DC Motors and Speed Control

The simplest form of speed control for a safety-extra-low-voltage DC motor is a series rheostat; slot-car racing springs to mind as an example.

DC motors can be controlled by altering voltage (restricting the current) or by changing the load.

AC motors cannot be varied that easily. for example the speed in an existing normal motor setup can only be varied by changing the frequency.

...which requires a bucket-ful of electronics.

Nah just about a dozen well chosen things and pulse wave modulation. I built a speed controller years back with a 555 timer and three transistors a few caps and res. Back then total cost £4.00 including the box.

Control the speed of what? People are making assumptions here. An AC motor can be speed controlled also. Where did you get the idea that only DC motors can control speed?

For your info, we have two machines here made by the same manufacturer. One has a DC motor and the other has an AC motor. Both have speed control.

Yes you are quite corect but I was only saying about my own experiance. Many devices appliances used modified DC motors that will run on AC (the humble washing machine) for instance. Also as used on Clive Sinclairs C5 car 24V DC. both have speed controllers.