapered. The pulley that is used as a support for the dog bowl does have an allen screw that is tightend to secure it to the shaft. Here is the secret. The shaft has to be ground down to make it even all the way down. Hers how that is done......With the drill press running, take a high speed hand held grinder and run it against the chuck shaft, making sure that you don't stay in one spot too long. With both the shaft and the grinder spinning at the same time, you should be able to achieve a perfectly straight and true shaft. Make it just right to fit through the pulley. Only take a little off at a time. Took me awhile but fits perfectly. Thanks for the interest.

Keglndude

My $35 ball spinner.

Variable speed polisher sander from Harbor freight. $29
A 6 gallon pail from my work... uhmmmm - free
nuts and washers from the $3.00
Flow pot from Walmart $2.00

The polisher says 200 rpm to 3377 rpm. I'm not sure if the slow speed is 200 but i think it needs to be slower so I might go get a potentiometer from Radio shack and wire it in there. I also need to do something with the base of the polisher. It works fine but I would like it to be a little more stable at higher speeds. The tub hits the side of the pail a little bit. I think I will get some longer bolts and extend the bolts that hold the handle so that they go through the outside of the pail.
Might need some larger washers for a more sturdy base for the tub also. For a first try and just throwing it together is works awesome.

I see one thing attached to the polisher - is it the tub or the pail? Where/what is the other piece?

How do you hold the polisher in place?

EDIT - Ok, I see the other pictures now Does the weight of everything keep it in one place when it's on? Does the sander have a switch to stay on, so you can just turn it on, then use 2 hands for the task at hand?

I finally got the pics straight..
should be a good post now.

Yes.. the polisher sits up from the handle. The pail holds the other end in place and keeps it from torquing. The switch has a button to hold it down so that the polisher stays on.
Like I said.. I might extend the bolts that hold the handle on so that they go through the pail so that the polisher won't move side to side at all. I think that is needed because the polisher and ball trys to move when you put pressure on it while sanding

Taking on a project of making a 'homemade' spinner. Luckily we know an engineer firend who happened to have an extra washing machine motor...don;t ask me why...Went out and bought a 1000-watt turn-style dimmer switch and a standard 4" hex-locking pulley and vioala! I still have to find a bowl of some sort to put on it, but it should work fine and we only spent 20 bucks..of course..the motor was free, but this should be a cheap alternative. Once i get the bowl mounted I will have a better idea of RPM's, but with the dimmer switch it is fully adjustable to about any speed I need. I will post pics soon.

Sounds good. This is one of my Winter projects. Course, I have been saying that for 2 years now.

As for the bowl, I saw some flower pots made out of rubber/vinyl that could work. I felt a little dumb carrying my ball into the nursery and trying them for size.

I saw that a couple posts above here..looks good and probably wouldn't worry about scratching the ball like a metal bowl would...

Donkey makes a workstation cup for bowling balls that has a rubber top edge. Its about the size of the cup on a regular spinner. It can be found at donkee.com/workstation.htm.

Actually i just found a durable plastic mixing bowl- here are some pics of the progress. We are builiding a housing this weekend and it should be finished.

Very nice.

They will sell you the bowl from their actual spinner for 11 bucks.. 15 bucks with the rubber ring that keeps the ball from spinning ....there is a minimum $20 order so you will have to throw in an abralon pad too..

How does it work set up like that? .. Does the weight of the ball have any adverse effects on the motor. I need to switch my set up to use a belt and pulley system like the real spinners. The polisher doesn't like the weight from the ball and the weight from the pressure while sanding.. the gearing in the head of the polisher gets a little hot and is noisy.. I like your direct drive set up if the motor bearings and bushings can handle it..
I might be able to just use the motor from the polisher in a set up like yours.. I also have a washer that I am getting rid of
I also found that as you put pressure on the ball while sanding and put strain on the motor I think the variable speed resistor in my polisher heats up and therefore changes the amount of volts it lets go... so when you let up on the ball the speed wants to take off.. any trouble like that with your wall mount variable light switch

where did you get your bowl..??

