@Gsyverstad posted:Thanks for the encouragement I will start looking for the components. It seems the that 18V AC is much lower input voltage then most regulators are designed to handle.
If you are just using the transformer core and are looking for just speed control, you can use a motor or fan speed control on the 120/primary/input side of the transformer to get 0-18 volts on the secondary. I have done this many times and actually built a 10 amp controller for my brother-in-law w/ whistle & bell controls about 20 years ago that is still working well.