motors

How to Use and Find Electric Motors

the different types of motors, and workarounds

field DC
permanent magnet DC (PMDC)

brushless DC
induction
capacitor start
three phase

scrapyards: Most scrapyards don't have the time to cut apart scrap electrical motors to get the copper out, so they will sell them to you for the price of steel scrap, which is significantly cheaper. There will be a large pile of nothing but electric motors somewhere in the scrap yard. Sometimes they will work, sometimes they won't. Make sure you don't get a three phase motor on accident. If the motor doesn't work and you can't fix it, you probably already have the motor apart from trying to fix it and you can sell the copper back to them for about the amount you bought the motor for. Also, people will often throw away central heating furnaces with working fractional horsepower motors to blow air through the furnace.
treadmills: ask at an exercise equipment repair shop. usually something besides the motor breaks on the treadmill, and they don't bother fixing it, so you get it for free instead! most treadmills come with a 1-1.5 hp PMDC motor and variable speed controller as well.
washers, dryers, dishwashers: household appliances often have 110V motors, even if the machine plugs into a 220 socket
advertise: put a classified ad in the "free" section of the newspaper advertising that you will haul off broken appliances for free.
auctions: visit some auctions and estate sales in your area. decent, functional motors often go for a couple dollars each at this type of sale. Usually they are attached to some type of device.