I just got the ball cup from the Donkee spinner. It isn't that great.. without the rubber piece it won't hold the ball that well. I thought I could just line the edge with some black tape or some other tacky material.. it won't work.. the cup is way to big without the rubber piece that is supposed to go in it. So with the piece it might be better but I don't know..
I bought some rubber mat that I am going to secure to the inside and see if that works.

It might be cheaper to go to an auto parts store and purchase some trunk weatherstripping.

Hi, i'm from Canada and am looking for a ball spinner , prefer to make my own. It seems after reading the forum many say that they built, got plans via this or that , but did anyone ever provide you with them. I read the forum checked most repliers posts and was unable to find any. If you did receive any do you think that you could send them along my way, if you would I would be very greatful.--------------------best regards Peter

Hello everyone, I stumbled on this thread and want to share a few pics of my made ball spinner, one of my employee had made for me. I was forced to make one with no choice, because I'm living in asia now and took up bowling as a past time, it is really hard to find good bowling balls here for a decent price without shipping it, only way I can get a good ball is when I go on a business trip and lug back 2 bowling balls everytime if in the right country with varieties, so I try to maintain them well. Shipping and import tax would had been 3 times the price if I ordered a spinner from the states.
so would someone tell me how to post a pic and i would share.
Works great, heavy duty quality for about $100 USD. lol, was really happy with it when he brought it to my house acouple days ago.

Can someone tell me how to post a jpg straight from my computer? thanks

You have to click on the "Switch to Full Reply Screen" and then click on the link for "File Manager".

I use tinypic.com You up load a photo to that sight and it gives you the url for posting to a forum or sending in an email. I think Dennis was the one that pointed me to that sight. Its been very useful.

Erin

I had this made from an employee of mine
total cost = 100 USD
weight = 15 kg
3/4 HP
450 RPM at the momment, getting it moded to 2 speed in the acouple of days

I will post more pics of the bottom that will show some parts of the inside when I bring it back to get it moded again.

very nice! can't wait to see the guts underneath

I made my own with a harbor freight drill press. Works wonderful. Basicly it is flipped over and I took a metal dog dish/large bolt and chucked it up. Super glued rubber tube on the rim and set the belt/drill for lowest rpm at 600 rpm. It is very nice to have your own ball spinner!

I should take a video of it so you can see it. Cost me less then $50 total!

For anyone who has used a drill press to make a spinner: is a drill press with a 1/3 HP (120V, 60 hz, 1 Phase, 1725 RPM) motor enough? I'm looking at one on craigslist at the moment for $75 and hoping I can talk him down a little bit if this will do the job.

By the way, I was planning on following this vid:

IDK, looks wobbly to me, which means that it will take a toll on the machine. Doesn't look too stable. I can imagine that it would be challenging to get the hole in the bowl drilled exactly center. It also doesn't look like its spinning fast enough or stable enough to put much pressure on the ball for refinishing. I'd also keep in mind your work height too. You want it at a reasonable working height so you can bear down on it. The lining on the edge of the bowl is a must. I might try that rubber handle liquid stuff. The stuff you dip tool handles in? Put it in a tin foil throwaway pan (unless you want a divorce real quick, then use the wife's) and dip the bowl/s.

Erin

There's another DIY video on youtube that is pretty much the same thing and that one is a lot more stable. He has padding on the edge of the bowl (But the bowl is way too small so the ball sits on, not in, the bowl. If you get the drill press drilled to a table and the bowl center, it should be stable. I'm thinking of getting weather stripping to line the bowl (the kind that lines your trunk). Putting weight on the drill press itself might be a problem, though, as I don't know how strong they are.

intheZONE782: PM sent thanks

socalboomer: PM sent thanks

Don't forget the GFI, since you'll be dripping water all over the place...

I made mine off of one of the videos on the internet. First bowl we couldn't get centered well enough. Second bowl, my dad took it to work and had a guy with all kinds of tools center it. It works perfectly fine for me and I love it!

I have seen a few video's on youtube and to be honest some look kind of dangerous. A superglued 1/2" bolt used as a shaft to one of the pulleys.. Wouldnt it be easier just to buy an electric motor for $40 and mount it to a frame? The bowl would be attached directly to the motors shaft...

