Member postings for Engineering is Great!!

I am thinking about getting one of the Arceurotrade tailstock turret systems. They say it has a 16mm spiggot. If anyone has one, can they measure the spiggot to see if it is 16mm or in fact 5/8". Comments on quality would also be appreciated.

Paul

John,

Thanks for sharing your idea's. What a great inspirational website you have. You've got me thinking of all sorts of modifications now!!

Paul`

I am thinking of adding power cross feed to my Super 7B.

Does anyone have any experience of the device that was made by WMED? Is it any good?

Does anyone know of any other commercial products that were, or are available, that they recommend?

Does anyone know of any articles that have been published for a DIY system that they can recommend?

I do not really need CNC control, but if a product/design has this and allows a speed controllable power crossfeed, then that is no problem.

Thanks in advance for your inputs

Once again, thanks to all of you for your comments.

I decided to investigate the motor as John suggested, and was not too pleased with what I found. The internal wiring has rubber sleeving and has perished and is beginning to break-up. The motor still runs, but could fail at any time!! Yes, I could replace the wiring but I think soft start and speed control etc. has won the day over single phase. I now have to decide what system to get and who to purchase it from. Life is full of decisions!!

Paul

Thank you all for your thoughts so far. The motor gets hot even when the drive belt is disconnected, so I think I definately have a motor problem, probably as Lambton suggests, the starter winding is not kicking out as bearings seem fine.

Thanks to _Paul_'s comments, I know understand why 3 phase is a better option than single phase. Chatter can be a problem, and just adjusting the speed to get the tool system out of instability makes a lot of sense. John's comments also make sense as torque will reduce as the speed of motor is adjusted. I beleive that the machines belts/gearing should be used to get to the speed you need, but tweak with speed contoller to get the best from the machine. Is this other peoples belif? I have also read that the better controllers have Vector mapping, which helps with the torque characteristics. Does anyone have experience of these?

Going to 1HP seems to far though. My thoughts are that at this power level serious damage could be done to the lathe if those occational, unplanned and unwanted crashes occur. My question remains as to 1/2 or 3/4 hp? I still do not understand why Myford quote 1/2hp single phase, and 3/4 3 phase motors (admitidly in an old brochure!!). Any comments from anyone would be appreciated?

Thanks

Paul

I have recently inherited my Fathers Myford Super 7 lathe which I have been using for the last 40 odd years in his workshop. The motor always ran rather hot, and on recently moving the lathe from my fathers workshop to mine, I think I may have found out why. The motor is only rated at 1/3hp. The Myford literature states a single phase motor rating of 3/4hp or a three phase motor rating of 1/2hp. I guess this is why the motor runs hot. Am I likely to be correct? Also why the different ratings for single and 3 phase? Surely if 3/4hp motor is required then the supply is irrelevant to the power required?

Assuming I should upgrade the motor, this leads me to my main question, should I go single or 3 phase? I have read a lot about three phase motors being better than single phase in terms of the motor running smoother, and therefore getting a better finish on the turned work. Is this a theoretical better or is their really a noticeably better finish?

Again, assuming I should go 3 phase, are their any recommendations on what package to get? I have been looking at the transwave inverter kits which include motor, inverter and controller (I only have a single phase supply in my workshop). Are these good kits, or are there better solutions? Would a 3 phase converter be better so that I could use this to also power the larger choice of better machineary available in 3 phase only?

Thanks in advance for any comments and suggestions.