Do You Recommend Winfield Collection?

Well, I am just in the process of assembly, and I think I can add a few insights. First of all, there are a GAZILLION parts to it, and it takes a long time to even cut them out. Secondly, and as noted in quite a few other postings about their Ferris wheel, it is quite difficult to cut the gears correctly so that they mesh and work. Third, I had heard that their motors are unreliable; however it also includes the fittings, and that's quite valuable. I ordered the whole motor kit -- you can't get motor and fittings separately -- but I'm ready if and when the motor fails; I found a motor that matches the specifications and footprint, and it's the Dayton Permanent Magnet DC Gear motor 2L008. It is a 1/125 HP, with a torque of 40 in-lbs and is 12 RPM. If you shop, you can get a used one for about $25 - $30. As to the gears, I went to eBay and found a vendor who makes wooden gears and has a laser cutter, and he cut them to specs as a custom order for a total of $40 delivered. Since he now has the template, he will be happy to cut these for others as well, and I can assure you that they are well worth getting. However, it is difficult to find wood that is 3/4" as the specs call for. I ended up getting 1/2" maple (which he purchased from Winfield directly). THEY don't sell 3/4" hardwood either! If you DO purchase the motor kit, it comes with two squares of hardwood to cut out the gears. I just ordered the kit and haven't received it yet, but I will be interested to see if it's 3/4" wide, and I'll let you know.

Here's the link for the gears. These gears were specifically created for me to exact specs sent with the plans, including all inner holes. http://www.ebay.com/itm/steam-punk-...586893?hash=item51ec2aec0d:g:xZ4AAOSwPCVX8IjY.
 
I just built one this year. The biggest problem seems to be getting the wood gears accurately cut. However, I looked up two suppliers of Steampunk gears and asked them if they could do custom work. Both had laser cutters. One of them was glad to do a custom order, and I got both gears beautifully (and effortlessly) cut for a total of $40, including material (which he bought from Windfield) and shipping. Was WELL worth it. HOWEVER, even though they were made of hardwood, wood in general, as you know, expands and contracts. Often, there's grinding noises when it starts up until it runs for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. I am not really satisfied with using them, and plan to replace them after the season with metal gears. I notice that wood gears often have that shape on the spokes, but I haven't seen metal gears that do, and now I'm trying to find out if I can substitute the shape of the teeth. I know of a supplier of custom metal gears who can do this. Here's the expired listing, and you can message him. By the way, I spent about $220 for wood. You might want to rethink the scallops on the wood that supports the seats. It's only decorative, and if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=351854586893&view=all&tid=834314009022

As to the motor. I bought the motor kit, and so far the motor has been holding up. However, I had been told that their motors can be unreliable, and I have already looked up a motor that has the same specifications and foot print by Dayton. It is the Dayton 2L008, a permanent magnet gearmotor, 12 RPM, 40 lb./in torque.

Hope this helps!
 
mattyw said:
I just built one this year. The biggest problem seems to be getting the wood gears accurately cut. However, I looked up two suppliers of Steampunk gears and asked them if they could do custom work. Both had laser cutters. One of them was glad to do a custom order, and I got both gears beautifully (and effortlessly) cut for a total of $40, including material (which he bought from Windfield) and shipping. Was WELL worth it. HOWEVER, even though they were made of hardwood, wood in general, as you know, expands and contracts. Often, there's grinding noises when it starts up until it runs for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. I am not really satisfied with using them, and plan to replace them after the season with metal gears. I notice that wood gears often have that shape on the spokes, but I haven't seen metal gears that do, and now I'm trying to find out if I can substitute the shape of the teeth. I know of a supplier of custom metal gears who can do this. Here's the expired listing, and you can message him. By the way, I spent about $220 for wood. You might want to rethink the scallops on the wood that supports the seats. It's only decorative, and if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=351854586893&view=all&tid=834314009022

As to the motor. I bought the motor kit, and so far the motor has been holding up. However, I had been told that their motors can be unreliable, and I have already looked up a motor that has the same specifications and foot print by Dayton. It is the Dayton 2L008, a permanent magnet gearmotor, 12 RPM, 40 lb./in torque.

Hope this helps!
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Are you sure it's not the motor making the Noise? A lot of time my motors need a little WD40 and they quiet right down


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I order the carousel the order day does eBay gears that you have listed for the ferris wheel will they work on the carousel also?

