Member postings for Alan Waddington 2

Rob

as discussed there are other alternatives, even if the single VFD is not really viable.

So if the machine fits your needs, buy it, and worry about powering it up once it's sat in your workshop.

A lad on another forum I visit has just bought a 15hp Haas CNC to go in his garage, and is now researching power options.......now there's a proper challenge

Al

I can sympathise with the service department, I repair gas boilers for a living, and you wouldn't believe the amount of jobs I go to where the customer reports a 'funny noise' or intermittent fault, neither of which ever occur while I'm stood in front of the flipping thing. You can only fix a fault if you can find it. Noises are especially hard to diagnose unless you actually hear them, a description of a noise from the customer is normally nigh on useless as everyone interprets noises differently.

i would suggest that you make a video next time it occurs, send it to Warco and maybe post up here as well.

Think my money would go somewhere like this...............no connection btw

**LINK**

or better still........

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tom-Senior-milling-machine-/232137320669?hash=item360c7668dd:g:7AEAAOSw4GVYHwGB

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 13/11/2016 23:09:38

Fair play to you Dan, I'm certainly not in a position to argue with you, just trying to get my head around all the options for running my mill..

it sounds like your inverter has done a good bit of work and lasted a decent time, which considering its humble origins and low cost does make you wonder.......sometimes theory and practise can be far removed.

Al.

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 13/11/2016 17:55:39

More interesting reading on the subject............

**LINK**

Oh oh...... sounds like it might be back to plan A after all.

That would be really useful Dan, in the past I've struggled with understanding the programming of VFD's a combination of being an old dunce and the chinglish instructions.

If I can stick a VFD on the beaver it will be a lot quicker than building a bigger RPC. In my case there are really only two motors, the main spindle motor and the table X axis feed motor, don't think I'll use the coolant motor.

Every day is a school day it seems.......

Getting back to Rob's potential purchase, how does an auto draw bar work ? Is it a motor or an electro magnet/solenoid type affair. Just thinking it could be a stumbling block to using a single VFD unless they are single phase or maybe DC.

You've got me interested now Dan. My mate has been running the same VFD as yours to power a two post ramp, and so far it's holding up well. Done at least 2 years without letting the smoke out.

Am I right in thinking you have wired the 3 PH output of your inverter direct to the main spindle motor and the auxiliary motors in series with no contractors / switches ? So in effect all motors run when inverter powered up

if so something that confuses me is if you reverse spindle motor rotation using the inverter, does it not also reverse the rotation of all the other motors.?

Sorry for the dumb questions.

I didn't know that Dan, was always lead to believe inverters should be wired direct to the motor rather than through contractors and switches etc. in fact I'm sure the VFD running my lathe states so in the manual. But to be fair I am running it as a frequency drive with speed control, forward/reverse and estop.

Do all the motors run all the time, or can you switch them in/out as you need by using the mills original switchgear ?

reading this **LINK** suggests you are correct, however there does seem to be some conditions.

but this http://www.phasetechnologies.com/phaseconverterinfo/phaseconverter_vfd.htm backs up my original beliefs.

Alan

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 13/11/2016 09:51:36

It's 15 years plus since I built mine Rob, so I don't have a link to the exact schematic I used, however they all work in pretty much the same way, and there is now a mountain of free info available online. Info was harder to acquire back then.

First google hit pulls up this **LINK** which is good reading and explains a lot.

i sourced all the components from scrapyards, including a brand new 3hp motor for £10. It should actually be easier now as brand new inexpensive capacitors are readily available on your favourite auction site,

When buying a 3 phase motor, make sure it is dual voltage ( most modern ones are ) 400v/220v star/delta or similar ( it's the 220v star that's important) Also I prefer 4 pole motors as they run slower, and therefore quieter, but a 2 pole will work fine if you drop on one cheap.

Plenty of 4kw upwards motors available on ebag but they seem to be fetching between £50 and £150. I'm on the hunt for one myself to build a bigger RPC for the Beaver, but being a true Yorkshireman am exploring cheaper sources before pressing the button.

My old one has a very simple start circuit arrangement, I hit the main power switch and simultaneously flick a momentary switch to energise/drop out the start capacitor. It works well but requires a good degree of co-ordination and timing otherwise bad things happen. I'm hoping to include an automatic timer relay in the new one which can be set in M/secs, this should make starting the idler motor foolproof.

If you do decide to have a go please remember to observe all the necessary electrical safety precautions. Earthing and fusing are important and don't forget the capacitors used will retain a lethal 240v A.C charge even when switched off. A Good degree of respect is definitely healthy.

You would need a suitably sized VFD for each 3ph motor on the machine

i.e you can't run 5 motors from one inverter.

A suitably sized rotary phase converter like a Transwave is capable of running all the motors at the same time.

Agree with Dan that they are overpriced, I built my own 3hp RPC for less than £50. Plans are freely available on the web, and it's not particularly difficult to knock one up.

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 12/11/2016 23:04:08

It gets better, a quick google of Bohner and Kohle reveals that it's a universal mill, the table swivels. You can see the pin it rotates on in the centre of the table. If only I had a shed big enough !

Seems the wheel on the back isn't for raising the head, there's a motor on top of the column for that. The wheel rotates the column.

In fact it goes further than I realised, looks like the table rotates through 360 degrees....under power ! Now I'm really impressed......Who knew such things existed...Damn my tiny garage    Good example of a poor advert, don't think the seller has any idea of it's capabilities. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C-CkEkYrjsc

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 12/11/2016 21:46:59

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 12/11/2016 21:52:02

Edited By Alan Waddington 2 on 12/11/2016 21:02:48

Bit of a mash up, but looks like the basis for quite a versatile machine, cheap enough starting price too. Heavy old lump though.

Never seen a mill configured like this with Z travel on the head rather than the table. Bit of a pain having to run round the back to adjust height I guess.

**LINK**

I simply include a telephone number in case interested parties have any questions about the machine......nothing wrong with that surely.

Have sold a fair bit of machinery on ebay, it's free and safe if you use your loaf and play the system

Have to agree with Dan, the one in Leicester definitely looks worth the extra money, although a bit cheeky including a close up photo of a very nice machine vice, only to say in the description that it's not included in the sale... The Scottish one would be worth a punt at £500, the poor table has suffered some serious abuse.

Well, not nearly as impressive as Neil's slovenly pile, but funnily enough i was making a chuck backplate adapter tonight,and looking at the devastation around me, wondered why my lathe/workspace never looks like the lovely pristine ones i see in pictures and videos on tinterweb forums.......