knooter

Obviously you are confused. 9 RPM's is 9 RPM's, no matter the size of the wheel. However, you mentioned that when you made the wheel diameter bigger, it went down to 7.6 RPM's. That was likely due to the increased workload put on the motor. If it went down in RPM's that much, the motor is likely overloaded. Every motor is rated at FLA or Full Load Amps. This rating tells you how many amps the motor is designed to draw under its maximum intended load. If your amp draw is higher than the FLA rating, the motor will not live long. Under increased amperage the motor builds heat in the rotor and windings. Eventually the heat will either dry out the bearings and seize them up, or it will melt the insulation within the windings, causing an electrical short circuit. You mentioned the load ratings (torque output). If the torque of this motor is only 3.5 inch lbs, you may be in trouble when you put a large (heavier) wheel on it. If the rating was actually 3.5 FOOT lbs, you should be fine. An inch pound is 1/12 of a foot pound. Torque is measured in how much weight it can move on a lever of a given length. 20 foot lbs means it can apply 20 lbs of pressure on a one foot lever. Imagine a drying wheel of 12 inch radius. With a 3.5 inch pound rating, it will apply (3.5/12) pounds or 0.3 pounds of force at the outer edge of the wheel. That only allows you to put about a 5 ounce lure on it. Granted it can turn more lures if they balance each other out around the wheel, but total weight starts to add up and will max out the load quickly. Hope this helps.

They use Hedron Magnum Flashabou. It is available at lots of online retailers or if you've got a fly shop near you they may carry it. I know that Lurepartsonline.com, formerly Stamina, inc., has all the colors you'll need, along with everything else you'll need to build bucktails.

I would recommend radiant in-floor heat. It is the absolute best way to heat a shop, garage or basement. Too late if you already have the slab poured, but another option would be a hot water radiator or fan coil unit. You'd have a boiler that generates the hot water, and a pump that circulates the water thru fin tube radiators, or an air handler with a hot water coil in it. Add glycol to the system and you could set it up to be a make-up air system, where you bring in 100% outside air and exhaust the same amount through your paint booth exhaust system. This could get pricy, and is something that should be left to a competent HVAC contractor. I put the in-floor radiant tubing in my basement and my garage when I built, and for this exact reason.

Grainger just started carrying raw materials such as polycarbonate, brass, copper, rubber, etc., in various size sheets. I picked up a sheet of @1/4" polycarbonate 12" by 12" for about $8. Not bad when you consider how much big musky bait lips cost individually. The only problem for some people is that Grainger is wholesale only. I buy a lot of supplies there for work, so I have access to it.