Also what paint are you guys using? Do u buy it from Winfield?
 
jdesign21 said:
I order the carousel the order day does eBay gears that you have listed for the ferris wheel will they work on the carousel also?

Also what paint are you guys using? Do u buy it from Winfield?
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For all my cutouts I use exterior paint samples from Home Depot. They are a couple dollars and you can pick from 100's of colors


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For paint, I just used whatever I could get that was close to the color. I figured that they were probably paid by the brand they were recommending. I wish I had just spray painted all parts except the characters (wheel, seats, and stand). It would have saved tons of time. I'm still painting the characters. Might be done in a couple days.

I picked up the plans for the teeter totter. I figured that would be my next project...for next Christmas. I also picked up the plans for the carousel. Due to storage space, I probably won't build it, though. I need to find where to store this stuff.
 
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Absolutely positive. It's clearly the gears. The motor, by the way, just quit. However, in this case, I don't think it was its quality. We had an overnight sleet storm that weighed down the characters, and eventually it stalled. By the way, neither that motor nor it's Dayton replacement (which I just ordered) have thermal protection, so they CAN burn out under stress.
 
No, as far as I know they're entirely different. Prior to ordering the Ferris wheel plans, I had read posts from several members who noted how difficult it was to cut the gears accurately, so I was prepared when I ordered my plans to look for an alternative, and found it. Many people decided to go for a windshield wiper motor and use the sprockets and chain from a bicycle instead. However, if you DO order the plans, you might want to approach the same gentleman on ebay that I used; he was quite accommodating, very prompt and easy to work with, and I definitely didn't think that $40 for the two exquisitely cut gears was out of line. That included ordering the wood from Windfield, shipping, and eBay fees, as well as, of course, creating a custom template of two gears, including all the holes.

As to paint, I recently discovered that you can purchase a small sample can of exterior grade paint in any color you want for about $3.50 at Home Depot. They'll make it up for you. I think Lowes offers a similar service.
 
mattyw said:
Absolutely positive. It's clearly the gears. The motor, by the way, just quit. However, in this case, I don't think it was its quality. We had an overnight sleet storm that weighed down the characters, and eventually it stalled. By the way, neither that motor nor it's Dayton replacement (which I just ordered) have thermal protection, so they CAN burn out under stress.
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The motor for that kit it that undersized that sleet burned it out. When we lived in mass we always went a little oversized in the motor so the snow or ice couldn't stop them. This is run of a motor that is 70 years old and used to run a giant wire feeder for a welder in a shop
https://vimeo.com/196458018


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I want that. The Merry Go Round. I like that.
Plus, I'll probably need to upgrade to that motor sometime. Very nice.
 
I would love to build the carousel, but I am thinking that we get winds that are too high. (Not to mention the storage problems.) Has anyone had their carousel topple over, if so, was the winds high?
 
CJ6 said:
I would love to build the carousel, but I am thinking that we get winds that are too high. (Not to mention the storage problems.) Has anyone had their carousel topple over, if so, was the winds high?
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I have had some pretty strong sustained winds here. What I do is put 2 pieces of EMT in the ground during the set up and tie them into the "legs" of the base. Keeps it very sturdy.
 
DanoNJ said:
I have had some pretty strong sustained winds here. What I do is put 2 pieces of EMT in the ground during the set up and tie them into the "legs" of the base. Keeps it very sturdy.
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Thanks. If I can figure out storage (or how to hang from my garage ceiling), I'll try to build it.

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The problem with that is the footprint, so in consideration of the need to get the thing up and running rather than having to make further alterations to fit another size motor. Unfortunately, those motors do not have thermal protection, so when they stall like that they burn out rather than cut off. What happened to it is extremely rare in our area, and it was compounded by the fact that it happened overnight. It was not SUPPOSED to sleet this far south, but the weather was not reading the book -- yet again!

When the season is over, I intend putting a windshield wiper motor and sprocket system on it.
 
I would like to build the carousel, but it's proportions bother me. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the proportions on a carousel are usually at least square, but most of the time, they're wider than they are tall. Their carousel looks like it should be wider -- it seems to be quite narrow.

Also, another member built one, and decided to make the characters go up and down by attaching wheels to the end of the poles and running it through the floor to a second hidden base that had waves in it. He could get the wiper motor to work without it, but it didn't have quite enough power to run when the second base was on, so I would imagine that one would have to use a wheelchair motor instead.
 
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