Unknown Swiss milling machine

I ran "Le Locle" through my pooter and came up with a bunch of Aciera hits

2400 Le Locle was their address

Other companies in the area, Haesler-Giauque  and  Co., Dixi  S.A., so there seems to be a bit of a spin off tradition in that area

Edited By Ady1 on 14/07/2016 01:29:02

There's a TN here, a pantograph

http://www.petitesannonces.ch/a/2155352

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Ady,

Many thanks for trying; but unfortunately we are in a 'loop'

... That is the advert that I linked in Post #3

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 14/07/2016 07:41:12

A tiny step towards identifying the machine:

I have found the UK Supplier's Label

Reference to J.Malcolm Wild's article here indicates that AME was active 1954-1978

Reference to Companies House confirms 'Dissolved'

Looks like another dead-end.

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MichaelG.

I spent a couple of hours, yesterday, cleaning and admiring this machine ... Major reorganisation of the workshop will be required before I can use it; but so far, it looks superb.

Now ... The Motor for the high-speed head:

... feels mechanically perfect, and I would really prefer not to start digging-around inside it.

Can anyone suggest a suitable VFD

MichaelG.

Some interesting notes here, from 'Inverter Drive Supermarket'

Is that the best [or indeed the only] way to do it ?

Grateful for any thoughts.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/07/2016 16:02:59

Seems perfectly reasonable.

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Thanks, Neil

MichaelG.

Another clue to the machine's parentage:

This plate is on the engraving pantograph [currently lurking in a big plastic box]

MichaelG.

I started cleaning-up the slides today

For those who questioned the robustness of this little engraving machine; here's the 5mm pitch feedcrews.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 22/07/2016 18:45:51

I would check that the motor can be wired for delta which will give you a good choice of inverters to choose from, if delta connection is not possible with out digging the star point out of the windings then you are limited to one of the inverters that claim to give a 400v output from a single phase input. I would be interested to know how they do that.

Mike

I see from the link what they are up to, a similar fiddle to the 87hz trick.

Edited By Michael Poole on 22/07/2016 19:22:51

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Thanks for your thoughts, Mike

This rather poor photo [it was just coming on to rain] shows the very neat self-contained motor & switch assembly, which I am somewhat reluctant to dismantle.

Hopefully ... Someone might come along to tell me just how easy it is !!

MichaelG.

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I've just found a paper by Siemens, about this ^^^

https://cache.industry.siemens.com/dl/files/130/25338130/att_7156/v1/25338130_betrieb_von_motoren_mit_hoeheren_frequenzen_v2_1_en.pdf

[learning has been seen to take place]

MichaelG.

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Michael I think you are going to have to dismantle it.

Others will need to see how the connections are arranged so a photo of the inside will really be required. This will help to see if the star / delta connection points are easily accessible.

If they are not then all is not lost. - Easy way if not 100% sure of your ability to rectify the issue would be to jump in your car and drive to Warrington. (not too far from you) and take it to **LINK**

They are a very helpful and knowledgeable bunch and will supply, connect up and programme for you the required equipment to the motor if needed. They will even dive inside a motors windings to retrieve the required connections if not easily accessible.

I have 2 Mitsubushi drives from them from this range http://www.newton-tesla.co.uk/product-category/inverters/mitsubishi-d700-series/mitsubishi-d720s-220v-single-to-three-phase/  that have been faultless.

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 23/07/2016 10:26:11

With regard to wiring, although mainly about single phase motors, you may find a useful diagram on page 19 in an article in the latest issue of Model Engineers Workshop, ( No 244)

Howard

Higher power 3-phase industrial VFDs require an active power factor corrector (PFC) front end to meet the legislation limiting the harmonic currents imposed by the VFD on the mains network. These are "boost" converters that generate a high DC bus voltage (700Vdc or more) from the input voltage. This in turn is enough to generate a "proper" 415V output. So modifying one of these to accept a single phase 230Vac input (which is effectively a 2-phase input from the VFD's point of view), allows generation of 415V 3-phase from a 230V single phase input.

It seems that Drives Direct have managed to modify some of the Teco VFDs to work this way, presumably by changing the software or setup parameters. I've no idea if this is an "approved" (by Teco) mod but I guess you would be buying from DD, not Teco. There is generally no need for industrial drives to operate from single phase in this way, nor is there much call for PFC front ends on lower power and single phase VFDs, so this is a bit of a niche market. I've no idea how successful, safe or robust the conversion is but on the face of it, it would allow your machine to operate without having to go in and modify the motor.

Murray

Nick / Howard / Murray

Thanks for your posts ... There is no real urgency to this, so please keep the ideas coming.

I have a few strategic and tactical decisions to make, before we get to running motors.

The Brown Boveri motor is for the high-speed drilling and milling head [which appears to be the genuine Aciera F3 unit]; but there is also another 3-phase motor [small, but as yet unspecified], buried in the base of the machine, to drive the pantograph spindle.

I need to check the pantograph for completeness, and for function, before I decide whether or not to keep it ... and of course, if I do keep the pantograph; the machine will need occupy a bigger space and need more access.

The machine is currently just inside the doorway of my workshop; almost blocking the exit route for all the "stuff" I need to lose before installing it. ... Ho-Hum ... We'll get there eventually.

MichaelG.

Yesterday, I had a preliminary look at the pantograph assembly:

It seems to be complete [except for collets and the tracer point], and the bearings are all good ... but it will need a good clean.

It's an awkward contraption to man-handle, so [to avoid personal injury and/or damage to the machinery] I will need to install some sort of overhead lifting gear. ... Design or product suggestions would be appreciated.

For reference: see photos of the similar machine in this advert:

http://www.petitesannonces.ch/a/2155352

The copy table detaches easily, but the remainder of the pantograph [perhaps 40kg] needs to be lifted and 'docked' on the tee-slotted top of the pedestal.

The High Speed milling/drilling head, pictured on page 1 of this thread, is interchangeable with the pantograph.

MichaelG.

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Edited By Michael Gilligan on 26/07/2016 10:12:16

I used a winch sliding along a heavy sliding door track mounted on a roof joist of my shed. This was for my Deckel clone hispeed head/shaper head and vertical head. There are photographs of the set up in the albums area, I can't seem to link to them, its titled " frank brown backyard mechanic".

Frank

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Thanks, Frank ... Much appreciated

Fortunately, I used 'Universal Steel Beams' [the new-fangled substitute for RSJ] to support the roof of the workshop, so I'm off to a good start.

MichaelG.