The video doesn't address water. Its best to sand balls with water. If you get water down into this electrical drill press what happens? If your seal is not perfect you will also get water in the bottom of the bowl, which will again drip down into the electrical drill press. Two stainless steel bowls rotating is going to generate a lot of static electricity and if they are not secured, could also contribute to the electical error possibilities. I don't think super glue would secure the two bowls. You'd need to to silver braze them together. Or you could use a more rigid plastic like PVC piping if you could find it in a big enough diameter.

The more I think about it, the more I think of this contraption as being the next Darwin Award.

Erin

I use mine 4 times a week cleaning 2 the 3 balls each time and already have resurface and refinished a few balls. Mine is rock solid and is made with a Harbor Freight $35 drill press. Used the large bolt to bowl and very little wobble.

Love it!

This works wonderfull! Love having my own spinner. Was wondering if it would be worth $300 up for spinner and I think it is. To have to only pay $35 makes it even sweeter. Totally has paid for itself over and over.

Keglndude, can you sent me a picture of your home made ball spinner.

Thanks,
Jerry

I made one and am quite pleased. I got a used drill press for $40 that looked like new, the small 8" made in china press. I spent $5 on SS bowl, $5 on rubber trim for bowl edge, Oh I had to buy a 1/2" Fine thread trap and bolt and washers, maybe $10 total and I have lots of 5 gallon buckets and used one for my spin/spray catcher.

I'll post some pics and videos if anyone wants to see mine all though it looks like the others, except my spray guard.

I'd be interested to see it

Here is the pics, the video is uploading as I speak.

http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e46/rckrzy1/bowling/

jay hawk bowling supply sells used ,but for that kind of price get on www.bowlersindex.com and buy a donkee spinner good price and works really well.

Where the heck to you find a 9/16 tap? Also having a hard time finding a 9/16 bolt. What thread is needed? -12,-20,-24 etc.

I have checked Harbor Freight, Sears, local auto parts stores, not taps for 9/16, only up to 1/2 inch.

Edit: Maybe Grainger, I will check.

My drill press used a 1/2" tap available at any ACE hardware.

J&B FRIEGHT OR fASTENAL SPECIALIZE IN NUS BOLTS TAPS TOOLS

You need to look into buying one of these

I just got an Innovative Personal Ball spinner 1/2 HP. It's 200 for the 1/3 HP motor and 230 for the 1/2 HP one. It's made of very heavy injection molded plastic. The price is a lot better than for the aluminum units.

It's very stable and it didn't slow down even when I was pressing hard using polish. So far I like it a lot.

ive gotta recommend vertex. Talk to Doug directly. Gave me an awesome deal on a blem and i live 20 minutes away so i was able to bypass the shipping. Ive done a full resurface, on a no mercy, black widow venom, and cleaned up my virtual gravity with no problems so far. ive got the 1/2 but he told me the 1/3 would have been plenty. Anyhow, best of luck no matter which way you go.

http://www.bowlingball.com/vertex-mold-ball-spinner-1-2-horse-power-bowling-accessory.html

Bought this one in Dec. 2008 and have been very pleased with it. I usually do 1 or 2 balls before the motor is a little warm. No negative reviews posted so far.

Just wanted to chime in that my 35 dollar homemade ball spinner is still going strong. I clean two to three balls 4 times a week. Also just resurfaced two balls. They feel and look like new. Has paid for itself over and over. When Harbor Freight has another sale gonna get another and jig it up so that I will never be down.

Dang! That's pretty cool. Nice job. I know I don't have the patience & do-all to pull that off.

I am waiting for our clothes dryer to [censored] out.

I bought my vertex 1/2 hp model used on Craigslist for $150.00. Works pretty good.

Mine uses an old washer motor, some pulleys and a belt from work, and a cradle with 2 sets of ball bearings on the shaft that I got from a teammate. I built the base out of leftover wood and used particle board to surround it so it doesn't make too much of a mess.

Unless you're real handy with materials and tools, go buy one. Something happens and you'll be taking a trip in an ambulance. Vertex's seem to be great from what I've seen.